When the idea of Rhoda going to see Gertrude herself is raised by Rhoda’s son, instead of getting her son to spy on her, she replies with "I go see her! I would not look up at her if she were to pass my window this instant".
We find that her confidence is uncertain, as she is constantly comparing herself to Gertrude, wondering if "Her eyes, then, are not dark like mine?". She uses her son to collect information about Gertrude, which he gives to Rhoda. She wants to know everything about Gertrude, without wanting to meet her. But after the ‘vision’, and especially once Rhoda begins blaming herself for Gertrude's problem, as "something in her own individuality seemed to convict Rhoda of crime”, we see Rhoda becoming quieter and less sure of herself. She appears to have lost confidence and begins to stagger her speech. You can see this stuttering when she speaks of ‘conjuror’ Trendle to Gertrude, she tells her “well - they say - they used to say, he was a - he had powers other folks have not”. I think Rhoda stutters because when she says he has powers no other folks have she is thinking of when “she had been slily called a witch” by the villagers. She could also be scared by the fact Gertrude might find out that Rhoda caused Gertrude’s disfigurement. Rhoda's hate for Gertrude soon dwindles once they meet, and Rhoda discovers Gertrude's true nature to be "so unlike that of Rhoda's midnight visitant, that the latter could hardly believe the evidence of her senses."
In contrast to Rhoda’s stern confidence which could have been caused by the fact she was abandoned by her husband, Gertrude seems fairly timid and shy, as she “coloured up more than ever for very shame” and she “wished her noisy gownd anywhere but on her” whilst in church. This would suggest that she is not accustomed to the life of a “yeoman’s wife”. We find that her confidence is easily put down by her husband, and when he starts ignoring her as a result of her growing scar. When Farmer Lodge states that “it is as if some witch, or the devil himself, had taken hold of me there, and blasted the flesh”, referring to Gertrude, and starts growing cold towards her; she begins “craving for renewed love”.
As a result “The once blithe-hearted and enlightened Gertrude", a kind hearted, generous woman, who enjoyed helping people less fortunate than herself, even "giving away things to other folks in the meads", was steadily "changing into an irritable, superstitious woman, whose whole time was given to experimenting upon her ailment with every quack remedy she came across”. As she grew more and more distanced form her husband she began to desire for an execution as a result of her visit to conjuror Trendle. I think Hardy portrays Gertrude like this to demonstrate the Hardship caused to women is Hardy’s lifetime and how they were treated by their Husbands. Once she learned that the only cure would be to ‘turn the blood’ and this could be done by “touching with the afflicted limb, the neck of a man who’s been hanged”, she “wellnigh longed for the death of a fellow creature.”
In some respects, Hardy has portrayed these women as typical examples of women of his time. Gertrude’s vanity and dependence on her husband superstitions are typical of a middle class wife during the nineteenth century. Rhoda’s situation is also typical of the nineteenth century. The fact that she is isolated and the point of much gossip, as a result of suspected witchcraft implies an old fashioned way of thinking. Also, there is the matter of Rhoda’s son; Rhoda and Gertrude were never married so their son is illegitimate. Mr. Lodge wants nothing to do with the child and wants nothing to do with the mother.
The fact that Gertrude believed conjuror Trendle, being a member of the higher class now she has married Mr. Lodge would be unusual for the time period. When the one thing which Gertrude is relying on to cure her of her scar turns out to be Rhoda’s dead son, and then the act of carrying out the expected cure causes Gertrude’s blood to be turned “indeed too much” and she is killed, all this seems far to closely linked to be a coincidence and the whole curse could have been purposely meant to kill Gertrude in an act of revenge on Farmer Lodge.
He also uses descriptive verbs to create his desired effect which is to portray his women as under men to get his point across. Rhoda is often described as something horrid, as they are constantly being referred to as ‘creeping’, rather than simply walking.
Thomas Hardy encourages his readers to understand the women in his stories, and he does not try to play on the sympathy of the reader. He does not want you to feel sorry for the female characters, or view them as helpless women in need of the protection of men. In my opinion, Hardy had a sensitive understanding of the feelings and behaviour of women, which is helpful so he can empathise with the characters and use this in his stories. I think Hardy wants us to be at the way in which the women are treated by the men. The are treated badly by the men, for example when Farmer Lodge grows further away from his wife because of a disease which is not her fault. I think this shows that the men weren’t looking for personality in women but looks in order to raise their social status.
