Exploring and comparing relationships inTony Kytes the Arch Deceiver and The Son's Veto

In both stories there are characters involved in relationships but they have similarities and differences. In Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver, Tony Kytes is torn between three respectable women Hannah, Unity and Milly each with different quality’s and faults. But due to his little knowledge in relationships he ends up upsetting all the women but lucky for him Milly agrees to marry him. This is different to The Son’s Veto as the Widow Sophie wants to re-marry but is being stopped by her son as she is seen not fit to make a decision but he is. In both stories both characters have problems in relationships in that Tony Kytes is having problems due to his lack of knowledge in relationships and Sophie is being prevented from marrying as she is seen not smart enough to make such a decision.

Both stories are set in England yet the setting in each story is quite different from one another. In Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver the setting is in the rural countryside of England. While in The Son’s Veto the setting is in urban London but later on it is set in the countryside of England. The Theme is quite similar in that both stories are about love and relationships and how love are a powerful thing, that although it binds people together it can also separate them from each other. Yet I would say that Tony Kytes is a jollier upbeat tale than the Son’s Veto. As the Son’s Veto we read on how a women is deprived from marrying who she desires by her son which is upsetting thing to read about.

Both short stories have similar language such as the words ”Twas”, “ye”, “says he” and “Tisn’t”. These words along with many others are not used in modern day writing as times have changed and the language we used has marginally changed. Also due to the different settings there is a different dialect in both pieces of writing.

Throughout the short stories we gather how women were treated before 1914. In Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver when Tony is choosing a wife he juggles the women round lying to each of them telling them what they want to hear as if they are come second to him. This is a major sign that women were seen as second to the gentlemen in a relationship. In The Son’s Veto the widow Sophie is stopped from marrying by her son even though she is older and the mother of him. From this we get another large sign that when were seen as second to men. This has changed a great deal to nowadays where women are seen as equals to men not only in day to day life but in relationships.