When money comes into this relationship, it changes dramatically. Mrs Radford is annoyed when she isn’t going to get any of the ‘union money’ because according to her husband she has ‘plenty of money she can use’. Because he is so calm and ‘indolent’ about the situation she feels ‘sharp’ because she could not get at him. He thinks that she should get what she is given, again a sign of their relationship. Mrs Radford tries to be reasonable and fair by saying that they will ‘go shares ’ on the money they have, but Radford thinks this is unreasonable, and that the man should have more than the women. He thinks woman aren’t equal. She feels she has to win her battle and stand up for women’s rights, and so decides to get her revenge and manipulate him into getting what she wants.
When Mrs Radford decides to spend all of her monetary savings so that she now has to be given more, the reaction of Radford when he realises what she has done tells us a great deal about their relationship.
He was obviously ‘angry’ at her. Not only because she had spent all her money but also because he knew she had beaten him. Despite his attempt to put his foot down she outwits him. In this relationship, he had lived forever being the one in control; having the final word. He now realises that this is not the case and she can also make big decisions and have power over the other partner. He ‘clenched his fist’ ready to hit her. This violence was a typical male response at the time, and so knowing what is to follow, she ‘shrinks away’. He knows he has been proved wrong, and so did not hit her and just walked away, showing that to hold on to the relationship he must not use his physical advantage against the woman. He respects her too much, and realises that she was only trying to prove a point.
In this story, we are told ‘men stood in gangs and men played marbles’ in the town. Women are not mentioned. It is as though women shouldn’t be out and about socializing, but they should be at home.
A relationship that Lawrence doesn’t expand and explore much is that of the Landlord and Landlady. She invites men ‘inside’ and talks to the one that is ‘most important to her’. Despite being married she continues to do this because her husband is ‘crippled with rheumatism’. She has to keep popping out to see him whilst she is talking to her selection of men. She is taking advantage of her husband and flirting with men behind his back. In this room of her men she ‘liked the look of’, the landlady talks to the most ‘important’ person. Since her husband is in bed, she is taking control of the pub and she runs the show. She has to be centre of attention at all times, maybe because she doesn’t get any from her husband.
Lawrence briefly explores the relationship of Radford and a young daughter soon to be wed. Lawrence refers to her as a ‘fine animal’. As Lawrence was a man, it reveals how he thinks of women, and how other men at this time would think of women. She isn’t referred to as a human, which indicates that men at this time believed woman to be less than their selves. We are told this girl is ‘fine enough’ to marry this person. This tells us that a woman has to be good enough for a man. There is no question whether he is good enough for her, because he is already presumed to be superior.
A fascinating way that Lawrence uses for describing the relationships is by use of animals. At one time in the story Lawrence says ‘Two doves were cooing in a cage’. Although this could be interpreted literally, I believe that it is a metaphor for how their relationship is at that moment. It symbolises how they are as a couple. Also in this story, Mrs Radford is referred to as a cat. In contrast, Radford is told to be ‘stroking a tortoise’. She speaks in a ‘cat-like’ voice and she had a ‘cat-like look’ of satisfaction about her. Lawrence is using a cat because these are associated with slyness and cunning, which she used in her actions to get more money. Radford on the other hand is slow and easily outwitted as is a tortoise. This description is another way that Lawrence portrays them together in their relationship.
The main relationship in Hardy’s story is between Shadrach Jollife and Joanna, but the first is the intertwined relationship of Joanna, Shadrach, and Joanna’s friend Emily. After returning from sea, he enters church and afterwards comes across these two women. Hardy describes one of them as a ‘gentle creature’. This reveals the respect that he has for the women. He is hinting at their beauty, and they would be flattered at the remark.
At first, Emily is ‘shy’ in the presence of Shadrach, but eventually ‘lost her heart’ to him which tells us that once a woman becomes familiar with a man, she can fall in love with him. She is speaks nervously to him with ‘fitful’ laughs. This reveals how the man is in the driving seat in a relationship, and how, in a mans presence, a woman becomes uneasy. She is not so natural around men as her rival Joanna. She begins to spend time with him, and ‘there was a tender understanding between them’. This tells us how the two were getting along and reveals what true relationships are built around.
However, Shadrach is very confident around woman, and can ‘win’ them over with his charm easily. Right when he first meets the two women he ‘stole a gaze’ indicating he is interested. He walked right up to and close to their ‘elbow’ despite not knowing them too well. It is this easiness around women that led him astray. After Shadrach accidentally meets Joanna, she asks playfully ‘Go along, or Emily will be jealous’. It is as if she is encouraging him to stay, using reverse psychology. We are told that Joanna eventually ‘weaned him away’ from Emily, by spending a lot of time with him, and because she has the stronger character, and is more confident around men. This reveals that men were easily manipulated and did as they are told, as the woman takes control.
Joanna knows she has done wrong as her ‘conscience’ tells her. She isn’t ‘satisfied’ with him, and was never ‘deeply in love with him. She only decides to marry him to stop Emily from doing so, which is a poor basis on which to begin a marriage. This is the first sign of her jealousy that Hardy develops as the story unfolds. In her mind, she decides to give him back to Emily, but when she overhears them talking and calling each other ‘darling’ behind her back, a mixture of jealousy and embarrassment and ‘green envy’ blur her vision and she decides to go ahead with the marriage. She has this urge to be better than every one else and have what they have.
Shadrach is ‘loyal’ and so decides not to go back on his word and marry Joanna, not wanting to let her down. Men were expected in society to keep their word – especially when it came to woman.
Shadrach states a ‘fine girl’ isn’t a ‘sailor’s wife’. This refers to how in society a man and a woman have to be of equal class to have a relationship, but if they are to marry a woman tries to ‘marry higher’ than herself. In this society, a sailor is considered ‘low’ and a ‘plain girl’ is better for him than someone ‘fine’.
Emily got married to someone ‘higher’ than herself. She never thought ‘she could be so happy’. Her sons have good education, she has a governess, and she is ‘conversing with the genteelest people of the town and neighbourhood.’ This lifestyle is exactly what Joanna wanted, and she becomes jealous of their relationship and lifestyle.
We are told ‘Shadrach was faithful’ to Joanna, and didn’t care for Emily anymore. This indicates that he is a honourable man that can be respected. But Joanna lets ‘her ambition check her instincts’ and asks Shadrach to go to sea to become ‘richer’. Although she protests it is ‘for the boys sake’. I believe that she has an ulterior motive; she wants more for herself. She is selfish, and cannot stand the fact that Emily is better than her, so she demands more money. What this shows about the relationship is that Shadrach goes to sea and does what she says despite having ‘no love’ for it. This reinforces the impression of his willingness, which contrasts deeply with Joanna. Whilst she only thinks about herself, he is willing to make others happy. Right from the beginning before they courted, made all the decisions in their relationship, and this carries on. She hopes when he comes back, her sons will be ‘as near to gentleman as Emmy’s’. She constantly compares herself to Emily, again always wanting to be better, implying she is not satisfied in her relationship.
When Shadrach returned with his apparent ‘fortune’ he had made at sea, he was ‘determined not to disappoint’ her. In their relationship, he does everything he can to make it work. Joanna’s selfish reaction to this was ‘is that all?’. This reveals how she is merely using the relationship to better herself. She compares herself to Emily again by saying ‘we count in hundreds, but they count in thousands.’ Everything she does has to be compared. She is not happy with Shadrach and says ‘I was once above her’. She is annoyed that she has been beaten because Emily has a better life. She eventually believes Emily is ‘patronizing her’ because of her success, but this is all in the head of Joanna. We know this is not true because Emily does take pity on Joanna by being her ‘only large customer’.
Joanna insists that to be better that Emily, Shadrach and her two sons must go to sea to seek an even bigger ‘fortune’. Shadrach decides he cannot go alone, but still again falls at his wife’s commands. He again doesn’t argue. This implies that in their relationship he does everything he can to please her. He doesn’t want her to be unhappy with her life (and therefore him) and so tries to amend this. He is trying to make himself the husband she wants him to be, as he knows ‘she doesn’t make to be a sailors wife’. He is willing to change his planned life of shop keeping by going to sea again for her, to ‘please his wife’.
Unfortunately for Joanna, the sea vessel has been presumed to have ‘gone to the bottom of the sea’ and so they are dead. Joanna has lost everything she had; her sons and husband are gone.
Joanna cannot accept this and so waits for them to return every day. She can’t come to terms with the fact that she has lost them, and imagines them coming back, hearing their ‘voices’ everywhere. She is in denial of the fact they are not returning, as she now realises how important their relationship was to her. This hurts her inside, and she cannot cope with this feeling of regret. This makes her break down and lose control of her life since she turns into ‘a skeleton of something human’.
An interesting point about relationships that Hardy injects into the story on more than one occasion is the point about how women jump at the chance to improve their social status. We are told that ‘there is always the chance that an attractive woman mating considerably above herself.’ This reveals a man high in the social ladder can chose to marry a woman lower than him if she in good looking. No consideration goes into the point of personality when it comes to this, just image, revealing how men judge women. Women are always trying to marry higher because their status in the community will go up. This would have led to a great deal of consequences, but in general a better life style would be had.
Lawrence portrays the relationship between men and women showing men as the providers for the women. In turn, the women look after the house for the men, providing the meals. He portrays men as being slow, ‘naïve’ people, but still they are kind and gentle. On the other hand, women are smart as they can ‘outwit’ their opposite halves as they are ‘cunning’.
Men are allowed to go out and socialise but it appears in this society, women don’t. In the end, the woman takes control of the relationship due to manipulation.
Hardy portrays the relationship between men and women similarly to Lawrence’s. Again the man goes out and earns the money for the woman and she takes care of the home. She controls him and tells him what to do. The man is very easy going and never strongly argues back.
Both stories show that lack of money has a big effect on the relationship. In Lawrence’s case providing a means for a woman to show she is equal to the man, in Hardy’s ending in the loss of the relationship and concluding in death.
