In The Unexpected we see Dorothea express her passion for Randall
“ But Randall, you were once so handsome but now you are hideous!”
Dorothea realized that life is more than money; this can be seen at the end where she runs into the healthy nature and rejoices. She is strong enough to refuse the potential wealth. In this story, we can learn that happiness does not care with wealth.
Dorothea is very modern woman. Passion and fulfillment matter more than security and money. We can see Dorothea’s thinking that life is wealth.
“Not for all his thousands! Never, never! Not for millions”
Also, She is not weak in anyway although admittedly one has to feel sorry for Randall. Through one women’s dependence, we can see nineteenth century’s women wanted to escape from men.
Tony Kytes
In Tony Kytes, this is a funny story told by a silly, drunken old man in the back of a cat. Of course the women come over slightly pathetic but so does Tony. Tony move about in confusion among the three women. The only people in this to emerge, as ‘winners’ are the fathers. Probably because they are old like the narrator. In Tony Kytes through Hannah’s father Mr. Jolliver's advice, you can realize this.
“Be you willing Hannah’ I ask ye to have spirit enough to refuse him, if you virtue is left to ’ee and you run no risk?”
The advice of Tony’s father is probably the only moral of this story, in that it is about proper male/female behavior. You can see through Tony’s father’s mention
“Then stick to Milly, she’s the best… But look at that. She can’s hold that horse in, you shouldn’t have left the reins in her hands, Run on and take the horse’s head, or the ‘ll be some accident to them maids”
The ending is absolutely ridiculous and in itself shows how silly and naïve the narrator himself is.
Speckled Band
This story is completely different to the other two stories in that it is not mainly about male/female relationships. However it does have significant male/female characters and is therefore worth considering.
Sherlock Homes is the protector of defenseless, innocent women, and solve the crime.
Roylott is the opposite. He is a bully, rude, devious and a killer. He decided to kill his daughter aim the money. He always observes Helen.
Helen is vulnerable to one man and needs the help of another to protect her. As many of pointed out, Holmes behaves like a true Father whereas Roylott is a stereotypical villainous stepfather.
Comparisons
In The Unexpected, Dorothea is the most modern woman and is to be praised for her desire for true love. It shows that women can dependence without men’s help. But the story least kind to women is Speckled Band as it shows them as defenseless and needing a strong man to look after them.
But it also shows then to have no real control over theirown future and money. Tony is weak, slightly stupid and silly as is the narrator. However the fathers do came out well in the story.
It is hard to compare any of the characters, as they are such different stories so the best advice is not to try.
However if we have any brilliant insights then share them.
Conclusion
These three stories are very different stories and are not very similar. But one can see that how different the social/historical situation was in comparison with today, especially with regard to money. However in Dorothea we can see a forerunner of women today.