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English Literature 'Thomas Hardy' During the course of this essay I intend to fully answer this question in depth and sufficient detail. This will be achieved by means of tackling separate sections at a time. I will by using the short novel 'The Withered Arm', I believe this is a good example to use, as the two main roles are played by women. These women go through complex emotions and feelings, and as a result they develop a great deal throughout the story.
I will be studying the two women 'Rhoda Brook' and 'Gertrude Lodge'. I hope to produce a comparison between these two women and highlight all the way that they differ from each other, and perhaps some aspects in which they are similar. Also, I intend to pinpoint all the ways in which the women's characters and personas develop with the story. In addition I will be looking at the various techniques that hardy used to produce the oddly dark and compelling writing he is known for. Language used, structure of the text, and his style of writing will be individually analysed.
To conclude this essay I will be looking at, and attempting to comprehend the context this story is written in and using it to fully understand the way that women are portrayed in Hardy's stories. Finally I will be giving my own opinion of the way Hardy depicts female characters. The first and most obvious comparison to make, would be of their physical appearance. Hardy's initial depiction of Rhoda as a "thin fading woman of thirty, who milked somewhat apart from the rest", tells us straight away how Hardy wished us to envisage her. As a distanced, perhaps lonely woman, the 'fading' could imply that she "once had been handsome", but her looks were now fading away with seemingly premature ageing. She is a tall woman with dark hair and pale skin.
She seems to grieve for her lost beauty and appears jealous of Farmer Lodges new wife's beauty. As the story progresses she becomes thinner, more haggard and visibly sadder looking. Perhaps brought about by the extreme pressures of the ordeal she encounters. In the beginning, Gertrude Lodge could not be more the opposite of Rhoda. She is beautiful, graceful and full of "youthful freshness", in contrast to Rhoda's haggard features, Gertrude's "face was fresh in colour - soft and evanescent like the light under a heap of rose petals." But after Rhoda's 'vision' Gertrude's arm becomes more and more grotesque and shrivelled, in a sense her arm seems to be literally 'withering'. At the start of the story, Rhoda is clearly a confident, decisive and opinionated woman, who does not hesitate to show her disdain for people.
When the idea of Rhoda going to see Gertrude herself, instead of getting her son to spy on her, she retorts with "I, go see her! I would not look up at her if she were to pass my window this instant." But we find that her confidence is in fact questionable, 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 recounts 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 affliction, as "something in her own individuality seemed to convict Rhoda of crime, we see Rhoda becoming more withdrawn and less sure of herself. She appears to have lost confidence and begins to stagger her speech. You can see this broken language when she speaks of conjuror Trends to Gertrude, she tells her well - they say - they used to say, he was a - he had powers other folks have not. Rhoda's disdain 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 apparent stern confidence, Gertrude seems fairly timid and shy, as she coloured up more than ever for very shame and she wished her noisy good anywhere but on her whilst in church. This would imply that she is not accustomed to the life of a yeomans 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 disfigurement.
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. Which, as far as she was concerned, for she was but twenty-five, could only be achieved through the medium of renewed beauty. As a result The once blithe-hearted and enlightened Gertrude", a kind hearted, generous woman, who enjoyed helping those 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 yearn for an execution. 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 whos 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, dependence on her husband and strong superstitions are typical of a middle class wife during the nineteenth century. Aspects of Rhoda's situation are also typical of the nineteenth century. The fact that she is isolated and the focus of much gossip, as a result of suspected witchcraft implies an old fashioned mindset. Also, there is the matter of Rhoda's son, we can assume he is illegitimate as the farther; Mr. Lodge, wants nothing to do with the child and wants little to do with he mother.
This scenario is typical of the nineteenth century. But the independence from men displayed by Rhoda, and eventually Gertrude would have been a little out of place. Also, the notion of Gertrude, a member of the higher classes now she has married Mr. Lodge, befriending Rhoda, a commoner, would be unusual for the time period. Fate seems to play a large part in the story.
The fact that Rhoda, shunned from a previous relationship with Mr. Lodge, who unwittingly curses Mr. Lodges new young wife, should then go on to become her friend is reason enough to suspect there were greater powers at work. But then, when the one thing which Gertrude is relying on to cure her of her blight, turns out to be Rhoda's dead son.
And then the very 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 coincidental. Hardy employs a various techniques in his writing, to create the desired effect he uses other people in the story to describe his main characters, either through the medium of gossip, general conversation or, in the case of describing Gertrude, Rhoda's son is ordered to relay information to Rhoda about Gertrude, creating an ideal circumstance for Hardy to describe Gertrude in exquisite detail. He uses language in a way which familiarise's and endears the reader to a certain place or individual, i. e local dialects are used as his work is usually very localised. Specific lexical choice is used to great effect, in order to maintain the constant thread of dark, almost gruesome personification which runs all the way through this story.
For instance, the stand for holding milk pails is described as a many-forked stand made as usual of the peeled limb of an oak-tree and roof of Rhoda's dilapidated hut is described as having a rafter showing like a bone protruding through the skin. He also uses descriptive verbs to create his desired effect, Rhoda and her son are often depicted as something macabre, as they are constantly being referred to as creeping, rather than simply walking. The very short chapters keep the reader interested and give the author the opportunity to keep the story fast moving and clear. Thomas Hardy encourages his readers to understand the women in his stories, but what I find much more refreshing about Hardy's work is that 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. Given the fact that this story was written pre-twentieth century, Hardy is surprisingly un-misogynist.
In my opinion, Hardy had a sensitive understanding of the feelings and behavior of women, which he displays and articulates magnificently in most of his works. Hari Stanley-Smith
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Research essay sample on Nineteenth Century Female Characters
