Relationships Between Men and Women in Thoms Hardy's Short Stories

2000 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thesis on thomas hardy as pessimistic novelist

Relationships Between Men and Women in Thoms Hardy's Short Stories

Thomas Hardy was born on June the 2nd, 1848, at Higher Brockhampton in

Dorset, a little hamlet, a few miles from Dorchester. He soon moved to

London to study architecture, writing poems and short stories in his

spare time, eventually moving on to do full-time writing, abandoning

architecture.

Most of his stories are set in the imagined county of Wessex, which

encompasses the counties, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall. His novels and

short stories all involved several issues; Victorian relationships and

the dynamics of actual relationships between people and Wessex itself.

In fact the details of relationships in his books help contemporary

historians understand Victorian England.

The five stories I have chosen to compare are: 'The Withered Arm',

'Old Mrs. Chundle', 'Squire Petrick's Lady', 'Superstitious Man', and

'Tony Kytes, The Arch Deceiver'.

The first relationship I will work on will be Tony Kytes and Milly,

Unity and Hanna from 'Tony Kytes, The Arch Deceiver'. The first

relationship described in the story is the relationship between Unity

and Tony. By the point at which we first meet Unity we have already

been told about Tony's fiancé Milly. So from this we can gather

already a few things about the characters because riding in a carriage

with another woman than your wife, in Victorian times, would be most

certainly frowned upon, so we can gather that Tony must be quite an

impulsive fellow and she must like him a lot. We know also that in

Victorian times women followed men not the other way so that is why I

say she must like him.

The conversation in the...

... middle of paper ...

...homas Hardy's short

stories are all very similar, all fulfilling a sort of pattern. Men in

all the stories become infatuated with the beauty of a woman and the

relationships fail because the woman cannot compete, or the beauty of

the woman is taken away. Women are not equal to men, in the stories

men are portrayed as the much more powerful sex, with the most

authority. The females in the stories try all they can to seduce and

manipulate men, but this is always to no avail. Even in 'Old Mrs

Chundle' the friendship between the old woman and the curator ends up

as a desperate battle between the two characters, with the man as the

figure of authority; but when she dies we realise he is not really the

strong character. In fact all the men are not very strong, they have

no depth and in finality are in fact extremely shallow.

Show More
Related

  • The Yellow Wallpaper:  The Woman's View in a Subjugated Role

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    The presence of a woman's perspective in the The Yellow Wallpaper is evident whenwe see the first passage describing the trees and how aesthetically pleasant theatmosphere is; this is the "view" of the stereotypical nineteenth century woman.To compound that she is the subject of her master, her husband. To the woman, themaster is wiser (he is a good doctor). He is physically superior, and he controlsthe social situations and preserves "order" by acting like a "man" should.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Mutual Marriage In The Canterbury Tale And The Wife Of Bath's Tale

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    The opinions demonstrated in the two tales are extremely unlike, of course with such different stances a point of view will be preferred by different people. In these stories both couples end up in a successful relationship, but one has a stronger base. It will differ from person to person; however, most would agree a marriage based off of equal respect would be the best choice.

    Read More

  • How the difference between man and women represented in 'A Well-worn story"

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Men and women are born two different kinds of species. They have different responds and attitudes in a great number of ways. The difference between men and women in Dorothy Parker's 'A Well-Worn Story' is represented through the attitudes of the man and the girl towards their relationship, the girl is passionate and zealous about this relationship, while the man is lukewarm and passionless. First, this essay will examine the girl's attitude towards this relationship, next it will demonstrate what is the man's attitude towards this relationship.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper and A Doll’s House

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    In society, there has always been a gap between men and women. Women are generally expected to be homebodies, and seen as inferior to their husbands. The man is always correct, as he is more educated, and a woman must respect the man as they provide for the woman’s life. During the Victorian Era, women were very accommodating to fit the “house wife” stereotype. Women were to be a representation of love, purity and family; abandoning this stereotype would be seen as churlish living and a depredation of family status. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Henry Isben’s play A Doll's House depict women in the Victorian Era who were very much menial to their husbands. Nora Helmer, the protagonist in A Doll’s House and the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” both prove that living in complete inferiority to others is unhealthy as one must live for them self. However, attempts to obtain such desired freedom during the Victorian Era only end in complications.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first theme present in the horrific and heart wrenching story is the subordinate position of women within marriage. “The Yellow Wallpaper” begins with the narrator’s wish that her house were haunted like those in which “frightened heroines suffer Gothic horrors” (DeLamotte 5). However, this wish is in essence to empower herself. The narrator is already afraid of her husband and is suffering mentally and emotionally. She desperately wishes for an escape “through fantasy, into a symbolic version of her own plight: a version in which she would have a measure of distance and control” (DeLamotte 6). Throughout the text, Gilman reveals to the reader that during the time in which the story was written, men acquired the working role while women were accustomed to working within the boundaries of their “woman sphere”. This gender division meritoriously kept women in a childlike state of obliviousness and prevented them from reaching any scholastic or professional goals. John, the narrator’s husband, establishes a treatment for his wife through the assumption of his own superior wisdom and maturity. This narrow minded thinking leads him to patronize and control his wife, all in the name of “helping her”. The narrator soon begins to feel suffocated as she is “physically and emotionally trapped by her husband” (Korb). The narrator has zero control in the smallest details of her life and is consequently forced to retreat into her fantasies...

    Read More

  • Gender Dynamics in Communication: A Historical Perspective

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    Based on society during the 1820s, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre gives an accurate depiction of how women’s communication styles were viewed by men. The protagonist of the story,

    Read More

  • Too Terribly Good To Be Printed By Conrad Shumaker

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Too Terribly Good to Be Printed”: Charlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper” by Conrad Shumaker was written in 1985. When the original “Yellow Wallpaper” was created it was during the Victorian Era also the beginning of the Feminist Movement. Shumaker’s “Too Terribly Good to Be Printed” proves that the audiences’ intake of the story is merely based off of society’s standards at the time. This story emphasizes that the pedestal women are held on will always be over powered by society because of how dominate male roles are. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Shumaker explains that gender roles are heavily influenced by how the way humans think. Males tend to focus more on facts and reality where as women like to use imagination and creativity. The author is able to prove this theory correct because the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” expresses herself with her imagination of a non-living item (the wallpaper) and John her husband takes her thoughts for insanity. Shumaker gets the readers to realize that John himself isn’t cruel to his wife but it is the influence of the society. If having an imagination wasn’t such a feminine thing to do, then the wives of that century wouldn’t have gone through so much. This story brings to light that there is more to “The Yellow Wallpaper” than a husband controlling

    Read More

  • Explore Jane Austen’s attitude to marriage in Pride and Prejudice

    1657 Words  | 4 Pages

    little, if nothing at all based on a good love match. This can be seen

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper and A Streetcar Named Desire

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her drunken husband Stanley, and also in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, where the female narrator is claimed unfit by her husband as she suffers from a sort of depression, and is generally looked down on for other reasons.

    Read More

  • Interethnic And Interracial Friendships In Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is set in England in the late eighteenth century. The novel follows Elizabeth and Jane Bennet’s lives as well as Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. The Bennet sisters are from a lower social class than Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy which is the cause of the problem in the book because of the prejudice in the eighteenth century. After overcoming prejudice, the Bennet sisters fall in love and are accepted by their husbands. If prejudices were eliminated the world would be a better place. People have preconceived ideas of many things, but if there was a way to end these ideas people would be more open-minded. Society should eliminate prejudices to promote a healthier environment for everyone.

    Read More

  • Attitudes Towards Women in Fragment VII of Canterbury Tales

    1620 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most prominent themes in Fragment VII of the Canterbury Tales is the attitudes of the pilgrims towards women. There are two distinct sides in the dispute: that women are simply objects of lust that must never be trusted, and that women are highly respectable and loving.

    Read More

  • Marriage in Jane Austen´s Pride and Prejudice

    1387 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the history of literature there have been many connections made between writers and their reoccurring styles of writing found in each of their literary works. Jane Austen is only one example of this type of author who exemplifies a style of repetition by using repetitious themes. Theme is a very important literary element in any piece of literature. Themes teach the reader a life lesson, often times lending advice or a point of view. In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, she uses themes which can also be found in other pieces of literature written by Austen. These themes deal with the subjects of; marriage, good breeding and appearances, social rank and morals, and happiness. In the novel Pride and Prejudice Austen uses different literary elements including; satire, irony and humor in order to support these themes. In addition to using these elements Austen also supports her themes through the actions and opinions of different characters. One very prevalent theme found in this novel is marriage which can be shown through the characters of; Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, Mrs. Bennet Charlotte Lucas and Lydia Bennet.

    Read More

  • Social Differences In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    “He is an gentleman, and I am a gentleman’s daughter. So far we are equal.” Jane Austen writes in the romantic novel Pride and Prejudice. A fictional story of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy as their similar personalities are hidden behind one’s ignorance and one’s nobility. This novel outlines the importance of marriage and reputation in one’s family and how the separation of class systems causes one either social acceptance or is socially unaccepted by some.

    Read More

  • Depiction of Class in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy

    2548 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hardy originated from a working class family. The son of a master mason, Hardy was slightly above that of his agricultural peers. Hardy’s examination of transition between classes is usually similar to that of D.H. Lawrence, that if you step outside your circle you will die. The ambitious lives of the characters within Hardy’s novels like Jude and Tess usually end fatally; as they attempt to break away from the constraints of their class, thus, depicting Hardy’s view upon the transition between classes. Hardy valued lower class morals and traditions, it is apparent through reading Tess that her struggles are evidently permeated through the social sufferings of the working class. A central theme running throughout Hardy’s novels is the decline of old families. It is said Hardy himself traced the Dorset Hardy’s lineage and found once they were of great i...

    Read More

  • The Withered Arm, by Thomas Hardy

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thomas Hardy was a famous author and poet he lived from 1840 to 1928. During his long life of 88 years he wrote fifteen novels and one thousand poems. He lived for the majority of his life near Dorchester. Hardy got many ideas for his stories while he was growing up. An example of this was that he knew of a lady who had had her blood turned by a convict’s corpse and he used this in the story ‘The Withered Arm’. The existence of witches and witchcraft was accepted in his lifetime and it was not unusual for several people to be killed for crimes of witchcraft every year.

    Read More

More about Relationships Between Men and Women in Thoms Hardy's Short Stories

Open Document