A Chip in the Sugar by Alan Bennett and A Sons Veto by Thomas Hardy

This essay compares two stories one twentieth century A Chip in the

Sugar by Alan Bennett. And the other story is pre twentieth century

A Sons Veto by Thomas Hardy

This essay compares two stories one twentieth century 'A Chip in the

Sugar' by Alan Bennett. And the other story is pre twentieth century

'A Sons Veto' by Thomas Hardy, At first glance at both the stories the

two stories don't seem to have that much in common, A son veto is

quite a tragic whereas a chip in the sugar has a happy ending but the

two stories have there similarities both center on mother son

relationships and both mothers have a disability of some sort in a

sons veto Sophie cannot walk due to an ankle injury, and Vera has bad

memory and weak senses in both stories a suitor appears from the

mothers past the two sons in the stories prevent marriage for two

different reasons.

Hardy's story 'A Sons Veto' is set in a time when people where to

marry within their own class Hardy not only shows that is wrong to

create barriers in society but not marrying people in your own class

can cause unhappiness to those involved. It is set in the fictional

county of Wessex in Victorian England.

The main character in 'A Sons Veto' is a girl named Sophie who Is a

parlor maid for Reverend Tywcott, whose wife passes away while she

works for him but Sophie is engaged to Sam Hobson a gardener. But a

fall out leads to the break up of their relationship. Sophie then

starts to take care of reverend tywcott until she has a nasty fall

which leads her not be able to walk again the reverend is not been

able to live without her and proposes which she accepts.

In the story Hardy Reverend Tywcott is considered to have committed

'social suicide' by marrying out of his class Tywcott realises this

and moves to London to stop the gossip about the marriage because they

no nothing about them but they also lose there pretty quite country

home to live in some narrow dark street.

After years of marriage they have a child called Randolph which adds

further misery to her life later on she never really adjusts to life

as the vicars wife which means being a middle class citizen from a

working class background. When Randolph is of an adolescent age he

corrects his mother for her wrong use of words 'has mother not have'

he is ashamed of her and never shows any respect towards soon after.