The Son's Veto

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Recommended: An essay on Thomas Hardy's novel

The Son's Veto Thomas Hardy was a novelist and a great poet. He was born into the working class until he married into the upper class, forgetting about his past because of the embarrassment it caused him. He was born in 1840 and died in 1928. Sophy is an upper class woman with a lower class background who is used to working class expectations and 'not up to the standard of the upper class'. Sophy had worked as a maid in the house of the reverend as a young girl and after his first wife died had stayed to look after the reverend. After an accident which left her partially lame, the reverend asked her to marry him. Her life would have been happier if she had married Sam instead. She would not have been caught between society's boundaries. An example of his embarrassment about his background is shown when he is alleged to have destroyed evidence of his past when working on his autobiography about him. He was reluctant for his upper class acquaintances to know about his poor past. Another example is the fact that he did not invite his family to his wedding. He was embarrassed about them and did not consider them good enough to mix with his new family. This is reflected in 'The Son's Veto when Mr Twycott ensured that the wedding was held in secret because it would destroy Mr Twycott's reputation. In those days people from the two classes could never mix. Another example is that Sophy and Rev Twycott gave up their home in Gaymead and went to live in a small 'dusty house' in London. 'They were however away from everyone who had known her former position'. This is an example of Rev Twycott wanting to get away from observation and gossip. They were prepared to give up everything to avoid gossip and hide ... ... middle of paper ... ...ship with Sam, thus denying her any happiness and so contributed to her downfall. The Son's Veto is written in the third person. Hardy however, intrudes on the narration with his personal comments such as his comments on Sophy's hairstyle and the amount of time and work she spent on it. She had done it all herself, poor thing. She had no maid and it was the only accomplishment she could boast of. Hardy evokes the readers sympathy for Sophy by giving her a hard life who never gets what she wants because of the restrictions of society. Sophy had a number of weaknesses but I believe that the restrictions of society played a great part in her downfall. If she had married a working class person she would have had a far happier life. Generally, it is far easier today for the two social classes to mix, people are more tolerant about other people's origins.

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