The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy and Farthing House by Susan Hill :: Thomas Hardy Farthing House Hill essays

The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy and Farthing House by Susan Hill I am going to be comparing two short stories; The withered arm by Thomas Hardy, which was written before 1900 and Farthing house by Susan Hill which was written more recently. The themes in each of the two stories are quite similar. They are both based around women, their needs and their wants and illegitimate children. Both stories have obvious similarities especially with the types of women in the story. 'The withered arm' was a story written before 1900. At the time when The Withered Arm was written, there was a very high child mortality rate. Babies died at an early age due to poor health care and repeated pregnancies. Many women died during childbirth. There were some forms of birth control but they were condemned by the church. Society believed that a woman's main purpose in life was marriage and motherhood. For many, this was not possible. There was a high mortality rate amongst male babies, early death amongst adult males and emigration among marriageable young men. There were hierarchies in society. Quite often, rich males would commit adultery with poor, working females. Once the woman got pregnant, she would be left on her own as marriage was not possible. Single mothers would then become outcasts in society. Generally, people knew what was happening. They were against sex outside marriage but they did nothing to stop it. Now in the 21st century, the roles of women have changed. They are no longer expected to just get married and have children. There is more equality in today's society. Although women still get married, they are also allowed a career and life of their own. They have more freedom and independence. There is better health care and birth control but sex outside marriage still continues. Today, there are many single mothers. Although they are no longer the outcasts they once were, they still have not been entirely accepted by everyone and are sometimes treated as inferiors and thought of as sluts. In the Withered Arm, Rhoda Brook, a poor, once beautiful, milkmaid was used by the rich farmer Lodge. After she became pregnant, she was tossed aside like some used toy. Lodge wanted nothing to do with her. He was rich, she was poor; there was no way they could marry. Rhoda had a child without a husband. Everyone in their village knew about the affair but did nothing to help. They knew that Rhoda had been used and then discarded of but still continued to treat her as an outcast in society. She was the thing to gossip about when there was nothing