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

The Wi on that pointd Arm by Thomas Hardy and Farthing House by Susan HillI am going to be comparing two short stories The wi on that pointd arm byThomas Hardy, which was written before 1900 and Farthing theater bySusan Hill which was written more recently. The themes in each of thetwo stories are quite similar. They are both based around women, theirneeds and their wants and outlawed children. Both stories haveobvious similarities especially with the types of women in the story.The withered arm was a story written before 1900. At the time whenThe Withered Arm was written, there was a very high child mortalityrate. Babies died at an early age due to poor health care and repeatedpregnancies. Many women died during childbirth. in that location were some formsof birth control but they were condemned by the church.Society believed that a womans main purpose in look was marriage andmotherhood. For many, this was not possible. There was a highmortality rate amongst male babies, early d eath amongst adult malesand emigration among marriageable young men.There were hierarchies in society. Quite often, rich males would root for adultery with poor, working females. Once the woman gotpregnant, she would be left on her own as marriage was not possible.Single mothers would then become pariahs in society. Generally,people knew what was happening. They were against sex outside marriagebut they did nothing to stop it.Now in the 21st century, the roles of women have changed. They are nolonger pass judgment to just get married and have children. There is moreequality in todays society. Although women still get married, theyare also allowed a career and life of their own. They have morefreedom and independence. There is better health care and birthcontrol but sex outside marriage still continues. Today, there aremany single mothers. Although they are no longer the outcasts theyonce were, they still have not been entirely accepted by everyone andare sometimes treated as inferi ors and thought of as sluts.In the Withered Arm, Rhoda Brook, a poor, once beautiful, milkmaid wasused by the rich farmer Lodge. After she became pregnant, she wastossed forth like some used toy. Lodge wanted nothing to do with her.He was rich, she was poor there was no way they could marry. Rhodahad a child without a husband. Everyone in their village knew aboutthe affair but did nothing to help. They knew that Rhoda had been usedand then discarded of but still continued to treat her as an outcastin society. She was the thing to gossip about when there was nothing