What do we Learn From Society and Life in Hardys England from his Short Stories
Hardy was born in 1840 in the southwest of Britain, Dorset. It is isolated and cut off from the rest of the more urban areas of England and it is very rural and agricultural. It is this isolated rural Britain where most of his stories are set. The Rural Society in Hardy's time was split into two clear divisions, the higher class and the poor class. The high classes were rich landowners that never did any physical work and they employed the poor. The poorer class would work hard in the fields doing agricultural work. Rhoda Brook was a milkmaid like all the other women on the farm. The poorer people would rarely ever travel to the neighbouring village or the closest town, we know this because Mrs Crudale clearly states, "... There's only two places I ever go to from years and to years end: thats once a week to Anglebury to do my bit o'marketing; and once a week to the parish church." The rich and the poor led two separate lives, the poor were completely ignored by the rich and they cared little about the lifestyle the poor led. We know this because Father Lodge in the Withered Arm saw his son walking down the street didn't take any notice of him, then when the boy reported back to his mother, Rhoda, she asked,
"...Mrs Lodge's gradual loss of her left arm was owing to being 'overlooked' by Rhoda Brook" Hardy shows that gossip can be very harmful because gossip about Rhoda being a witch drove her away even though she'd already gone through years of gossip about her and Farmer Lodge and possibly her son. This also shows the agricultural workers were very unforgiving and hard on people they believed broke the rules, this can be seen because Rhoda was drove away with intent by gossip about her being a witch. Because Hardy grew up in Wessex he learnt what is known as 'Broad Dorset', because a lot of Hardy's stories are set in the Dorset, he uses a lot of examples of this in his Old Mrs Chundle she says,
Some common words found in the essay are:
Farmer Lodge, Rhoda Brook, Withered Arm', Crudale There's, Conjuror Trendle, Hardy Gertrude, Society Hardy's, Curate Chundle, Lodge Rhoda, Magic Superstition, 'the withered, 'the withered arm', withered arm', rhoda brook, lived valley, father lodge, farmer lodge, conjuror trendle, rhoda witch, poor led, rich poor,
Approximate Word count = 857
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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