Nineteenth century short stories

In this essay, we will try to depict the position of women in the 19th century through the short stories we have studied. We will be comparing the different views and roles of women in The Unexpected by Kate Chopin, News of the Engagement by Arnold Bennett, The Half Brothers by Elizabeth Gaskell and Tony Kytes, the Arch-Deceiver by Thomas Hardy. In those days, Victorian women had to get married in order to get taken care of by their husbands. They didn’t go to school, therefore had no education and could not get a job. If they did not get married and their family was not rich, they would most probably end up in squalor or prostitution

These four short stories could be divided into two main themes. In The Unexpected and in the News of Engagement, women want changes and the writers are trying to show that a woman can have a more important role in a society than that of a spouse and a mother. Whereas in the stories by Gaskell and Hardy, the authors portray typical feminin existence, without a life of their own, devoted to their family and entirely dependant on their husbands or fathers. Kate Chopin and Arnold Bennett were both great admirers of Guy de Maupassant and we can perceive that strongly in their writing. They both dealt with the issues of woman rights and experience.

The two stories we studied from them have both a “twist-in-a-tail” ending and make us reflect strongly on the position of women in the 19th century. The Unexpected is a story of a man and a woman, engaged and deeply in love. When Randall has to leave for a while, their “parting is bitter” and the time during which Dorothea waits for him seems “torture” for her. We cannot doubt the depth and the sincerity of their love, making them an exception in their society where love and marriage are two separate things. However, Randall is delayed by illness and when he returns after a few months, his appearance is utterly changed.

Even if prepared for this alteration, Dorothea is shocked by this “hideous [and] devilish transformation”, by his “waxy and hectic skin”, his “sunken eyes”, “dry and parched lips” and his “feverish and tainted” breath. Her love begins “shuddering, shrinking, shriveling” immediately. After a long consideration, she runs away and is determined to refuse to marry her fianci??. Her choice shocks us at first, and must have shocked even more in the 19th century. Her refusal to marry Randall because of his altered appearance may mean her love was superficial and only based on physical attraction.

However, there can be seen a deeper reason for her refusal. She may have refused Randall because she did not want to marry him solely for his money (“Never, never! not for millions! “). She may not want to marry someone she doesn’t love. She is refusing financial security and a possible liberty, if Randall died and left her his legacy, for her ideal of love and marriage. She is ashamed for not loving him in spite of his change but she cannot stand the idea of marrying him for his money and with the prospect of his death.

News of the Engagement deals also with the women’s position in the society, but contrary to The Unexpected which deals with love and marriage, Bennett’s story discusses the mother-son relationship and argues for a new view on motherhood. It is a story of a young man coming home to spend Christmas with his widowed mother. His anxiety is due to his fear of announcing to his mother his recent engagement to a young woman. Even though he “wrote to [his] mother regularly” and talked about all his friends, he thinks he cannot write in a letter that he is falling in love.

It demonstrates quite clearly the distance there was between mothers and sons at this time: sons were supposed to be obedient and respectful but didn’t generally feel close or emotionally linked to their mothers. Philip thinks he is “all [his] mother had”. He never imagines she could have a futur or a life outside her lonely house. In spite of many clues his mother gives him once he is home, he never considers for a while the secret she’s hinding doesn’t concern him. Therefore, he is more than astonished when he finds out the reason for his mothers strange behavior was her own engagement to Mr Nixon, an old friend of the family’s.

Philip’s behavior is rather egocentric and would be condemned in our society. However, in the 19th century, it would be normal for a woman to have only two roles: that of a spouse and later on, that of a mother. Sarah wasn’t expected to have a life of her own, and even if her widowhood gave her some independence, her son amongst other people never thought she could remarry and live a life outside her house. Philip realizes his wrong perception of women and, through him, Arnold Bennett points out the ability of change of view on motherhood. Thomas Hardy and Elizabeth Gaskell write each in their own way but there is one theme which links them.

They depict women’s traditional position in society as that of dependant, financially and morally, forced to marry or help their family in the house and unable to make their own decisions. Tony Kytes, the Arch-Deceiver is a humoristic story by Thomas Hardy, told in a Wessex dialect by a carrier, which adds to the witty tone of the narrative. Tony Kytes is an attractive man who is “quite the women’s favourite”. He is engaged to Milly Richards, “a nice, small, tender, little thing”. One Saturday, when he was driving home, he sees Unity Sallet, another handsome girl, one of the women he had been seeing before Milly.

She asks him to take her home and soon Tony is asking himself what had he ever seen in Milly. On the way, he encounters Milly and Hannah Jolliver, and not wanting the girls to see each other, he asks Unity and Milly to hide under the corn sacks. Not being able to resist Hannah’s beauty and charm, he declares, so that the other two girls can hear it, that he wants to marry her. However, when his father calls upon him to give him advice on his situation, he gives the reins to Hannah who cannot “hold the horse in”. The accident that follows is the cause of Hannah’s scratch on her face.

In the discussion that ensues, Hannah refuses Tony’s proposal, partly because she was bleeding and partly because her father tells her to do so. The influence of her father on her is very marked and corresponds to the influence fathers had ontheir daughters in 19th century. As Hannah, refuses him, Tony proposes to Unity, the second most beautiful girl. She is the proudest of the three as she doesn’t want Hannah’s “leavings”. However, even if her natural pride rejects Tony, her practical part regrets it as she “looked back… to see if he was following her”.

Tony found himself alone with Milly who needs no persuasion to accept his proposal by answering “If you like, Tony”. She is the most submissive one, that is also the reason why Tony’s father recommends her. Throughout the story, she does everything Tony tells her to do (“I’ve come to meet you as you asked me to”, “since you asked me”, “I don’t mind to oblige you”). She is the perfect representation of women at this time, willing to obey men entirely in the only goal to get married for financial security. The Half Brothers by Elizabeth Gaskell is a story about Helen, the narrator’s mother.

The story is set in Scotland in a rural area. Helen got married at the tender age of seventeen and had two children with her first husband. However, after only three years of marriage, her husband and her daugher died. This left her with her newly-born son. This burden was very painful and she consoled herself in her demeasured love to her son. Her elder sister Fanny took care of her and Gregory. It was a very difficult situation to live as Helen’s husband didn’t leave her any money. The two sisters had to work for sewing-merchants but that was very little money, as they were women.

But Helen’s eyesight began to fail and she could no longer do this work. Fanny was a typical unmarried woman at this time, she devoted her whole life to her family and helped them as she could with her meagre income. It was at this time that William Preston, an “old bachelor” and “one of the wealthiest farmers thereabouts” asked Helen to marry him. Helen didn’t love him and her heart broke when he proposed to her, as shes obviously hadn’t forgotten her previous husband. However, she could not continue living the way she did as she did not have any means to support herself and her son.

In addition, “William Preston… had promised to take good charge of her boy, and to let him want for nothing”. “As William Preston’s wife she would never need to do anything” and “there would be a decent, steady man to see after [her and Gregory]”. She acted as most women in her time were forced to act. She was a very dutiful wife afterwards but her husband sensed she did not love him. He reproached her not being “in the same mind that he was” when she defended Gregory. At this, she took to her bed too early and gave birth to a son. However, she died a few days later.

William never came over his grudge against Gregory and prefers his real son. At the end, Gregory dies saving his half-brother, an act at which his father realizes all his sins against his stepson. Gaskell deals wih the same theme as Thomas Hardy, however she is far more sensible and serious. She shows what terrible consequences can a marriage have when the woman goes into it only for financial security for her or her children. She is convinced that love and marriage should never be separated and the only reason they were, is the wrong position of women in her society.