Wessex Tales

In this essay Thomas Hardy portrays women in his book Wessex Tales. The prestige of women and their appearances were of paramount importance. A woman's role in society during and after the 1840s was to appear very decorous towards men. The two main female characters in the story "e;The Withered Arm"e; are Rhoda Brooke and Gertrude Lodge, and from the beginning of the story the two women are contrasted because of their appearances.