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Breaking The Mold : A Feminine Perspective

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Breaking the Mold: A Feminine Perspective
He wanted to avoid the “the jeweled line” like many modernist, Thomas Hardy pursued to be called “dissonances, and other irregularities” (Ramazani and Stallworthy). Hardy’s childhood was in the Victorian Era but paved the way for the Modern Period. Yet, his works appear diverse in comparison to the Victorian Era for they have become known as disbelieving, harsh, and realistic. His works also challenged the standard of English with his contorted syntax, irregular, and intricate stanza formats. One of Hardy’s famous novels is The Return of The Native, which involves “two pairs of mismatched lovers” (Hardy). The novel immediately opens to Diggory Vann escorting Thomasin Yeobright to the rural village …show more content…

To begin, the British social class was based on “matches” with a high influence of money for a couple to be considered “successful” in the Victorian Era. As stated by Penny Boumelha “… the concern with cross-romance demonstrates that the novel’s representation of gender relations and differences is made more dense and complex by it sensitivity to the issue of power and hierarchy more commonly understood to relate to class” (Introduction 20-21). The novel displays the social class such as Ms. Thomasin’s betrothal to Mr. Wildeve with her aunt’s approval. Another example, in discussing the marriage between the Eustacia and Clym, Hardy states, “The feelings of both husband and wife varied, in some measure, inversely with their positions” (Hardy 251). Yet, the entire plot line of the story is surrounded by the Victorian standard of the social class. However, Diggory Venn tries to change his faith by purposing to Thomasin, but he seeks her guardian’s permission who quickly dismissed his offer. For the reddlemam (a person who sells red dye to farmers and shepherds for their sheep) tries to impress her aunt but her response is, “I am much obliged to you for your interest in my niece; but I fear there would be objections” (Hardy 97). However, at the end of the novel Diggory breaks the traditional societal thoughts on marriage for he ends up marrying Thomasin due to an unfortunate circumstance and genuine

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