From reading the selected pre-1914 Essay Example for Free

From reading the selected pre-1914 EssayThe Return of the Native (pg 414 447) near end of novel From reading the above, what do you learn of inflexibles use of glorious description, dramatic incident and reference to Nineteenth coke customs and traditions? Which of the troika pieces was your favourite and why? From reading the two extracts and the paper, I can see that the main(prenominal) difference in the book is how life is in the book compared to our modern 21st century. People in the 19th century depended truly heavily on agriculture and farming especially in Wessex, where nearly all of insolents novels were set. Wages for agricultural labourers were the lowest in the country in Dorset, averaging out at the diversenessred of 37p a week in 1840. Magic and superstition was rife in the 19th century, and many people believedin dark powers. Every village in Wessex was so-called to have their own witch. Magic play a big role in two of the stories which I am studying, The Withered Arm, and The Return of the Native. People who committed crimes in the 19th century were severely punished.Poachers were transported to Australia to do hard labour, night burglary was punishable by death. Hangings were still very popular in the 19th century and any hanging was an excuse for a holiday. Class systems in the 19th century were very rigid not many people succeeded in base up to a higher class, but Thomas Hardy was one of the few people who managed to do this. Thomas Hardy uses vivid description in all of his novels and short stories, including the novels which I am studying, in partiallyicular The Mayor of Casterbridge.At the beginning of the chapter, we have an close to cinematic view, as if a photographic camera is zooming in on the three travellers, describing them from afar at first, consequently in more detail as we begin to see them from closer up. We can almost feel the tension between the two adults, when Hardy says What was really peculiar was the perfect silence they preserved. In The Withered Arm, Hardy uses vivid description very hard-hittingly when description Rhoda Brooks vision. He uses words such as Peered cruelly and shockingy distorted to imply that Gertrude is taunting her for being cast aside and then Gertrude taking her place as Farmer Lodges married woman. This vivid description is also linked to dramatic incident as it is a key chapter in the fiction, and Hardy uses adjectives to trace Rhodas intake, it makes us feel as though we are actually there, watching this distorted version of Gertrude attacking Rhoda, so Hardys descriptions are very effective in this chapter of the book.Also, at the beginning of the story, we learn a lot from the dairy workers in the farm, who gossip. They gossip about Farmer Lodges new wife and they try to recall how old Farmer Lodge is, all the while ignoring Rhoda Brook, Farmer Lodges ex-wife. In The Return of the Native, when the superstitious Susan creates a voodoo doll resembling Eustacia, Hardys use of vivid description is effective when Susan thrusts pins in the doll, and then puts it in the firem murmuring the Lords Prayer backwards which was a proceed which called for help against an enemy.Magic played a key part in this story Susan believed that Eustacia was making her son ill, because at the exact moment that he said he was tincture unwell, Eustacias dark shadow crossed the twinkle from her house, but this was just a coincidence. Also, in The Return of the Native, when Eustacia falls into the pool of water near weir, Hardy uses sad fallacy, which is when thus farts in the natural world mirror what is going on in the human world.In this case, Eustacia is very depressed and unhappy, so the weather is atrochiously stormy, raining and windy. Because, it has rained so much, the pool has created a whirlpool, and Eustacia falls in. To describe the scene more effectively, Hardy uses metaphors such as Boiling cauldron, referring to the whirpool , the electric current, and emphasising the amount of water in the pool. Hardys use of dramatic incident in all three of his stories manage to shape the whole story, especially in The Mayor of Casterbridge.In turn over amin the dramatic incident in the extract is when Michael Henchard sells his wife at vendue when he becomes drunk. The day after, Michael realises how stupid he has been and vows never to touch another drop of alcohol for however many years as his age. I think this is very effective because the day after Michael sells his wife and baby, he realises that alcohol changed him into something he doesnt want to be. In The Mayor of Casterbridge, when Hardy uses dramatic incident, we learn that Hardy builds up suspension before the dramatic climax.When Michael Henchard is trying to sell his wife and baby at auction, nobody will bid the price that he is tone for, then just as Michael is going to withdraw Yes. said a voice from the doorway. The man in the doorway was in fa ct, a sailor. He bought Michaels wife for five guineas, and she left, leaving us with the impression that she is glad that she has got away from her husband at last. Hardy uses lots of dialect to show exactly how Michael Henchard feels about his current state of affairs The woman is no good to me. Who will have her? When Michael is trying to sell his wife, Hardy describes Michaels distaste for her effectively, and when he finally does sell her, hitherto the rough country people in the tent are surprised that he let his wife and child go without a second glance. In The Withered Arm, I think there are two main dramatic incidents Rhoda Brooks dream, and Gertrudes turning of her blood, when she sees that the young man who has been hanged is, in fact, Rhodas son. When Rhoda has a dream that Gertrude visits her to mock her, Gertrude looks ugly and old.Hardy used use of vivid description works effectively in making us understand that Gertrude has come to mock her because Rhoda has been re placed by her in Farmer Lodges affections. Hardys use of verbs work well in this incident, using words such as thrust, swung, and peered cruelly to create a feeling of hate between Rhoda and the figure come to visit her at night. The other dramatic incident in The Withered Arm is when Gertrude travels to get her arm corned by holding her arm against a newly hanged mans neck, who is in fact Rhodas son.Hardys use of dialect again gives and extra depth to the story, when Rhoda walks in when Gertrudes blood is in the process of being turned This is the meaning of what Satan showed me in the vision Rhoda shouts. Hardys use of the word Satan, emphasizes the hatred Rhoda has for Gertrude and perhaps jealousy, for stealing her husband although Gertrudes character is kind and gentle. In The Return of the Native, the main dramatic incident is when Eustacia falls into the whirlpool and Clym Yeobright and Wildeve try to save her, but fail.Three bodies are pulled out, and only one, Clym, surv ives. Referring again to pathetic fallacy, the weather is awful when Eustacia falls into the boiling cauldron. The slow realisation that Wildeve was actually holding on to Clym when Diggory Venn was seemingly just pulling Clym out creates images of horror. My favourite story is The Withered Arm, because I like Hardys use of magic in Rhodas vision, how Gertrudes arm became deformed because of this. Gertrude obviously has no idea how this happened.Hardys use of vivid description in the book is very effective throughout, but especially in Rhodas vision. Rhoda is obsessed with the idea of Farmer Lodge being with another woman, and sends her son to look at Gertrude and report back to her. When he says that Gertrude is shorter that Rhoda, she seems pleased and smug about herself. I like the way how Hardy has interlinked everything, e. g. Rhodas sons father is Farmer Lodge, the young man who was hanged was Rhodas son.I think it is a very clever story, and at the end, Gertrude dies at the f right of seeing Rhodas son dead, lying limp in the coffin. I think that the story shows that Rhoda is perhaps so obsessed about Farmer Lodge and Gertrude it is almost unhealthy, and because of this, maybe this is why she had the vision in the first place. I learn that Gertrude is forgiving, even though when she went to see Conjuror Trendle and he created the concoction of egg white and water, Rhodas image formed. Gertrude was surprised, but she doesnt question it because she had no idea that Rhoda had anything to do with her arm.