Thomas Hardy 
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 ‘The Withered Arm’ are Rhoda Brooke and Gertrude Lodge, and from the beginning of the story the two women are contrasted because of their appearances.