Hardy and Wilde's Presentation of the Fallen Woman - Report Example

A FALLEN WOMAN Introduction Both Wilde and Hardy present elevation of social status as something to aspire to. Characters in both pieces have the will to strive so as to climb the ladder of success. The struggle to acquire social status can be associated with the respect such people gain. A number of characters in Wilde’s work have managed to acquire that social status hence gained a lot of popularity and acceptance. A good example is Mrs. Arbuthnot, who has fallen in some parts of her life but struggles to maintain respected1. Hardy has a different way of portraying the type of woman Tess is by fully describing her physical nature and sensuousness. He depicts the type of woman Tess portrays by putting it her description in the story. In a very good manner, he uses narration to highlight facts about women. Hardy provokes more sympathy through his portrayal of Tess than Wilde because of the systematic way he shows her suffering. First, Tess is in a relationship that she expects to work out, but has a secret that when revealed can destroy the relationship. Hardy explains the way Alec got hold of Tess while in the woods and molested her without caring about the consequences2. Hardy could have chosen to minimize the suffering for this woman, but instead adds on more. Angel, Tess partner, leaves for Brazil on realizing that she was raped leaving her without somebody to nurse her wounded heart. Tess wishes that Alec was a lusty young farmer instead of being that entire Angel hated. Probably, the idea of being just a farmer would have lessened Angel’s heart into forgiving her. Peak of emotional sympathy happens when she had to get executed for murdering Alec. In my opinion, she deserved to get pardoned because her actions towards Alec were based on the pain she felt and the pain he had caused her. Hardy brings more sympathy in the way he portrays Tess as the neglected woman. She is left to give birth in her village despite that her child is of a very wealthy man. Despite having just delivered, she has to ensure her survival by working as a field hand which leads to the death of her child. Hardy ensures that Tess’ misfortunes are elaborated in a narrated way. On the other hand, Wilde uses a number of characters to portray a fallen woman. The main character could be Mrs. Arbuthnot since she holds a dark secret of how she failed to stop her affair with the lord master. Her affair led to the emergence of a son out of wedlock. Wilde’s character does not provoke a lot of sympathy since; she has acquired a respectable name and lives a good life. Mrs. Allonby has had a lot of controversies in her life resulting to a flirtatious lady. Miss Hester can be used to portray a fallen woman since she is an orphan and has had to witness the shortcomings of life, despite being an heiress3. In addition, Jane can be identified as an indication of a fallen woman in the piece because the way she argues her points. Her arguments depict a woman of great ignorance and lack of education. Tess is used to show the different suffering women undergo and the how painful events can concurrently occur in a person’s life4. Hardy uses her to show the different ways in which women are treated in the society. During a conversation with Alec, Tess tries to bring out her own thinking about theology by rejecting sign writers words of condemnation. Her argument is purely ignored Hardy simply because he thought her agnosticism could be attributed to just a replication of angels. The fact that Tess’ ideas are not made up to something shows how the author used Tess to depict women in certain societies. In contrast, Mrs. Arbuthnot is a woman who lost her husband but has gained a lot of respect from the people of her village. Her respect s earned from helping the poor and her neglect to associate with various people in social gatherings. Tess is identified as woman with sixth grade training in understanding and reproducing arguments. She seems intelligent and could have prospered as teacher if she was given a chance. This proves that she was useful and people had some reasons to believe in her. However, the writers contradict this fact when Tess is referred to as a vessel that needed absolute training. She is presented as a woman of deep feeling rather than a thinking woman; a depiction that diminishes women and portrays them as non-thinkers. Currently, Hardy writing has received a lot of criticism based on this argument because it is believed to bring out feminism. Hardy and Wilde have different views about their characters when it comes to matters of being an ideal woman. In his writing, Hardy has acknowledged Tess as a more woman than either of the rest. He writes that she seems to have a higher degree of femininity since her sensory impressions are not similar to anyone else’5. In contrast, Wilde does not use such beautiful words to describe an ideal woman in his work. His description of an ideal woman shows that good women have very few ideas about life, and their beginning is so small to an extent that it is of their best interest to appear pretty. Both writers have succeeded in showing that a lot of women have had their shortcomings related to relationships and marriage. A number of characters by these two writers have been involved in unfruitful relationships that resulted to children born out of wedlock. In addition, they are not treated with the respect they deserve. Tess’ relationship with Alec is not as expected since he sees her as an object of sex. This is the reason he ignores Tess’ feelings and opts to rape her in the woods claiming that women are supposed to submit to all that men want. He continues to say that women must succumb to men, if not to their charms, to their might. For this reason, a fallen woman shows that men are more of masters whereas women are servants. These ideas precariously idealize women and assist in lessening the identity of women as complex individuals. In their description of social life, both authors reach a certain limit of sympathy. However, it is essential to note that Hardy has achieved greater success than Wilde in gaining sympathy for his characters through his writing. The relationship between Tess and Alec is shown as a forced relationship and a lot of sympathy goes to Tess. This can be attributed to possible facts of mistreatment to the extent of getting raped. Most of the characters are in not in favor of these deeds hence provoking the reader to sympathize with Tess. In Wilde a woman of no importance, Mrs. Arbuthnot can escape facts about being a fallen woman since she is able to make her own decisions and lead a good life6. In a monologue she confesses how much she loathes the man she is supposed to love because of the ways he dishonors her. Wilde is not successful in bringing out the pain that this character has because she seems confident and not broken down. Conclusion Hardy and Wilde have tried to point out a good idea of a fallen woman. In my opinion, Tess as depicted by Hardy is the only character who has had continued challenges leading to success of the authors work as of a fallen woman. References Logan, D. A. (1998). Fallenness in Victorian womens writing. Washington D.C: University of Missouri Press. Wilde, O. (1999). A Woman of No Importance. New York: Sage Publishers. Read More