In terms of Victorian literature, few authors are more synonymous with the era's literature than Thomas Hardy. Though most well-known for his poetry, Hardy was also quite an accomplished short story writer as well. In ENGL 335: Studies in Victorian Literature, four of his short stories were studied: "An Imaginative Woman," "The Withered Arm," "Alicia's Diary," and "On the Western Circuit."
All four stories primarily focus on the stories of women, and these women are all experiencing upheaval in their romantic relationships, particularly if and where marriage is concerned. As evidenced in all four of these stories, Hardy was a particular fan of the love triangle, as some form of this trope is present in each of the short stories discussed. Ella Marchmill is already married to a rather dull man, but she is absolutely infatuated by the work and the soul of her fellow tenant Robert Trewe, though she has never actually met him. Rhoda Brook's vengeance and initial hard feelings take a physical and emotional toll on her lover's new wife, Gertrude. Alicia's sister Caroline falls in love suddenly and deeply, but her beau has eyes only for Alicia when he finally meets the family. And Anna falls for a man she meets at the fair, but needs her friend Edith to maintain correspondence with him because she is illiterate, leading to a very complicated, convoluted mess indeed. And of course, it can be assumed that nothing goes well for any of these women or their respective beaus. Betrayal, emotional affairs, sadness, and death are par for the course when it comes to these Hardy short stories.
This exhibit analyzes items that pertain to the characters and plots of these four stories, as well as how they and the stories contribute to an overall grim, if not cynical, outlook on relationships and marriage that was endemic to the work of Thomas Hardy.