Prose study. In order to compare the literary styles of Dickens and Hardy I will use 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens and 'The Withering Arm' by Thomas Hardy. 'The Signalman' features a lonely train signalman who works in signal box by a railway cutting. He has been visited by a ... Rhoda, and she is detached from her husband due to her withered arm. Gertrude feels isolated and I think this is a situation that Hardy sympathises with. Hardy may also have views about rejection. This is shown where Gertrude sees Rhoda and Mr Lodge's son walking along the road and asks Mr ... in our own head a...

• Word Count: 2219
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... followed by, "He ha"n't spoke to Rhoda Brook for years" Thus we now learn that whatever their connection, it is now over, and done so by the farmer's will. Hence, Thomas Hardy has revealed Rhoda's plight slowly and through others views. She, akin to Tom, does not speak but gets her private life described by the community, for us to judge. The ... at least some, slight provocation, where as Tom was utterly innocent. Rhoda got pregnant by the rich farmer, which in the 21st century would not be considered terrible, but when Hardy wrote, in 1888, it would have led to the downfall of a respe...

• Word Count: 2388
• Approx Pages: 10

... . The tale is classed as a short story as is "The Withered Arm" which is a story about witchcraft in Dorchester during the 18th century. This book was written by the author Thomas Hardy and published in 1888. Although the stories were written in different centuries and tell of different circumstances there are many similarities between them involving outsiders, loneliness, the roles of women ... "The Withered Arm" as many words in the story such as "lorn" and "wellnigh" are not commonly used in the writing today so help set a date to the story. Because Hardy was brought up in Dorset and ...

• Word Count: 1524
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School