Hardy and Hill both present the reader with female characters who are isolated and ostracized by society. Compare and contrast the ways in which both writers deal with these themes.

Have a little read: ... Jennifer Hardie. 11H. Hardy and Hill both present the reader with female characters who are isolated and ostracized by society. Compare and contrast the ways in which both writers deal with these themes. Susan Hill and Thomas Hardy are clearly both interested in the role of women and their position in society. The female protagonists, in `I'm the King of the Castle and `The Withered Arm', are insecure as they lack a man to provide them with social status and respect. As a consequence of their troubled pasts, they are rejected from society, and are both left vulnerable and desperate. Helena Kingshaw represents a certain class of women in post-war England, the setting for Susan Hill's novel, who found themselves lacking the emotional and financial support of a man. The superstition in those days left these genteel, unskilled women in a shameful position. Society rejected those spurned by men and many became objects of gossip of a malicious nature. Similar nonsensical teachings in Victorian times, the setting for `The Withered Arm', also left abandoned women, such as Rhoda Brook, viewed as social outcasts. Thomas Hardy is clearly sympathetic to such women, especially those reaching the stages of their lives where he suggests, through a careful adjective selection "worn", they may be becoming desperate for a husband. He seems to consider them as isolated victims of the stereotypical image of women as a possession, classed by looks and fortune, and his novel exposes the hypocrisy in society. The isolation of the female protagonists is immediately obvious in their places of residence. Warings is "some distance away from any other house" and Brook lives in "a lonely spot high above the water meads". Also, references to their past hint at their isolated feelings, "Tis hard for she", and this is confirmed in how they act around others. Brook's way of coping is to silently work "somewhat apart from the rest." Conversely, Kingshaw tends to babble and desperately try to please others and make a new start in life. Hill's language choices for Mrs. Kingshaw's affected speeches reflect her desperation to belong to a certain class. This is the opposite of Brook, who would rather survive without pity and stay in isolation. Neither woman ever admits that it is isolation and loneliness which make them act as they do, for example, their unusual attitudes towards their sons. Kingshaw practises superficial mothering gestures,