Who was most to blame for the outcome of On the Western Circuit Essay Example For Students

Who was most to blame for the outcome of On the Western Circuit Essay On the Western Circuit is a short story written by Thomas Hardy, one of Britains greatest novelists. Hardy was born on June 2, 1840 in Higher Brockhampton, Dorset. He wrote novels such as Far from the Maddening Crowd, Tess of the dUrbervilles and Jude the Obscure. I will be answering the question of who was the most to blame for the outcome of On the Western Circuit and possible reasons for each character to hold the most responsibility. I will also be explaining why I sympathise with the characters. The main characters are Raye, a well off lawyer from London who captures the heart of Anna, a simple country girl from the small village of Melchester. Edith, who is Annas mistress and guardian, is also very taken by Raye, and ends up falling in love with him. Raye and Anna end up married because Anna becomes pregnant, much to the dismay of Edith and Raye who is by this time in love with Edith. Raye feels that it is his duty to marry Anna, even though he is not in love with her. The story is set in Victorian times, and Hardy was very interested in the strict moral attitudes of Victorian society, and peoples behaviour who are of different social backgrounds. The story starts when Raye meets Anna at the steam fair, and they start to have a relationship together. Annas older mistress, Edith Harnham, falls in love with Raye, without him realising, when their hands accidentally touch at the fair. Edith longs for Raye, although she knows that because she is married, and so much older than him, they could never be lovers. Raye returns to his work place in London wishing only to keep contact with Anna through letters, and the occasional visit to her when he is on the Western Circuit. Little does he know that Anna cannot read or write very well, so she gets Mrs Harnham to write letters to him from her. We later find out that Raye had made Anna pregnant while he was with her, and Edith sends him an urgent letter telling him this, but urges him not to rush down and disrupt his busy schedule. Raye feels obliged to marry Anna, and does so in a small ceremony in London. Soon after this, Raye finds out that it has been Edith writing letters to him, signed with Annas name, and that he had been deceived. It is at this point when Edith confesses that she has fallen in love with him. Raye also admits that he feels the same way about her, but remains married to Anna although he is not happy and thus the story ends. At the opening of the story, we first meet Raye who is on his way to the funfair. Hardy describes the fair vividly, and shows it to be a place of temptation because this is where Raye was tempted by Anna, revolving on the hobbyhorse. Her beauty tempted him as Raye describes her as unmistakably the prettiest girl. Hardy shows the fair to be a place where you can let your hair down, and it is a welcome change from the strict Victorian morality. Hardy writes that Raye threw himself into harmony with his new surroundings by lighting a short pipe, and by putting his hat on one side. This shows that Raye was trying to fit in and look like one of the country folk. Hardy describes it as a chaotic place because of human figures darting athwart and across, up, down and around. The words A smoky glare shows the confusion surrounding the fair, and Hardy created the image by appealing to all senses and describing, the clanging of gongs, the ringing of hand bells and the undistinguishable shouts of men. He is telling you what Raye can hear, as well as see. The fair and the Cathedral contrast with each other because the cathedral is seen as a very orderly, house of God, whereas the fair is seen as a place where sin can be indulged, and disorder is compulsory. The Victorian attitude at the time regards fun as something only to be had by simple country folk. The quote a greater contrast between juxtaposed scenes proves that the two places are very different from each other. The fair could be seen as a symbol of hell, with all the pleasure and freedom that could be experienced there, with the symbol of heaven being the cathedral. The word inferno that Hardy uses to describe the fair could be linked to the inferno of hell. I think he is trying to describe it as a fantasyland, because riders of the hobbyhorses were quite fascinated by the undulations in this most delightful holiday-game. It is almost like a dream world. The meaning of the story EssayThis was the first time she had experienced true love, and she got carried away with this. Another point is that she deceived Anna by not telling her about her true feelings for Raye. She also deceived Raye because she agreed to write to him, pretending to be Anna, overcoming her better judgement. She felt bound to accede because she had not stopped the relationship so far, and she cared for Anna, and wanted to help her as much as she could. Also in my opinion, Edith could have stopped the marriage because she was aware of the whole truth, and could have persuaded Anna to call off the wedding. She did not do this because as I said, she cared for Anna, and in my opinion, did not want to cause her any unhappiness. On the other hand Edith was trapped in a loveless marriage and her marriage was not fulfilling and the text says that she led a lonely life, so I can sympathise with her for wanting a little excitement. She felt responsible for Anna, and did show kindness for her by not to telling Raye at first that she loved him. I think that she regarded Anna as a daughter, and Anna regarded her as her mother. Society could have affected the characters opinions and actions. Single motherhood in Victorian times was looked at as socially unacceptable. If Raye had left Anna instead of marrying her, she would not have had any benefits, and would probably have been shunned by society. Ediths husband had already said that he thought is twas time that Anna was married. Divorce was also seen as social unacceptable in the days when this story was written. In Victorian times, it was also common for men to be aloud more sexual freedom than women, and sleep with who ever they wanted. Raye shows this by telling Anna when they first meet that he prefers the country to the town because it contained such girls as herself. This shows that Raye doesnt find it hard to attract women and sleep with them. The outcome of the story would also been affected in the fact that when Edith was younger, she would have been urged by her parents to marry at a young age, and as the text says, her husband was a pis aller which means last resort. She realised when it was too late that she had made a mistake in her choice of husband. There was a lot of fate involved in the overall outcome of the story, because if Raye had decided to visit the Cathedral instead of the church, none of this fiasco would have happened. I also think that if Edith had not gone looking for Anna at the fair and seen Raye, and their hands hadnt accidentally touched, she would not have developed her unstoppable desire for him. The story reflects Hardys obvious pessimistic view on life. Hardy describes love as something that often leads up to passion, heart-ache, union, disunion, devotion, overpopulation, drudgery, content, resignation, despair. This shows that Hardy does not have a very optimistic view on love in general. The ending of the story also shows this because Edith and Raye end up in a loveless marriage. I think if this storyline were used for a soap opera nowadays, the plot would possibly end in Raye running off with Edith, or possibly Edith seeking revenge on Anna by killing her, or ruining her marriage. This sort of ending would not have been used in Victorian times though because it would have been seen as outrageous by society. In conclusion, I feel that Edith holds most responsibility for the outcome of the story. I think she could have prevented Raye and Anna seeing each other, or explained to Anna how Raye really felt about her. She failed to protect Anna and became obsessive. I also do not think she should have admitted to Raye about her love for him after the wedding, because in my opinion he would have been better off not knowing so he wouldnt be able to wish that he had run away with her. I feel most sympathetic for Anna who did not know of all the things going on behind her back, like Ediths love for Raye, and Raye only marrying her because of her baby.