Composed by JK Durrani Following short stories summaries such as:- A cup of tea The Devoted Friend The Nightingale and the Red Rose The Three Strangers The Withered Arm

1. A CUP OF TEA
Summary:
"A Cup of Tea" by Katherine Mansfield is a story about a woman named
Rosemary, a rich woman who learns a lesson in materialism. The young, wealthy
Rosemary decided to do some shopping, so she stops by a florist and an antique
store.
The shopkeeper at the antique store always saves his best treasures for Rosemary
as he seems to adore her. During this visit, he shows her a trinket kept in a velvet
box, which fascinates her. After asking him to keep it for her, she leaves the shop.
Outside the shop, Rosemary stops and has feelings of longing even though she has
more money than one could hope for. While on the street, Rosemary is approached
by a young girl named Miss Smith who asks her for money for a cup of tea.
Rosemary is astounded and brings the girl back home with her. She feeds Miss
Smith and invites her to stay. When Rosemary's husband Philip comes home,
however, things quickly change as he tells his wife how pretty Miss Smith is.
Rosemary's intentions for the girl quickly change and she gives her money and
sends on her way. After the girl leaves, Rosemary asks Philip to buy her the velvet
box and he agrees. She then gets to the heart of the matter and asks him if she is
pretty.
Q:What are the themes in "A Cup of Tea" by Katherine Mansfield?
A: One theme in Katherine Mansfield's "A Cup of Tea" is how the aristocracy
treats other people. Another theme is how the aristocracy, despite their wealth, is
insecure and often projects onto others the attributes they hate about themselves. In
her singular concern for status and wealth, Rosemary represents the aristocracy.
The wealthy Rosemary Fells invites the poor Miss Smith home with her after she
asks for enough money to buy a cup of tea. She thinks she is being charitable by
inviting the poor girl home, but she really wants the chance to show off her lavish
lifestyle. In order to feel good about herself and what she has, she needs others to
tell her how good she has it. While chatting with Miss Smith, she considers the
differences in their lives and considers herself lucky.

2. Rosemary's husband, Philip, is not happy to find Miss Smith in his home. He asks
his wife to kick her out, but Rosemary refuses to do it, having promised to care for
her. Rosemary changes her mind after Philip tells her that he finds Miss Smith
attractive. Convinced that the poor girl could seduce Philip and displace her,
Rosemary kicks her out. She is unwilling to sacrifice what she has for Miss Smith,
and she knows that in Miss Smith's position, she'd likely do the same.
Rosemary Fell is the main character in the story ‗A Cup of Tea‘, written by
Katherine Mansfield. She explored the inner recesses of the human psyche. Her
short stories dramatize human emotions creating situations, which are at once
tender and brittle. ‗A Cup of Tea‘ is one of her most popular short stories. In this
story Mansfield focuses on the working of a woman‘s mind when her romantic
dreams come into conflict with reality. In this way she dramatizes small the effect
that small human failings like jealousy can have.
Character of Rosemary:
Rosemary Fell, the main character, is an extremely rich lady and not just
comfortably rich. The author brings out this point by writing that Rosemary went
shopping to Paris from London. She bought loads of flowers from one of the most
fashionable streets in London. At the shop too she would throw her weight around
by telling them her likes and dislikes. She was a snobbish kind of a person. She
had the antique shop, from which she shopped, to herself and thus always preferred
to go there. And the shopkeeper too kept flattering her by which she was carried
away.
‗Rosemary ‗, according to the author, ‗was not exactly beautiful‘, but she could be
called ‗pretty‘ if one examined her closely. She was young, brilliant extremely
modern and a well-dressed lady. In addition to these qualities, Rosemary was a
vain person. She couldn‘t help noticing the charm of her hands against the blue
velvet, while she was shopping in the antique shop.
Rosemary loved reading books and novels. She would read all the latest books. But
the negative aspect of this habit of hers is that she was always lost in the world of
dreams, fantasy and romanticism. She did not know about the realities of the
world. When a beggar girl came to Rosemary for alms for a cup of tea, she was
surprised at the poverty of the girl that she couldn‘t even afford a cup of tea. She

3. felt as if this event was a part of some novel and lost in her romantic world, she
took the girl that wonderful things do happen and fairy godmothers were real. Also
that, rich people too have hearts and all women were sisters.
Rosemary was an impulsive woman. She didn‘t think before she acted. She did
prove this when she took the beggar-girl home without thinking of the reaction of
her husband and other servants at her house. The author points out certain
superficial attitudes and lack of serious-mindedness in Rosemary. She present the
picture of an extrovert at peace with herself and the world.
In the last part of the story the romantic world in which Rosemary lived, came into
conflict with the realistic world. A word of praise for the girl from Rosemary‘s
husband, Philip, makes Rosemary jealous. She felt insecure although her husband
adored her. She became restless. She forgot all the dreams she had for that beggar-
girl and sent her away with a present of money. Thus jealousy, the universal
human failing, turns her into a hard realist. Infect it is here that she succeeds in
giving a humanistic touch to her character.
To conclude one can say that the character of Rosemary is well portrayed. One can
find traces of realism in Rosemary as we do find shallow women around us. Yet
her transformation into humanism in the end makes one feel sorry for her, though
we may not like her. The main themes of class consciousness and feminism have
been developed through the character of Rosemary Fell.
THE DEVOTED FRIEND BY OSCAR WILD
Introduction
The Devoted Friend is an interesting short story of two friends having
different temperaments and different conceptions of devoted friendship
written by Oscar Wilde. He was one of the most eminent and elegant
writers of the 19th century. The story is both tender and profound in its
treatment of the comically one-sided friendship between poor Hans and
the rich Miller.

4. Summary
The story is narrated by a songbird to a water rat and a duck. There are
two characters in the story little Hans and Hugh the miller.
Little Hans was a simple, innocent, kind-hearted and sincere fellow. He
was a hard working gardener and earned his living by selling the fruits
and flowers into the market of the town. Hugh the miller was a rich but
clever and selfish man. He always claimed that he was a devoted friend
of little Hans.
In the summer season, the miller would go to the garden of Hans and
bring plenty of flowers and fruit without making him any payment. He
never gave anything to Hans. Hugh the miller repeatedly exploited Hans.
Sometimes, he sent Hans to Market with a heavy sack of flour.
Sometimes, he asked Hans to drive his flock of sheep to the mountains
for grazing. He would also ask Hans to work on his flourmill or do some
work of repair in his barn.
In return, he merely made a promise to give his invalid and damaged
wheelbarrow to Hans, free of cost. The miller called it an act of great
generosity. Unfortunately, the promise was never materialized.
It is so happened that on a rough and stormy night, Hugh the miller sent
little Hans to bring the doctor because the miller‘s little son had been
seriously injured. As usual, little Hans showed compliance and left for
the doctor‘s home as he could never think of displeasing the miller.
When poor Hans was returning with the doctor, the storm grew fiercer
and he lost his way in the dangerous rocky region. He stranded on the
moor and fell into a deep pool of water, where he was drowned. In this
way, the innocent fellow lost his life for the sake miller.

5. Moral
The story suggests that friendship is a noble and respectable bond based
on bilateral love and cooperation. Mutual interest is the essence of true
friendship.
Title & year of publication: The Happy Prince and Other Stories
(1888).
Author: Oscar Wilde
Genre & theme: Fairy tale. It‘s a story for children while it has brought
out some moral issues about friendship — what it meant by friendship,
and how some beautiful phrases about friendship could be used for evil
purposes, and how a man can take advantage of someone‘s innocence to
do things for his own benefits.
Main characters: Little Hans, Water-rat, the Duck, Linnet (the story-
teller), the Miller and Miller‘s wife.
Plot summary: The Miller took an advantage of Little Hans‘ innocence
to do something good for him. Little Han‘s was overworked and he was
drowned to die because of the Miller, but the Miller didn‘t seem to feel
regretful.
Narrative style: Character‘s narration: beginning-middle-ending
structure
Background: Instead of telling the story right away starting from giving
some background information about the Little Hans and the Miller, the
two main characters of the story, the author pre-told the story by setting
a scene with a female duck teaching its kids to stand on their head in the
water and other animals talking about the true friendship and what a

6. devoted friend meant. This helps bring the readers into the story by
getting involved in the animals‘ conversation and listening to Linnet‘s
narration.
Setting: The setting of this short story is interesting. At the beginning of
the story, the scene was set in a pond with some little ducks swimming
and learning from their mother. The scene was brought to another place
when Linnet started telling the story — a place where Little Hans was
living in, with blossoming flowers and pleasant odors in the garden.
Style: The language used throughout the story is very clear and simple
yet the messages conveyed in the story are deep and worth for our
thinking.
Symbols: Flowers which Little Hans have — they symbolize the
property and everything Little Hans has in his life. Without the flowers,
he couldn‘t make his life. Yet, he was devoted to give everything he
owned to his best friend, and this scene strike readers quite a lot by what
true friendship means. Wheelbarrow the Miller gave to Little Hans — it
symbolizes an excuse that the Miller could use to take advantage on
Little Hans. Whenever Little Hans was about to refuse to his request, he
made use of it to turn Little Hans down so that Little Hans had no excuse
to refuse his request.
Point of view: 3rd person narrator – Linnet, a character in the story.
Using a character in the story to tell the ‗real‘ story is an effective way to
get the readers involved in the story. Because of this strategy, the readers
can also associate the messages of the story with the meanings in the
animals‘ conversation. The narrator can tell the story from an objective
viewpoint.
Most impressive character: Little Hans — he is an honest, kind-
hearted, unselfish and devoted friend to his so-called best friend ever in

7. his life, the Miller. His immediate help without suspecting if his friend is
only taking an advantage on him is very impressive in the story, and his
innocence and devotion to friendship have contrasted drastically with the
selfishness and evil thoughts of the Miller.
Most impressive feature: The message this story conveys. It strikes me
to think about what true friendship means when a friend is actually
taking an advantage on me whilst saying all sorts of beautiful phrases
about friendship and ‗claim‘ how devoted he / she is. It also strikes me
to feel how evil a person can be and how beautiful a good man can be.
The message the story conveys: Not until I came across an incident
about true friendship could I have such deep feelings about true
friendship conveyed in this story. Being taken an advantage and
betrayed never make anybody feel good, yet the betrayal between
friends happens nearly every day, and this hurts their hearts a lot. The
character of Little Hans, a very kind-hearted, honest and unselfish man
that we can never find in the world, is playing a role to reflect the
evilness of the Miller, a selfish, ambitious, inconsiderate man, who
never gives his best to his friends. The most touching part of the whole
story is not the moment that Little Hans died of being drowned in the
water, but when he was doing everything good to the Miller without
suspecting that he was just taking him advantage and sold all the flowers
Little Hans had been growing to earn for his living. What strikes me
most to think about the messages conveyed in this story so deeply is that
what motivates Little Hans to do everything good to the Miller? Is that
really because of his receiving that wheelbarrow, and so he had to do
something in return? Little Hans, in addition, is so innocent and nice to
his friends. But maybe it is his innocence and honesty that made people
betray him. What is so depressing and touching is that Little Hans hadn‘t
won any true friendship or love from the Miller but his betrayal. Isn‘t it a

8. sad ending of this story, and isn‘t it sad that there‘re really such cases in
the world happening every minute or even second in our daily life? For
the language, Oscar Wilde has used simple and clear language to convey
such deep messages for the young readers to think about, and he is
successful in doing this. There is no fancy word in this story, and young
readers should find it very easy to interpret the ideas.
Generally speaking, this story is flawless in its organization, plot as well
as his development (and climax) of the story. This is a story that young
readers must not miss!
Conclusion:It is a wonderful fairy tale because it deals with some issues
as human beings — morality, ideology of being in the society and
having true friendship, selfishness of human beings and one‘s devotion
to love. The topic about friendship is a touching topic for children
because in their childhood, they will be meeting different friends, who
might be in different kinds. The messages this story conveyed has
brought up important issues for the young readers to think about and to
bear in mind when meeting friends. The language and style used in the
story are effective to conveying the above ideas. Generally speaking,
this story was written very successfully.
THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE BY OSCAR WILDE
Summary
―The Nightingale and the Rose‖ is a story in which the first character that appears
is a Student. This boy is sad because a girl promised to dance with him on
condition that he brought her red roses, but he did not find any red rose; there were
white roses and yellow roses, but he could not find red roses. While he was
moaning because her love would not dance with him, four characters from nature
started to talk about him. A little Green Lizard, a Butterfly and a Daisy asked why

9. he was weeping, and the Nightingale said that he was weeping for a red rose. The
first three characters said that weeping for a red rose was ridiculous. The
Nightingale, who understood the Student, started to fly until she saw a Rose-tree.
She told him to give her a red rose, and she promised, in exchange, to sing her
sweetest song, but the Rose-tree told her that his roses were white, and he send the
Nightingale to his brother that grew round the old sun-dial. The Nightingale went
to see this new Rose-tree, and after promising the same in exchange for a red rose,
the Rose-tree told her that his roses were yellow, but he send the Nightingale to his
brother, who grew beneath the Student's window, so the Nightingale went there,
and when she arrived, she asked the Rose-tree to give her a red rose. The Rose-tree
said that his roses were red, but that the winter had chilled his veins and the frost
had nipped his buds, so he could not give her a red rose. The Rose-tree gave her a
solution: he told her that if she wanted a red rose, she had to build it out of music
by moonlight and stain it with her own heart's blood. She had to sing to the Rose-
tree with her breast against a thorn; the thorn would pierce her heart and her life-
blood would flow into the Rose-tree veins. The Nightingale said that death was a
great price to pay for a red rose, but at the end, she accepted. The Nightingale went
to see the Student and told him that he would have his red rose, that it was her who
was going to build it up with her own blood; the only thing she asked him for in
return was to being a true lover. Although the Student looked at her, he could not
understand anything because he only understood the things that were written down
in books. But the Oak-tree understood and became sad because he was fond of the
Nightingale, and asked her to sing the last song and when she finished, the Student
thought that the Nightingale had form, but no feeling. At night, the Nightingale
went to the Rose-tree and set her breast against the thorn. She sang all night long.
She pressed closer and closer against the thorn until the thorn finally touched her
heart and she felt a fierce pang of pain. The more the rose got the red colour, the
fainter the Nightingale's voice became, and after beating her wings, she died. The
rose was finished, but she could not see it. The next morning, the Student saw the
wonderful rose under his window. He took it and went to see the girl and offered
her the rose, but she just say that the rose would not go with her dress and that the
Chamberlain's nephew had sent her real jewels and that everybody knew that
jewels cost far more than flowers. After arguing with her, the Student threw the
rose into a gutter, where a cart-wheel went into it, and he said that Love was a silly
thing and that he preferred Logic and Philosophy.

10. Characters
The Student is the first character in the story. He is a boy who dreams of dancing
with the girl he loves, but he is worried because he does not have a red rose, that
that was what the girl asked for in return of dancing with him. He dedicates his life
to books: he likes Philosophy, and he considers books the only useful thing in life.
We have an example of this when the Nightingale tells him that he is going to have
his rose: ―The Student looked up from the grass, and listened, but he could not
understand what the Nightingale was saying to him, for he only knew the things
that are written down in books‖.
The three next characters could go together: the little Green Lizard, the Butterfly
and the Daisy. They are all personified elements of nature. They think that it is
ridiculous to weep for a red rose, and the Green Lizard even laughed outright.
The next character is our protagonist. The Nightingale is all goodness. She thinks
that the most important thing in the world is love, and she even gives her life for
love.
The three next characters could go together too. The three Rose-trees, although the
important one is the one who has the red rose. He tells the Nightingale to die for a
red rose.
The last character is the daughter of the Professor, the girl the Student loved. She
makes much of material things and she looked down on the rose the Student gave
her just because it had less material value than the jewels another boy sent her.
Time and Space
The action takes place in the room of the Student, when he is reading at the end of
the story; in the garden that is near the Student's room's window, where we find the
Rose-tree that has the red rose and where the Nightingale knows about the problem
the Student has and the last places is the daughter of the Professor's house, where
she despises the Student and his rose.

11. We can easily see in the story that the action develops in some hours. The evening
and the night of one day, when the Nightingale listens to the laments of the
Student, when he find the Rose-tree that can give her a red rose and when she dies
building the red rose for the Student; the other period of time is the next morning,
when the Student goes to talk to the girl he loves. In the story we do not see any
flashback, we see a liner account.
Style
The main words in this tale belong to the semantic fields of nature, knowledge and
love. We are going to see different examples of this.
We see the semantic field of nature in ―… asked a little Green Lizard..‖, ―… said a
Butterfly…‖, ―…whispered a Daisy‖, ―He is weeping for a red rose -said the
Nightingale‖, ―She passed through the grove‖, ―In the center of the grass-plot was
standing a beautiful Rose-tree‖, ―But the Oak-tree understood‖, etc.
The semantic field of knowledge can be seen in ―… cried the young Student‖, ―Ah,
on what little things does happiness depend! I have read all that the wise men have
written, and all the secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a red rose is my
life made wretched‖, ―It is not half as useful as Logic, for it does not prove
anything, and it is always telling one of things that are not going to happen, and
making one believe things that are not true […] I shall go back to Philosophy and
study Metaphysics‖.
The Semantic field of love is present in these examples: ―Here at last is a true
lover‖, ―Surely Love is a wonderful thing‖, ―Yet Love is better than Life, and what
is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?‖, ―All that I ask of you in
return is that you will be a true lover, for Love is wiser than Philosophy, though
She is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty‖, ―She sang first of the
birth of love in the heart of a boy and a girl‖.
Apart from these semantic fields, we can find some stylistic resources such as
comparison, that is the most resorted stylistic characteristic: ―His hair is dark as the
hyacinth-blossom, and his lips are red as the rose of his desire; but passion has
made his face like pale ivory‖, ―It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than
fine opals‖, ―My roses are white, as white as the foam of the sea, and whiter than

12. the snows upon the mountains‖, ―My roses are yellow, as yellow as the hair of the
mermaiden […] and yellower than the daffodil that blows in the meadow […]‖,
―And a delicate flush of pink came into the leaves of the rose, like the flush in the
face of the bridegroom when he kisses the lips of the bride‖.
Another stylistic resource is personification. We can see that the main characters,
apart from the Student, are animals or elements from nature, such as a little Green
Lizard, a Daisy, a Butterfly, a Nightingale, a Rose-tree and an Oak-tree.
Other outstanding features
One remarkable thing is that at the end of the tale, when the Student says that the
daughter of the Professor is ungrateful, we can see that the really ungrateful one is
the Student himself, who look down on the Nightingale's life.
We can see that the most important theme in this tale is beauty, it is everything for
the artist who gives her life for it, and the less important thing for her is
materialism, represented by the Student and also by the daughter of the Professor.
The Nightingale sacrifices her life to create the rose that will give love to the
Student.
The bird is very ancient as a symbol in the cultural tradition. The bird is the symbol
of immaterial beauty, and the election of a nightingale in this story has a deeper
meaning: this is a lonely and shy bird. Our Nightingales is able to die in exchange
for eternal love: Love, in our story is represented by the Rose that is the most
perfect flower in the world: ―And the marvelous rose became crimson, like the rose
of the eastern sky. Crimson was the girdle of petals, and crimson as a ruby was the
heart‖, ―Here is a red rose! I have never seen any rose like it in all my life. It is so
beautiful that I am sure it has a long Latin name‖.
We can also see in this tale some elements I listed before, such as prototypical
characters (the Student), or the number three (the Nightingale goes to three Rose-
trees to find the red rose, and the characters that are with the Nightingale while the
Student is moaning, are three: the Green Lizard, the Butterfly and the Daisy).

13. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO STORIES
We can set some points in which we find similarities between the two stories. One
of these points is what I have described as a typical feature in Oscar Wilde's
writings: the number three. As I said before, in both tales the number three is
present: in ―The Nightingale and the Rose‖ three are the Rose-trees that our main
character visited, and in ―The Devoted Friend‖ three are the animals that appear in
the first story.
Another feature that I talked about was the simplicity of the characters, and that in
the same story we find conflicting characters. In ―The Nightingale and the Rose‖,
our characters have no name, they are just ―the Student‖, ―the Nightingale‖, etc.,
and these two characters are in complete opposition: the first one represents
materialism and the second one represents ethereal beauty. In ―The Devoted
Friend‖, we find simple names for our characters ―Hans‖ and ―Hugh the Miller‖,
and we also find characters with no name, such as ―the Duck‖, ―the Green Linnet‖
or ―the Water-rat‖. Here, we have characters in complete opposition too: In the
first story we have The Duck and The Linnet, who are against the Rat (the first
ones defend love, and the last one defends friendship), and in the second story,
Hans and Hugh have different conceptions of friendship, or, at least, they act in a
very different way.
Another common thing of the two tales is that, in both of them, there are animals.
In ―The Nightingale and the Rose‖ all the characters are animals except the Student
and the daughter of the Professor. In ―The Devoted Friend‖, the first story is made
up of animals, only animals, and the second story is made up of human beings,
only human beings.
In both stories, feelings are treated: in ―The Nightingale and the Rose‖ the main
theme is Love, whereas in ―The Devoted Friend‖ the main theme is Friendship.
And, although apparently, the only story that has a moral is ―The Devoted Friend‖
because the word ―moral‖ appears written down in the paper, we can say that ―The
Nightingale and the Rose‖ has a moral too: we should appreciate everything, even
the most insignificant thing, not only those thing of which we know their price,
because in the smallest thing we can find the bigger one. But each one can have his
own interpretation.

14. PERSONAL OPINON
I chose these two stories due to different reasons. I decided, firstly, to talk about
―The Nightingale and the Rose‖ because when I read it I thought it was a beautiful
story, although it was very sad too. I also thought that it was teaching the reader a
lesson, so I considered that it was a nice tale to include in my work. Secondly, I
decided to add one more tale to my work because I thought it would be interesting
to compare two different tales of the same author. I chose ―The Devoted Friend‖
because it had a different structure from ―The Nightingale and the Rose‖: it was
made up of two stories, with different characters. But I also chose it because it had
many similarities with ―The Nightingale and the Rose‖, all the similarities that I
tried to explain above. And I also chose ―The Devoted Friend‖ because it was a sad
story and had an explicit moral.
I noticed that in the two tales, the good characters die. I think it is curious that in
both stories the good characters end badly, and the reason of their death in both
cases is having a kind heart and helping the others, and curiously too, these
―others‖ do not appreciate this help. I have read that this disloyalty in ―The
Devoted Friend‖ and the sad events in both stories could be a reflection of Oscar
Wilde's feelings and life, so, in this case, it is understandable the pessimism of both
tales
THE THREE STRANGERS BY THOMAS HARDY
Summary:
Higher Crow stairs is an isolated cottage some three miles from Caster Bridge, the
county town where the county jail is situated. It is late winter, in the evening of a
very rainy day. Shepherd Fennel and his wife are holding a christening party, to
which about twenty relatives and neighbors have come, all well known to one
another. Inside it is warm and snug, with a blazing fire in the hearth. Mrs. Fennel, a
somewhat frugal lady, is hoping to strike a balance between dancing and talking,
so that no one gets too thirsty or too hungry. The musicians are a twelve-year-old
fiddler and the parish clerk, who plays the serpent, an old-fashioned brass
instrument.

15. Into this festive scene, three strangers intrude, one by one. The first has come from
the direction of town and asks shelter from the rain. He dries off by the hearth but
is evasive when asked about him. Although he enjoys smoking, he has neither
pipe, tobacco, norpouch.
Shortly after, a second stranger knocks; this one is headed toward Caster Bridge.
Again, he wishes to dry off and sits down at the table, right next to the first
stranger, penning him in. He is much more jovial than the first stranger and asks
for drink. He drinks the mead (a fermented honey drink) in large quantities, much
to Mrs. Fennel‘s consternation. When asked about his occupation, he sings a song
for the locals to guess. Only the first stranger joins in the chorus. It is obvious from
the song that he is a public...
Thomas Hardy’s themes of the short story: ―The Three Strangers‖ is about what
happens when three different guys arrive at a party uninvited, one at a time. The
first one is a criminal, the second is the hangman who‘s scheduled to put the
criminal to death, and the third is the criminal's brother.
What‘s the theme of the story?
Well, sometimes you define ―theme‖ as ―a broad topic that comes into play
throughout the story.‖ In that case, the themes of "The Three Strangers" include
hunger, theft, crime, punishment, sympathy, and justice; friendship, family,
neighborliness, strangers, and outsiders; births and christenings, etc.
More often, in discussing literature, you define ―theme‖ as ―something true about
life (or society or humanity) that the story reveals.‖
In that case, here are some themes we can take from ―The Three Strangers.‖
1. People often jump to conclusions and make the wrong assumptions. We need to
pay attention to details and not allow ourselves to be unduly influenced by first
impressions.
As you read the story, you‘re led to believe that the third stranger who crashes the
party is the criminal that everybody‘s looking for. And of course, that‘s who the
townspeople capture. But then they realize that it was really the first stranger who
they should have been after, and now they can‘t catch him because it‘s too dark.

16. 2. Showing good hospitality to others often requires restraint.
As the party goes on, we see that the family who‘s hosting it has to make some
sacrifices. The guests are drinking too much mead, but the hosts let it happen so
that they don‘t upset anyone. The musicians keep playing when the hosts asked
them to take breaks, but they just let it slide. One guest does something rude and
annoying to the hostess, who ignores it. Part of the reason that the party is so much
fun is because the hosts are willing to relax and not insist that everything be done a
certain way.
3. We can label people with words like ―criminal‖ or ―thief,‖ but that doesn‘t
change the fact that we‘re all still human and have certain things in common.
Toward the end of the story, after the constable has led the townspeople on the
hunt for the criminal, two of the strangers sneak back into the house and share a
snack together:
―The other had by this time finished the mead in the mug, after which, shaking
hands heartily at the door, and wishing each other well, they went their several
ways.‖
It was the criminal and the hangman! With his ―criminal‖ label shed, the man was
just a man, whose company was enjoyed by the other. They ate together, shook
hands, and offered kind words to each other.
4. True authority is earned by actions and respect, not conferred by titles or
symbols.
Check out how silly and ineffectual the constable is in this story, even though he‘s
supposedly in charge of the hunt to find the criminal. Here he is, talking about how
he can‘t start the search unless he has his staff (his stick) with him:
―'But I can't do nothing without my staff--can I, William, and John, and Charles
Jake? No; for there's the king's royal crown a painted on en in yeller and gold, and
the lion and the unicorn, so as when I raise en up and hit my prisoner, 'tis made a
lawful blow thereby. I wouldn't 'tempt to take up a man without my staff--no, not I.
If I hadn't the law to give me courage, why, instead o' my taking up him he might
take up me!'‖

17. With this ridiculous speech, the constable reveals how he‘s cowardly and how he
hides behind the staff as a symbol of authority. He wears a gray uniform and calls
himself a king‘s man. But none of that confers true authority on him.
It‘s important to note that these are the themes that just one reader has noticed in
―The Three Strangers.‖ You could use the content of the story to draw out many
other different themes, or you could interpret the ones listed here in different ways.
In your discussion of the mood in this story, it is important to note how it changes:
the story begins with an insulated, intimate, jovial party among good friends, then
grows mysterious and eerie when the strangers arrive, and then turns comic once
the search party goes out. It ends on a happy note: the townspeople gain admiration
for the escaped convict, who has managed to trick his jailer into sharing a mug of
mead, and forget the affair.
Hardy‘s characterization of country folk and country customs is as well done here
as in any of his novels. His depiction of community has been especially praised. So
also has his description of the local landscape. The sharp division of town and
country seen in The Mayor of Caster bridge (1886) is seen here as well, but this
time from the rural point of view. The cottage stands remote and isolated, even
though only three miles from town. Its isolation is further emphasized by its
weather, the nighttime, and the rugged contours of the down land. Hardy‘s tale
takes on its solidity from the sense of real place, closely detailed. The rainy night
may be described as a gesture to some supernatural tale, but the concrete emphasis
is on what life was really like for the shepherds, where a baptism was one of the
few causes for celebration and a stranger‘s visit the highlight for the year.
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Hardy uses footpaths to symbolize the many generations that have been trapped in
the same landscape. The crossing of two footpaths at right angles hard by, which
may have crossed there and thus for a good five hundred years. Hardy describes in
The Three Strangers that the level rainstorm smote walls, slopes, and hedges like
the cloth yard shafts of Senlac and Crecy. These were ancient battles in the 100
years‘ war. An effective comparison to the embattled generations, a tribe of people
always at the mercy of the landscape. Hardy shows us the tragedy of life – we are
born, we die and there is nothing that we can do about it.

18. Although Hardy describes a tragic landscape, he does realize that there is beauty in
it, such as the animals of the shepherd.
Hardy personifies the landscape, which makes it seem like another character. In
The Withered Arm, Rhoda s house is described as being built of mud-walls, the
surface of which had been washed by many rains into channels and depressions
that left none of the original flat face visible; while here and there in the thatch
above a rafter showed like a bone protruding through the skin.
A theme that involves the landscape that is shown in both short stories is the idea
of community versus wilderness. In Wessex, all the characters exist as part of a
community. Gossip is shared e.g. in The Withered Arm the milkmaids gossip about
Rhoda – an enigma, living on the outskirts of the small town. Tis hard for her,
signifying the thin worn milkmaid aforesaid. O no, said the second. He has n t
spoke to Rhoda Brook for years. Gossip in the milk sheds about Rhoda could get
pretty intense the dairyman…knew perfectly the tall milkmaid s history…always
kept the gossip in the cow Barton from annoying Rhoda. Rhoda is gossiped about
because of her reputation – she had a child out of wedlock with Mr. Lodge who
now refuses to acknowledge Rhoda s son as his own.
The characters in both short stories have a fear of people who don t fit into the
community or are strangers. The arrival of strangers in The Three Strangers causes
Tremendous curiosity, the fact that the strangers are coy about revealing how they
fit into the social context only makes them seem odder. The first stranger
accidentally uses a form of dialect which nearly reveals where he comes from: I‘m
rather cracked in the vamp. Mrs. Fennel s eyes then move to his boots, which can
give a clue about a character s occupation.
THE WITHERED ARM BY THOMAS HARDY
The Withered Arm could be called a moral tale that also gives a snapshot of life as
it once was in rural southwest England, a part of the country Hardy called
'Wessex'. This story was originally published with several others in the collection
Wessex Tales. Explores the background to Hardy's short story and gives a brief
description of the author's life.

19. Thomas Hardy:
To understand the context of Thomas Hardy's short story The Withered Arm, you
need to know something about the author, as well as the subjects that interested
him as a writer.
Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in a tiny village deep in the Dorset countryside in
southwest England. His family was not wealthy. Hardy first became a builder, like
his father; then trained to become an architect; and finally, a writer. He became
highly educated and very successful, except in his marriage, which was
unsatisfactory and loveless.
Hardy died in 1928. Long life meant that he lived through one of the greatest
expansions of industrial power in Britain, and a downturn in the importance of
farming. He also lived through a time when to be poor meant living in much more
hardship than today; and to be rich meant far more power over poor people. Men's
and women's roles were very different to now, and women had a much poorer
education than men, if they were educated at all.
Hardy loved rural customs but feared that they were dying out and would be easily
forgotten. He had great sympathy for the plight of the poor, especially the laboring
rural poor, and also for women in what can be seen now as a man's world (or
patriarchal society).
Social conditions:
Hardy was one of the most popular English writers of the 19th century. His readers
enjoyed finding out about the lives of poor rural people in England, as well reading
in detail about the beauty of the countryside.
Look at the list below. Think about how these aspects of context find their way
into Hardy's story. Why do you think Hardy included them? The poor were not
well educated and their children did not attend school. The rich were few and the
poor were many; their lives were very different. Poor women were forced to work
hard and in all weather: their tanned, weatherworn faces became a 'label' of poverty
and led them to be stereotyped. Rich ladies kept their skin fair and this, too, was a
'label' to show their wealth and background. Thepoor hardly ever travelled far: they

20. would walk miles on foot if they did undertake a long journey. Transport was
almost nonexistent and only the wealthy could afford to travel by horse and cart.
The poor lived in dreadful housing conditions and survived on a diet of bread,
potatoes and vegetables.
Healthcare was all but nonexistent and people relied on natural herbs (and even the
supernatural) to try to cure their ills.
Witchcraft and superstition was still a powerful force in people's minds: an
important level of belief in those who 'worked magic' and were thought to inflict
curses still existed
The law was inflexible and strict, and especially prejudiced against the poor and
uneducated. A criminal could be hanged for only a minor crime. People considered
a hanging as a spectacle and flocked to witness hangings. Child labour was
accepted: youngsters worked on farms for very little and relied on the rich for
charity.
A stranger would be something of note as everyone knew everyone else's business
The rich employed the poor as servants and gave them few rights and little money.
Themes:
There can be no definitive list of themes for any story, but these are key subjects
that Hardy explores in The Withered Arm.
Rural poverty:Rhoda Brook's life is shaped by her lack of money and this has
resulted in the main event that affects her entire life: she was "bewitched" and
seduced by a wealthy man, perhaps in the hope of marriage as an escape from
poverty. Her poverty and her sex (as a woman) mean she will have received little
Worthwhile formal academic education so she would have learned only what was
passed down to her: how to survive in a rural economy as a poor person and how to
survive as a woman in a patriarchal society.

21. Ignorance, education and the supernatural:
The lack of scientific knowledge also shapes the lives of many of the characters in
the story. Some characters are the prey of superstition and the victims of people
who claim power by being able to perform "magic".
This is shown to apply above all to the women, both rich and poor. None of the
female characters are described as educated and so they are most likely to look
beyond science for answers to life's problems. Rhoda thinks she has cast an evil
curse on Gertrude; and Gertrude looks to a "conjuror" to cure her withered arm.
Isolation and loneliness:
Many novelists and writers seem especially interested in creating characters who
are rejected in some way by mainstream society and this is true of Hardy and the
characters in his short story.
The outsider and the victim:
By exploring the lives of the outsider (those on the edge of society) writers seem
able to interest readers who, even if they are in the mainstream themselves, can
identify with some of the problems faced by such an archetype.
Rhoda Brook is shown as an outsider. As a poor woman and a single mother in a
male-dominated and highly judgmental society, she will have been rejected for
several reasons. She is the source of gossip and has been blamed as the cause of
her situation, even by those who should support and comfort her (e.g. other women
of her class).
Gertrude, despite her wealth, also eventually becomes sidelined by mainstream
society because she is a woman who loses her good looks. Gertrude's illness makes
her feel isolated and unattractive.
Wealth and power:Hardy presents vast social differences between those with
money and power and those without. He also shows that money and power do not
bring happiness. The central irony of the story is that Lodge wants more than
anything a legitimate son and heir. Yet he already has a son, but one that society

22. forbids him to "rightfully claim"; his illegitimate son, as the result of a socially
unacceptable relationship, cannot become his heir. Gertrude, his wife, either cannot
produce children or feels so unattractive because of her physical "blight" that
marital relations have failed.
Men and women in society:
Hardy describes a patriarchal society in which women's power was much reduced,
even more so for poor women. This is one reason why Rhoda is shown to enjoy the
slight power she seems to gain in exerting an evil influence on Gertrude.
The women in the story depend on the men to help them become successful and
live well. Rhoda and her son depend on the benevolence of Farmer Lodge, as the
boy's father.
Gertrude is afraid that as she loses her physical attractiveness her husband will love
her less: "Men think so much of personal appearance," she says. And we see that
Farmer Lodge enjoys showing off his wife dressed in expensive clothing,
regardless of her embarrassment.
Fate:
Hardy was not a deeply religious man. He saw life as too full of unexpected
obstacles to believe in a beneficent creator-God. Yet he said he did believe that
human nature would work to eventually improve the world over time. He denied
having a pessimistic outlook.
In The Withered Arm, as in so many of his stories, Hardy shows how fate can
affect life so easily and cannot be avoided. The coincidences of the story can be
looked at in this way: fate (eg Gertrude's illness) intervenes in the characters' lives
to "blight" them in various ways. The genuine "blight" of Gertrude's withered arm
is a physical and concrete symbol of the unseen afflictions of others: for example,
Rhoda is badly affected by poverty, and even her youthful beauty was a source of
"blight" because it led to pregnancy outside marriage.

23. Summary:Perhaps the best known of these stories is one with a plot which almost
makes it a ghost story, ―The Withered Arm.‖ Rhoda Brook, a tenant of Farmer
Lodge, has had an illegitimate son by her landlord. When the farmer returns to
Wessex with Gertrude, his new wife, Rhoda is intensely jealous. Although she has
never seen Gertrude, she is able to imagine her clearly from her son‘s descriptions.
Finally, one night Rhoda has a dream or vision: ―that the young wife, in the pale
silk dress and white bonnet, was sitting upon her chest as she lay.‖ The ―incubus,‖
as Hardy calls it, taunts Rhoda, nearly suffocating her with its weight. In
desperation, Rhoda reaches out and grabs the specter‘s left arm; she throws the
specter to the floor, after which it promptly vanishes. The next day, Rhoda meets
Gertrude in person and finds that she actually likes her; in a few days, however,
Gertrude complains to Rhoda about a pain in her left arm which had begun at the
time of Rhoda‘s dream. There is a mark on her arm like fingerprints, which shocks
Rhoda as much as it dismays Gertrude. The arm begins to waste away and Lodge‘s
love for his wife diminishes in proportion. Gertrude persuades Rhoda to take her to
a local medicine man, Conjuror Trendle, in spite of Rhoda‘s fear that she will be
revealed as the source of Gertrude‘s suffering and lose her new friend. Trendle
shows Gertrude the image of the cause of her afflicted arm; although the reader
never sees the image directly, Gertrude immediately turns cool toward Rhoda, and
soon after Rhoda and her son leave the area.
Some years later, Gertrude has developed into ―an irritable, superstitious woman,
whose whole time was given to experimenting upon her ailment with every quack
remedy she came across,‖ hoping to win back the love of her husband. Finally, she
turns again to Conjuror Trendle, who assures her that the one cure for her arm is to
touch the neck of a newly hanged man. While Lodge is away on business, Gertrude
rides to Caster bridge, where there is to be a hanging. She arranges to be near the
body after it is cut down and, in spite of her revulsion, she touches the neck and
feels the ―turning of the blood‖ which will cure her arm. She is immediately
interrupted, however, by the dead man‘s parents—Rhoda and Lodge. Gertrude
collapses and soon dies from the stress and shock of her experience: ―Her blood
had been ‗turned‘ indeed—too far.‖ Rhoda Brook finally returns to the area to live
out her days in seclusion, refusing the money which Farmer Lodge leaves her
when he dies.

24. Although this tale follows the outlines of the horror story genre, Hardy does not
place his emphasis on the horror of the withered arm or the hanged man, as, for
example, Edgar Allan Poe would; nor does he seek for a deeper meaning behind
the affliction as Nathaniel Hawthorne might. Instead, the supernatural element is
almost taken for granted. The tone of the narrator is lightly skeptical, suggesting
the possibility of some psychological origin or even physical cause for the
disability, but the concentration and the concern of the story are on the characters,
first of Rhoda and then of Gertrude. The reader sees a lonely woman who,
wronged by a man and deprived of his love, then loses her one friend. The second
part of the story concentrates on Gertrude‘s desperate desire to restore her physical
beauty and the love of her husband, even if she must experience horror to
accomplish that end.