The Girls of Casterbridge
Tessa Fraser
Composition one
Ms. Dundas
1/31/13
The Halot, Elizabeth-Jane and Their Gender Roles
“Don't be the girl who fell. Be the girl who got back up.”-Jeanette Stanley. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy introduces the readers to Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta, two girls of both different means personalities. The comparison by Thomas Hardy of Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta reveals two different sides of the gender barriers that faced young women in the 1800’s. This comparison shows that Hardy is an early feminist. This is shown through examining each girl’s respective personality, their friendship, how each handles it, and the gender role side that each are portraying.
Elizabeth-Jane is the book’s heroine. She is the daughter of Susan and Henchard. Elizabeth- Jane is quiet and shy. Elizabeth-Jane also cares a large amount about doing what’s proper. She worries about her friend Lucetta’s reputation, and how to fix it. Elizabeth- Jane is an all-out good person. She seeks to better herself by studying, “Knowledge-the result of great natural incite- she did not lack; learning, accomplishments-those, alas, she had not” (Hardy 82). Elizabeth-Jane has this passion to learn more that the reader does come to admire about her. She is not too concerned about finding a man to marry. Elizabeth- Jane seems content to just learn and be alone. However, when it comes to Elizabeth-Jane and men, the reader see an entirely new side of her. When Lucetta effectively replaces her in Farfrae’s mind, she just lets it go and goes on with her life. Yes she’s miffed for about five seconds but in the end she just leaves and moves on. It is this fact that makes it hard to root for Elizabeth-Jane in the end.
On the entirely other side the reader encounters Lucetta. Lucetta is Elizabeth-Jane’s only friend in the world. She is vain and petty. Lucetta is Henchard’s former lover. She was young and naive. She blabbed her mouth everywhere and with the help of Michael Henchard ruined her
Composition one
Ms. Dundas
1/31/13
The Halot, Elizabeth-Jane and Their Gender Roles
“Don't be the girl who fell. Be the girl who got back up.”-Jeanette Stanley. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy introduces the readers to Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta, two girls of both different means personalities. The comparison by Thomas Hardy of Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta reveals two different sides of the gender barriers that faced young women in the 1800’s. This comparison shows that Hardy is an early feminist. This is shown through examining each girl’s respective personality, their friendship, how each handles it, and the gender role side that each are portraying.
Elizabeth-Jane is the book’s heroine. She is the daughter of Susan and Henchard. Elizabeth- Jane is quiet and shy. Elizabeth-Jane also cares a large amount about doing what’s proper. She worries about her friend Lucetta’s reputation, and how to fix it. Elizabeth- Jane is an all-out good person. She seeks to better herself by studying, “Knowledge-the result of great natural incite- she did not lack; learning, accomplishments-those, alas, she had not” (Hardy 82). Elizabeth-Jane has this passion to learn more that the reader does come to admire about her. She is not too concerned about finding a man to marry. Elizabeth- Jane seems content to just learn and be alone. However, when it comes to Elizabeth-Jane and men, the reader see an entirely new side of her. When Lucetta effectively replaces her in Farfrae’s mind, she just lets it go and goes on with her life. Yes she’s miffed for about five seconds but in the end she just leaves and moves on. It is this fact that makes it hard to root for Elizabeth-Jane in the end.
On the entirely other side the reader encounters Lucetta. Lucetta is Elizabeth-Jane’s only friend in the world. She is vain and petty. Lucetta is Henchard’s former lover. She was young and naive. She blabbed her mouth everywhere and with the help of Michael Henchard ruined her