Works of Thomas Hardy discussion
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The Son's Veto the Classic Story
Life's Little Ironies - Stories
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The Son's Veto (from Life Little Ironies) hosted by Connie
Welcome to the Summer Short Story Reads! The discussion for our first story, The Son's Veto, will start on June 2nd, but I would like to share some background material this week.The story is available for free at:
Project Gutenberg
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3047/...
Darlyn Thomas's site featuring Thomas Hardy's short stories
https://www.darlynthomas.com/hardysho...
Amazon Kindle has the Delphi Complete Works of Thomas Hardy at a low price
https://www.amazon.com/Delphi-Complet...
If you prefer to read a paperback, the story is available in
Life's Little Ironies
The Illustrated London News 1891 Christmas Issue"The Son's Veto" was first published by "The Illustrated London News" in the 1891 Christmas Issue, although it does not have a holiday theme. "The Illustrated London News" was founded by Herbert Ingram, and began publication in 1842 as a weekly conservative news magazine. It had a distinctive masthead showing the dome of St Paul's Cathedral and other London buildings. The publication was very popular with the middle class. It featured both monochromatic and colored woodcuts illustrating the news and stories. It's quite fascinating to look at the illustrations of some historical news events online.
The Christmas issue had more stories and extra pages of holiday illustrations. An outside wrapper with a colored holiday illustration covered the Christmas issues which seem to have something to appeal to all ages. There are two children in their lovely holiday dresses on the Christmas wrapper of 1891. There is a website that shows the wrappers of the yearly Christmas editions with a list of the main stories and detailed drawings:
https://www.iln.org.uk/iln_years/year...
Wrapper for 1891 Christmas edition
Life's Little Ironies"The Son's Veto" is part of Hardy's 1804 story collection, "Life's Little Ironies." The first stories in the collection are contemporary to Hardy's time. They are stories about marriage, seduction, family, ambition, clergy, music, and social traditions. As the title suggests, Hardy finds irony in these relationships and situations. The collection ends with "A Few Crusted Characters," a group of short sketches told by some passengers sharing a coach. These sketches are about the residents in a small Wessex village so they have a more rural feel to them.
First edition of "Life's Little Ironies" 1894
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life%27...
We'll be reading "The Son's Veto" in nine sections, starting on June 2nd. I usually post in the evenings before the date since I live in the Eastern US time zone. It will be the date listed in "Wessex time" in England. The sections are short so reading the story is not a big time commitment.Schedule of readings:
Chapter 1
June 2 - ends at "if she had done wisely in shaping her life as she had shaped it, to bring our such a result as this." Message 15
June 3 - ends at "Sophy did not go, but one of the others did, and things went on quietly again." Message 25
June 4 - ends at "to justify her accompanying her son Randolph to the concert." Message 40
Chapter 2
June 5 - ends at "but he seemed to require so very little in present circumstances, and it remained stored." Message 48
June 6 - ends at "hardly noticeable amid the ordinary day-traffic, passing down at some hour before noon." Message 62
June 7 - ends at "O how difficult for me!" Message 67
Chapter 3
June 8- ends at "And if not, could she defy him?" Message 76
June 9 - ends at "'I will struggle against it!' she cried miserably. Message 88
June 10 - ends at "the shop keeper standing there." Message 96
I hope you'll enjoy the story as much as I did!
Mod
And reading through the lists of contributors is thrilling too. J.M. Barrie contributed to the same edition as Thomas Hardy. I saw Wiklie Collins name at one point. I knew some of the illustrators too, like Phiz and F. Barnard (I know of those thanks to Jean educating us on the Dickens threads :-)
Very much looking forward to reading this short story. Thanks again Connie!!
Bridget, I was picturing a whole family enjoying the Christmas supplement since there were so many full page color illustrations about the holiday season inside to appeal to the children who could not read a newspaper. I also was impressed by the names of the other short story writers. Hardy was in good company.
I also stole some time to look through the covers, Connie, and wanted to say thank you as well. What a fabulous way to prepare for this read!
Sara, I had fun looking through some of the old newspapers on the Internet Achieve too, seeing illustrations of major news events and even looking through the ads in back. I couldn't find a link to this December 1891 issue, but it's a trip back in time to even choose a publication date at random.
Mod
Yes, it's unusual to find a modern book with illustrations unless it's a children's book. "The Son's Veto" had two illustrations, just for a short story in "The Illustrated London News," which I'll post later in the story. As Bridget noted, we've been enjoying how you find so many great illustrations for the Dickens and Hardy groups, Jean.
Connie, have down loaded a copy from the Dylan Thomas website and highlighted the section endings, making it easy to go along. I'm so looking forward to reading this.
Pamela wrote: "Connie, have down loaded a copy from the Dylan Thomas website and highlighted the section endings, making it easy to go along. I'm so looking forward to reading this."I'm very glad you'll be joining us, Pamela. I think we have a great group of stories to read together over the summer.
Mod
Thats a great idea Pamela! I'm going to do that as well :-)
THE SON'S VETOSummary - Beginning of Chapter 1
A narrator is describing a woman that he's viewing from the back of a crowd at an outdoor concert. He notes that her hair is intricately braided. She is seated in a wheelchair close to the bandstand in a park in a suburb of London. When she turned, it could be seen that she was attractive, but not as young or pretty as the audience might have first imagined.
She is talking to a boy aged twelve or thirteen who called her "Mother." The boy is wearing the hat and jacket of a well-known public school. At the end of the concert, she waits until the crowd dispersed. The observers at the concert noticed that her eyes were "soft, brown, and affectionate orbs, a little plaintive in their regard." Some people know that she is the second wife of the vicar at a nearby parish, and she is lame. "She is generally believed to be a woman with a story."
As the mother and the boy went home, the mother makes a grammatical mistake while speaking and is harshly corrected by her son. The boy had been eating cake out of his pocket, and had crumbs all over his mouth and clothes, but his mother does not scold him. She falls into deep thought, thinking about her history and her problems with grammar, and wondering if she had made wise choices in her life.
"To the eyes of a man viewing . . ."The first words of the story are "To the eyes of a man viewing . . . " The unnamed woman is being viewed by the narrator of the story. He is a third-person, omniscient narrator who occasionally injects little comments or opinions, sometimes of a sympathetic sort. He seems to know the inner thoughts of the characters.
The mention of a male gaze as the first words of the story is also a bit of foreshadowing. Hardy is an author who chooses his words carefully, and wants the reader to notice them by starting the story with these words. Most of the characters are male, and we'll want to notice their Victorian male gazes or opinions in relation to the woman.
The Braid and the WheelchairThe woman's braid is very intricate and beautiful. The narrator notes that she has no lady's maid, and she braided and twisted her hair herself everyday. One wonders if she might be bored or isolated since the narrator calls her "poor thing," and says "it was almost the only accomplishment she could boast of."
The wheelchair and lameness show that there are limitations in her life. She lacks independence physically; her disability may have influenced the choices she had to make and led to isolation.
The Son and the MotherThe son is being educated in a good public school, but the mother makes grammatical mistakes. He feels shame since her mistakes indicate that her origin is from a lower social class. She quietly accepts his criticism and does not retaliate. The mother looks like a lovely refined lady, but she seems unable to change her uneducated speech patterns that show social status. (It reminded me of Shaw's "Pygmalion" or "My Fair Lady.") Her son has a lack of respect for his mother. The social class system was very important in Victorian times.
Do you have any first impressions of the mother, the son or the narrator? Over to you . . .
My first impression was the son’s a little snot, especially as he’s covered in crumbs. So I immediately felt sorry for the woman especially as she has gone to so much trouble with her hair to give the right appearance.The title of the story sets up the expectation that this son is going to veto something in his mothers life and I doubt it’ll be good.
Janelle wrote: "My first impression was the son’s a little snot, especially as he’s covered in crumbs. So I immediately felt sorry for the woman especially as she has gone to so much trouble with her hair to give ..."I agree with you Connie about this introduction to the Mother and son.
I do think its very interesting how that introduction comes about. Hardy doesn't give us a name or background — its all what we see as they attend the concert. Its also because we see her through the curiosity of the other concert attendees — and more dramatically, through the action of her son..
Ending this section with the jarring last line was masterful, Connie, because it makes us want to read immediately what she has done in her life and whether we would see it in a different light.
Janelle wrote: "My first impression was the son’s a little snot, especially as he’s covered in crumbs. So I immediately felt sorry for the woman especially as she has gone to so much trouble with her hair to give ..."Great first impression, Janelle. Since the son is attending a public school, he's coming from a family with resources. Instead of feeling fortunate, he's looking down at his mother who didn't grow up in the same atmosphere.
(For Americans, British public schools are what Americans call private schools.)
Pamela wrote: "Hardy doesn't give us a name or background — its all what we see as they attend the concert..."Pamela, I'm glad you mentioned that Hardy did not name the mother and son. We're coming into the middle of her life, and wondering what her backstory holds. The narrator writes, "She was generally believed to be a woman with a story--an innocent one, but a story of some sort or other."
Mod
My first impression was confusion because the story opens focusing on a woman and the title had me thinking the story would start with the son. But I got that sorted out straight away.
My second, and stronger impression was of the braided hair, and how beautiful is sounds "coiled like the rushes of a basket". But then also of how different the woman looks from the front "not so handsome as the people behind her had supposed". That two-sided image of her then echoed for me in the grammar mistake she makes. Leaving me curious about who she is.
Bridget wrote: "I love all the comments, and espeically your summary and thoughts Connie. It's all giving me lots to bonder.My first impression was confusion because the story opens focusing on a woman and the t..."
I like your idea of a two-sided image, Bridget. We'll understand more about the woman after reading the next section.
Summary - Middle of Chapter 1The mother remembers her childhood in the village of Gaymead which is near the county-town of Aldbrickham. The village is in North Wessex, forty miles south of London.
When she was aged 19, she was the parlour-maid at her reverend husband's house when his first wife died. In a flashback, she recalls that Sam, the gardener at the same household, flirted with her. He indicated that he might want to marry her in the future. She might need a home soon since the vicar had less need for so many servants after his wife's death. She told the vicar she would leave to marry Sam, but changed her mind after she and Sam quarrelled.
The vicar began affectionately noticing her soft presence. He thought, "What a kitten-like flexuous, tender creature she was! She was the only one of the servants with whom he came into immediate and continuous relation. What should he do if Sophy was gone?"
Sophy's Feelings for SamWhen the vicar asks Sophy whether she wishes to marry Sam, she says she would be marrying because it would be a home for her, and the servants have heard that one of them would have to leave. She seems comfortable around Sam, but she does not indicate that she has romantic feelings for him. But Sam appears to be romantically interested in Sophy, and wants to hold her and kiss her.
Sam Was Originally Named EdwardIn the original story published in "The Illustrated London News," Sam was named Edward. While it's just speculation on my part, Hardy may have changed the name because the future king, the oldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was named Edward. He reigned from 1901-10. The meaning of the name Edward is "Wealthy Guardian."
Sam is considered to be a working-class man who has a good heart. Hardy gave him the name of a Biblical prophet, Samuel, which has the meaning "Heard of God; asked of God."
The Village of GaymeadEdited: One possibility for Sophy's native village of Gaymead is the real village of Theale in Berkshire. The parish church is Holy Trinity Church which was consecrated in 1832. We can imagine Sophy working for the vicar of this church. See Comment 32 for other possible inspirations for Gaymead.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...
https://wikishire.co.uk/wiki/Theale
For additional information about Theale:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theale
The County-town of AldbrickhamAldbrickham is thought to be based on the real town of Reading in Berkshire. It will be mentioned several times later in the story.
https://wikishire.co.uk/wiki/Reading
For more information about Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading...
Please share any more thoughts you have about the story.
The photographs of the churches give me a different perspective on the Vicar. I generally think of small village churches with Vicars, but these are large, important structures, so it adds to the impression that Sophy has married outside and above class.Hardy is masterful at creating first impressions. I can see Sophy, with her long hair and pink cheeks, and the incident with the grammar correction tells us massive things about the character of the mother and son and their relationship to one another.
In Sam, Hardy has set up a contrast for us between the life Sophy might have had within her own class and that she has living outside it. Sam would have been steady and he was affectionate. What she might have had was a kind of happiness and fulfillment that living in a world where her child is ashamed of her is unlikely to provide.
This section is interesting because we get a perspective of the vicar who is concerned about Sophy not being there, because of her pleasing presence. There is no suggestion that he has grown fond of her or has given any thought to why she is important to him.Sara, I agree with you about the churches and they do give us a sense of these vicars in their community.
More on the Inspiration for GaymeadSara and Pamela, I'm glad you mentioned the churches in your comments. I had used Wikipedia's list of locations in Wessex, which identified Gaymead as Theale. Jean also messaged me about which town was the inspiration for Gaymead since her source identified it as Shinfield.
I went down a rabbit hole with Google and found that there are three different possibilities for Hardy's village of Gaymead.
Life's Little IroniesAccording to the notes in the Cambridge edition of "Life's Little Ironies," three different scholars have identified three different villages as the inspiration for Gaymead:
Hermann Lea identifies the village as Shinfield, south of Reading.
Pinion identifies it as Theale, southwest of Reading.
Kay-Robinson identifies it as Sulhampstead, south of Theale.
So I'll post a little information about the other two villages. The important thing is that Sophy came from a rural environment.
Shinfield, Another Possible Inspiration for Gaymead
St Mary's in Shinfield
https://shinfieldparish.gov.uk/shinfi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinfield
Sulhampstead, a third possibility for Gaymead
St Mary's in Sulhampstead
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulhams...
Sara, the class differences that you noticed were very important in Victorian England.Pamela, we'll be finding out more about the vicar and Sophy soon.
Mod
Bionic Jean wrote: "These are lovely! Thank you so much for this fascinating research Connie. 😊"I love the photos of these old churches. There is so much history behind them, and the villagers deserve a lot of credit for keeping them in good repair.
Mod
This section made me like Sophy even more. I loved how she handled Sam, removing his hands from her waist and preventing the kiss. And later quarrelling with him. (I'm not impressed with Sam!)
I like the vicar too. He seems to be somewhat of a recluse, having no one else of his class around "there were no resident landowners". He shows concern for Sophy asking if she wants to marry Sam. Am I right in thinking at the time most people would have assumed Sam was a good match for Sophy, and maybe not have bothered to ask what Sophy wanted?
Bridget wrote: "Am I right in thinking at the time most people would have assumed Sam was a good match for Sophy, and maybe not have bothered to ask what Sophy wanted?"Good question, Bridget. People in Victorian times often married to have a home, to gain a helpmate, or for financial reasons. Sometimes people who had a title and a castle would marry someone with money. Widowers with children would remarry quickly to have someone to take care of their children. Widows with children would remarry to gain financial support for their children. People didn't always marry for love.
Sam was a hard worker who seems to genuinely love Sophy. They grew up in the village together and are in the same social class. So Sam would have seemed to be a good match by Victorian standards. Sophy was 19 years old and doesn't seem to be in a big hurry to get married, but knows she'll need a home if she leaves her employment at the vicarage. It was very kind of the vicar to ask Sophy what she wanted.
Summary - End of Chapter 1Mr Twycott, the vicar, became ill and Sophy brought his meals up to him on a tray. She fell down the stairs and twisted her foot. Sophy was left with a permanent injury to her foot, and she was told not to walk much or work at a job where she had to do much standing. She was hoping to find work with her aunt, a seamstress.
She told the vicar that she must leave. But he was fond of Sophy and felt responsible for what she had suffered on his account. The vicar asked Sophy to marry him. "Sophie did not exactly love him, but she had respect for him which almost amounted to veneration. Even if she had wished to get away from him she hardly dared refuse a personage so reverend and august in her eyes . . ."
The vicar married Sophy in secret. But he knew that he had "committed social suicide" by marrying his servant. So Mr Twycott took a position in a church south of London, leaving anyone who would have known her former position. It also offered them more privacy in London because everyone knows everyone's business in a small country village like Gaymead.
Sophy was skilled at running a household. But she had trouble with things having to do with culture and proper speech. Her son was now old enough to notice her deficiencies and lack of culture. His father spared no expense in educating their son. Mr Twycott is 20 years older than Sophy, and his health is very poor.
Sophy is a Victim of CircumstancesHardy often shows people changed by Chance (the luck of the draw). Sophy became a victim of circumstances when she fell. Her injured foot limited her choices in life, and made her feel powerless. She needed someone to provide a home for her which influenced her decision to marry the vicar. She also felt that she should not refuse a man who she revered so highly.
While the vicar was fond of Sophy and felt some responsibility for her injury, he was 20 years older and seems like a bit of a father figure.
Rural/City Differences and Social ExpectationsWhen the vicar moved Sophy away from the country village of Gaymead, he took her away from all the people and things she felt comfortable with. The move socially isolated Sophy.
London exposed her to high society. The vicar was probably upper middle class with an excellent education. Sophy would not meet the social expectations of a higher class society. Her friends were back in rural Gaymead.
The vicar tried to educate Sophy so she would appear to be a lady. The son is old enough to notice when his father corrects her, and to feel ashamed that his mother talks like a working class person.
Hardy and Class Differences
Hardy was very conscious of class differences. Although he was a brilliant man and worked hard at self-education, he regretted that he did not have the means to finance a university education. Growing up in a rural environment meant that he did not have the natural social polish that comes from a childhood in a high class family. He had to acquire those skills. The author is pointing out the social constraints of the time.
I wondered if the vicar told Sophy they’d be moving before they married. Especially going from a rural area to the city, it surely wouldn’t have been her preference.
Janelle wrote: "I wondered if the vicar told Sophy they’d be moving before they married. Especially going from a rural area to the city, it surely wouldn’t have been her preference."Janelle, we never find out that information. In a patriarchal society, it may be just assumed that the man finds work, and the woman is obligated to follow him. Since the vicar is much older than Sophy and highly educated, he also may be making decisions like a father might make for a child.
While it might not seem fair to Sophy, the vicar also has the pressure of the expectations of society and needs to keep his position to support them. He's trying to take care of Sophy, but he also has to act in a way that society expects. His solution was a secret marriage and moving to a new location.
Hardy is showing us how the class system and the expectations of society in the 19th Century can hurt people.
Mod
Connie, your excellent insight here about Sophy being socially isolated, made me realize that the move to London caused the vicar and Sophy to switch places. In Gaymead the vicar was socially isolated and now it's Sophy who is isolated.
The other thing I thought of while reading today, is how grateful I am for modern medicine. Today, a fall like Sophy's, probably wouldn't render someone lame. :-)
Bridget, I agree whole heartedly with what you say about this section! The social isolation I believe would have been more damaging for Sophy than the vicar, who while in the rural community was looked up to, where in the town, she is looked down upon even by her own husband and son.
When I initially read this section, I was surprised that the vicar would propose marriage because of the gulf in his and Sophy's position. It was note a kindness to her or to himself, for that matter. He would not be able to entertain at home, and she would hae no one to be friends and confidents. His one act has set them up for a relationship that is unlikely to grow and prosper.
Bridget wrote: "Connie wrote: "When the vicar moved Sophy away from the country village of Gaymead, he took her away from all the people and things she felt comfortable with. The move socially isolated Sophy...."..."
Bridget and Pamela, you have good thoughts about the social isolation that Sophy is experiencing. I would think that the clergyman from neighboring London parishes would occasionally meet and socialize, so that the vicar would have some friends or acquaintances if he pushed his marriage into the background. But Sophy would be shunned by the high society women. My general impression is that the working class did not fit into the culture of the Church (probably the Church of England).
Bridget, modern medicine could have helped Sophy. I'm not sure what her problem was, but breaking bones in an ankle or rupturing an Achilles tendon are possible problems that would have made it difficult to walk or stand. But I shudder to think of a surgeon working on someone in the 1800s.
Summary - Beginning of Chapter 2Mr Twycott died, and is buried in a large cemetery, an unknown name to the people of London. He had provided for his wife and son. Sophy had a modest personal income and the lifetime use of a house. His son was to finish the course at the exclusive public school, then attend Oxford in preparation for ordination.
Sophy was to reside in a small home that her husband had purchased for her on a heavily trafficked road south of London. She had nothing to occupy her time except for elaborately braiding her hair, and keeping the home open for her son when he returned during school vacations.
The son was becoming a socially snobbish gentleman, only concerned with his school knowledge, and wealthy and titled people. In contrast, Sophy only came into contact with her two servants, a few tradesman, and some clerks. Sophy had a lot of love in her heart, but no one to accept it.
Is Sophy's Inheritance a Home or a Prison?"Sophy had been treated like the child she was in nature though not in years."
While Sophy's husband provided for her, she was not consulted about where she wanted to live. In Victorian times, it was not unusual for women to have little control over an estate. It was a patriarchal society where women were considered helpless at making important decisions, so Sophy's husband had power and control of Sophy's life even after death.
Hardy describes the railings around the house as though they were the bars of a prison. The description of the location is also dark, dreary, and noisy:
"Here she now resided, looking out upon the fragment of lawn in front, and through the railings at the ever-flowing traffic . . . stretching her eyes far up and down the vista of sooty trees, hazy air, and drab house facades . . ."
Sophy's life is lonely and unfulfilling.
What could be a lonelier, sadder fate than Sophy's. Her husband gone, she has no purpose in life beyond a son who snubs her. His decision to locate her near the church is no doubt more about what works best for the son than for Sophy herself, although others would have thought him a wonderful husband to have thought to provide her with an established home on his passing.
Works of Thomas Hardy
Books mentioned in this topic
Wessex Tales (other topics)The Three Strangers (other topics)
The Withered Arm (other topics)
Life's Little Ironies (other topics)
The Son's Veto (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
John Heywood (other topics)J.M. Barrie (other topics)
Thomas Hardy (other topics)
Wiklie Collins (other topics)
Connie will be hosting this read for us, between 2nd and 15th June.
**PLEASE ALLOW CONNIE TO COMMENT FIRST! Thanks.