A comparison between "Tony Kytes, The Arch Deceiver" by Thomas Hardy and "The Seduction" by Eileen M

... f the nature of a woman's place in the society of the time, Tony ultimately has the upper hand. The women must wait to be chosen.

In the poem that is set in the current times, this balance of power would appear to be more equal. This is, however, not the case because of the fundamental differences in the way in which men and women review their relationships. For the boy the encounter appears to be very prosaic, as is shown by his conversation "I'll take you to the river where I spend the afternoons, when I should be at school or eating me dinner." He has set his sights on a brief sexual fling. The girl on the other hand, Sixteen years old and full of romantic dreams and fantasies feels she is being led into some enchanted magical place, as shown by her later reflections: "Where a stranger could bring you to bright new worlds." The women in both of the texts appear to want very much to believe what the men say to them, as when Milly in the story believes in the end that Tony has chosen to marry her rather than the other girls. The reality is, of course, is that she is the only one left willing to be his wife. And in the poem when the girl had convinced herself that the encounter was as of great importance to the boy as it was to her, as is shown by her reflections on "Stupid stupid promises, only tacitly made." There is a great difference in length between the story and the poem. The story is ...