Compare The Two Short Stories Tickets Please By D.H Lawrence And Tony Kytes Essay, Research Paper
Tickets Please
written by D. H. Lawrence is a 20th Century story. The protagonists are Annie
and John Thomas a rather good-looking man who enjoys gallivanting. Annie wants
her revenge on him as he drops her when she takes too much ?intelligent
interest? in him whereas in Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver written by
Thomas Hardy the male protagonist is anxious to marry and settle down.Both stories are set in different periods. This
affects the way in which the characters behave. The girls in Tickets Please are
?fearless young hussies? whereas Milly – a female character from Tony Kytes is
a ?nice, light, small, tender little thing?. They have a many similarities as
well as differences. The main reason for this is the period it is set in. We
know Tickets Please is set in WW1 as the narrator mentions: ?Since we are in war-time? Also
the tram system was entirely conducted by girls – something very common for
that time as men were out fighting in the war. The? Co-operative Wholesale
Society?, ?Statutes fair?, the ?hat pins? John Thomas won for Annie, the
?quoits? he threw on the table, the ?colliers? all point to WW1. The women had
many more opportunities. They could work on trams in a masculine fashion and
were incredibly fearless. ?They fear nobody-and everybody fears them? However
the women in Tony Kytes are very feminine. They had no opportunities and
were obliged to get married. Hannah wore her ?bonnet and jacket?, which was
very typical of the period. Tony Kytes and Milly were thinking of ?giving out
the banns that very week? to make the engagement official. It would then be
impossible for the couple to back out. The village was very close-knit and everyone knew
everybody else. It was likely for other people to know about other people?s
personal life. For example Tony?s father doesn?t want a scandal about Tony?s
deceiving qualities: ?don?t go driving about the country with Jolliver?s ?daughter and
making a scandal? In Tickets Please there is less sense of that.
There wasn?t the putting out of banns to make an engagement official and
something, which is very contrasting, as is it wouldn?t be surprising if a
couple backed out of marriage. It would be somewhat scandalous in Tony Kytes.
Marriage was essential in Tony Kytes but because of the war, it was less
important in Tickets Please. Instead they had short-term relationships,
like sailors. Tickets Please starts
off in the Midlands in the rural ?black industrial countryside? and we are
taken into the ?reckless swoops downhill? and end up in the ?sordid streets of
the great town?. Annie and John Thomas are first greeted at the Statutes fair.
We are then taken into the ?dark damp fields?. After Annie and John Thomas are
officially broken up they arrange to meet outside the depot. We are then led
from there to the final central setting where the climax arises; the ?cosy?
waiting room. It would have most likely been in Nottingham as that was really
well known for its tram service and Statutes fairs. Tony Kytes is
set in Dorset. Hardy created a fictional place within it called Wessex. It is a
small rural community and everyone is close knit. In both stories the journey
is very important. Tickets Please is set on a long winding journey on a
tram and Tony Kytes on a ?large horse drawn cart?. There is a great
sense of community as we are taken through the journey in the wagon. We meet
Tony?s various lovers through out it. Then we are taken to the field with
Tony?s where his father is. In each story, a prominent male character is involved
with a series of women. They are both very different in the way they treat
their female partners. In Tickets Please the male character is John
Thomas. It is not clear why John Thomas is not fighting in the war, as it would
have been necessary to be in the war due to conscription. The only conclusion I
came to about this is that his job was too important as he was the ?chief? of
the tram service. He was ?tall and agile? and ?good looking?. John Thomas was
very manly compared to Tony Kytes. He had a ?small brown moustache?. He
?smokes? and this is a sign of his lower working class. His face was ?ruddy?
and the word ?impudent? is used several times to describe his manner. This
shows him as impertinent and rude. However he is gallant and notorious, as
there is ?considerable scandal about John Thomas in a half a dozen villages?.
His flirtatious behaviour is well known. He is a philanderer and enjoys moving
from one woman to the next: ?Walks out with the newcomer? John
Thomas has a ?nocturnal presence? in the lives of women and the story focuses
on his relationship with Annie. We are given the hint that he may be indulging
in sexual relationships with the women, when the narrator mentions: ?The girls quit the service frequently? There
is no evidence in the text, but a strong suggestion he may have made these
women pregnant. In Tony Kytes there would definitely be no sex before
marriage. The main reason for this is because of the community disapproved of
this and parents would also not accept sex before marriage. If Tony Kytes were
to live in the time of John Thomas he may have had a sexual relationship before
marriage. ????????? John Thomas is a ?cock of the walk?
who adores attention from the women and is alight in the presence of women: ?He seemed to be sunning himself in the presence ?of so many
damsels? ????????? He belongs with the ladies because
when Laura Sharp said ?ladies only?, John Thomas replies with ?That?s me!? John
Thomas had ?all the arts of love making? and he was ?especially good at holding
a girl?. This shows his seductive charms and how experienced he is. Still John
Thomas is shallow and lacks commitment. He was consciously working his way
through the women working on the trams and left them distraught. He had no
sense of commitment, which shows him to be the opposite of Tony Kytes. John
Thomas ?hated intelligent interest? and he intended to remain a ?nocturnal
presence?. There was an imperious refusal to share Annie?s affections. John
Thomas didn?t want to become an individual to Annie. He never has to face any
consequences until Annie. Still he shows Annie that he has moved on to his next
women by his actions: ?Letting her see by the movement of his head that he had gone away to somebody else for the time being? The
mother of one of the ex-workers – Ceasy Meakin disapproved of John Thomas as
she made her leave the tram service: ?Her mother made her leave? There
is a similarity in Tony Kytes as Mr Jolliver-Hannah?s father disapproves
of Tony Kytes. ????????? When John Thomas and Annie are at the
Statutes fair he sits on the horse ?Black Bess?. This could describe him as a
shady character. ????????? The key way in which Tony Kytes is
different to John Thomas is the way in which he treats the women. Tony Kytes
genuinely likes all three of the women: ?Would have kissed them all round? John
Thomas just uses them for his own pleasure. Tony Kytes wasn?t a philanderer but
he was still the ?women?s favourite?. He is more boyish looking and doesn?t
have the manly features like the moustache which John Thomas has: ?There was no more sign of a whisker or beard on Tony Kyte?s face than on the palm of
my hand? He
had a ?little, round, firm, tight face? and also had scars from small pox.
Still he is handsome, as it hasn?t ?hurt his looks in a woman?s eye?. His surname being Kytes shows he is easily swayed like
a kite and he falls for every woman, he sees: ?I never knowed you was so pretty before? ????????? Tony Kytes is polite and respectful
and he addresses them using endearments such as ?darling? ?coming wife? and
?dear Hannah?. He speaks more ?tender and tender? He doesn?t want to
consciously hurt them whereas John Thomas is consciously hurting them as he has
a brash and a more abrupt manner. He lacks pleasantness and chivalry to women.
Tony Kytes would have been brought up to be respectful to women – we know he
doesn?t like to humiliate the women, Tony Kytes lies to spare the feelings of
the woman. For example he says to Hannah he is whispering because he has a ‘kind
of hoarseness’ when the real reason for his whispering is for the reason that
he has Milly and Unity hiding in the back of the wagon and he doesn’t want them
to hear the endearments he is using towards Hannah: ?How low you talk, Tony? But
as the story is concluding his manner is lacking and he slips into a
humiliating behaviour by proposing to them individually as well as covering
Unity over with the tarpaulin: ?Let me cover you over with the tarpaulin? Nevertheless
he is following the ritual of courtship. ????????? Another thing both of the men have
very much in difference is that John Thomas is only interested in short-term
relationships whereas Tony Kytes wants commitment and marriage. Overall both
men enjoy their success with women. ????????? Now I will be comparing Annie Stone
from Tickets Please and Milly Richards from Tony Kytes. ????????? Annie is well built and manly. She is
‘perfectly at ease,’ independent and makes a good job of working on the trams.
She was assertive, forward, liberated, strong and powerful as she ‘defied
convention.? She is someone peremptory suspicious and ‘ready to hit first’. She
will ‘pounce on youths’ and ‘push off the men.’ The tram car step is her
‘thermopylae’. Annie is a tartar as she unexpectedly turns onto John Thomas.
She was a leader and at Annie’s signal ‘they all flew at him.’ She is a
?hussie? and an organiser. Milly however is very feminine, passive and
obliging. When she was asked to crawl under the sacking she replies: "I don’t mind to oblige you, Tony" Crawling under the sack for a
woman in the 1840’s was a very appalling thing to do but because Milly has a
polite manner she obeys him. She calls him ‘Mr Tony’ and is eager to please as
well as being fragile and delicate. ????????? The social and historical forces shape
the lives of these women that is why the women in Tickets Please took on
non-traditional jobs such as working on the trams and Mily would have worked on
the farms. ????????? There is a strong bond of co-operation
between the women in Tickets Please. They all work together and as a
team to get their revenge on John Thomas. In contrast the women in Tony
Kytes are all competing against each other to win Tony Kytes: " I should have made ‘ee a finer wife" This
is because of the importance of marriage in the 1840’s. These women had to be
virgins if they wanted a chance to get married but women like Annie and Nora
had personal and sexual freedom because of the ?darkness and lawlessness of
war?time? Annie wanted to move the relationship further with
John Thomas and wanted to ‘consider him a person’ whereas in Tony Kytes
the women did not worry about the ‘intelligent interest’. Marriage was the
issue rather than the choice of partner. It was more of a social custom. ????????? In Tony Kytes Hannah is ‘most
dashing’ and ‘handsome’. Her tone is more forceful and aggressive as she calls
Tony Kytes ’stupid’. Still her father plays a vital role in her life as he
decides for her: "My daughter is not willing" Here,
parents play an important part in their lives. Tony Kyte’s father makes it very
clear that if a respectable woman mounted on the horse and wagon without
invitation she was not worth marrying. Tony Kytes however disregards the
opinions of his father. ????????? In Tickets Please the women
earn a living. They are forceful as they can control a whole tram car packed full
of ?colliers? who are notorious for their rowdy behaviour and bad language.
Although the women had to work extremely hard on the farms they didn?t earn a
living from it. They were expected to work on the farms for their fathers and
husbands. Still the girls in the time of Tony Kytes are weak and feeble
as Hannah can?t even control the reins of the horse and she totally lacks
control of the horse and wagon. ????????? In Tickets Please the narrator
frowns on the women?s short skirts and ?shapeless old peaked caps?. The women
in Tony Kytes had to dress more modestly. The dress, which they would
have been expected to wear, would include long dresses and hats. ????????? Both women Annie and Milly have very
different reactions to being turned down. Annie is ?staggered? and she then
weepy with ?fury, indignation, desolation and misery?. Finally she felt
?despair? towards him before feeling vicious, angry vindictive and maybe even
regretful as she tells the girls to ?shut up?. ?Annie was
allowed to show her emotions. She didn?t need to rely on men for her safety and
security. Milly?s expression of annoyance goes as far as a ?little pout?- a
slight look of bother. If she expresses how annoyed and angry she really is she
could jeopardise her chance of marriage. Milly has an immense amount of respect
for Tony, as even when he tells Hannah that he hasn?t ?quite promised her? yet: ?Settled it? I don?t think I have!? ?And then bursting out ?My sweet Hannah!?
Milly gives a ?little screaming squeak?. ????????? Annie is very careful as she ?has a boy
of her own?. When she was pursuing John Thomas she still kept her ?own boy
dangling in the distance.? To a great extent she is a hypocrite herself because
she is disloyal to both John Thomas as well as her own ?boy?.?? As she was a ?plump, quick alive little creature? she
was quite ?exited and happy?. Annie feels obliged to let John Thomas draw
himself closer: ?She could hardly for shame repulse ?him when he
put his arm around her? She
feels this because he has paid for all of her rides and she feels she can be
complaisant. This attitude shows how the women used to melt in his presence.
Even though Annie knew John Thomas she was foolish enough to ?pride? herself
that he could not leave her. When he did leave, she was ?determined? to have
her own back.? When
John Thomas arrived at the waiting room Muriel says ?Shut the door, boy?. She
is treating him like a child. Usually it would be John Thomas giving the
orders, as he is the ?chief?. The
women overall in Tony Kytes are submissive, timid, naÏve and typical of
the period as they ?almost swooned?, then ?screeched? and sobbed. They are
different to the women in Tickets Please because the girls in Tickets Please
want brutal and aggressive revenge. They have a lot of vengeance in them.
Hannah, Milly and Unity don?t bother about revenge. It is out of the question
for them. Annie
and Milly share one thing in particular. They both end up getting chosen. Annie
refuses partly because of her independence whereas Milly accepts even though it
may seem pathetic, weak and stupid to the modern women – the circumstances
forced Milly to no other decision. When
John Thomas was leaving the waiting room Nora told him not to ?bear a grudge?,
but if anyone is bearing a grudge it is the women. The
climax in the story is when both male leading roles are faced with the
situation that they have to choose one of the female characters. The choosing
takes place in a ?rough but cosy? waiting room and is significantly longer than
what Tony Kytes faced. Tickets Please is very vengeful, violent and
vindictive and the women are very ruthless. The brutality shown towards John
Thomas is very hard hitting and either upsetting or satisfying depending on the
reader. The women seem to behave hysterically as they start to ?giggle wildly?
and ?helplessly?. This shows them loosing their power. In
some way they treat it like a game when they make him turn to the wall and
choose one of them to touch him. They were ?tittering? as he looked so
?comical? and like kids, they shout out ?you?re looking?. John Thomas is forced
to choose as he ?struggled in a wild frenzy of fury and terror?. At this time
it is very unusual that he lacks control as he is the ?chief? and even though
he tries to speak with ?official authority? to get the girls to open the
?blasted door?, he is forced to take his pick:?
?You?ve got to choose? In
Tickets Please the whole ?being in control? is the opposite. The eponymous hero
has full control of the situation. He is not forced to choose and feels
self-assured in choosing Hannah to be his wife. There is no poetic justice
because he will not loose out whichever one of he three women he chooses. He
chooses Hannah first, but she refuses which was because at that time, her
father was there which greatly influenced her decision. She was still ?hoping
he would ask again?. Even in Tickets please all of the women ?hoped he
would look at her?. They all secretly wish to be chosen. Milly accepts however
Annie declines. It would be humiliating for Annie to accept as she feels she
has to decline for the girls as the whole point of beating John Thomas was so
they could prove a point to him and to accept John Thomas would undermine it
all.? Whoever
John Thomas chose, they would have to refuse. They knew that nobody would marry
him and still they made him ?choose?? The only reason why John
Thomas chose Annie was so he could get himself out of the situation. He knew
that by choosing Annie he would gain a victory and from his vulnerable position
he chooses Annie. He knows that she will never accept as he chooses her in
?malice?, Annie immediately let go off him like he was a ?hot coal?. She felt
?a kind of agony in her? as ?something was broken in her?. The girls have lost
control and are ?stupefied? by their ?unnatural behaviour?. Even after all the
taunting, tormenting and goading John Thomas they make him chose: ?Coddy, you?ve got to
choose? John
Thomas asserting his authority while being cornered like an animal gets him
nowhere but by choosing Annie he turns the tables. Despite the sheer violence
they thought would ensure a victory, they are very wrong. This leads Annie to
feel very undermined. John Thomas?
uniform is something he takes pride in. When his ?tunic was torn? and his
?jacket was stripped off?- so was his authority. Tony
Kytes has no violent behaviour or mass hysteria????? whatsoever. The climax in the text is well organised and the
tension is of a much different order. For example the tension in Tickets
Please is what is going to happen to John Thomas when he is being beaten up
whereas in Tony Kytes we want to know how he is going to explain himself
to all three women. Hannah
and Unity do not want revenge on Tony – and the way in which they show their
fury is by not going to Tony?s wedding. Milly is asked last by Tony and when
she is finally asked she responds by saying: ?You didn?t really mean what
you said to them? Tony declares ?not a word of
it?. Once again he is deceiving Milly and his charms get the better of her as
she accepts him. But we know the circumstances forced her to that decision. Tickets
Please is
left open-ended. The reader is shocked by the immense violence and we are left
wondering if John Thomas has learnt his lesson and will he resign or maybe
settle down into a permanent relationship. The women proved their point and
they feel they may have tamed him but because he has always been a philanderer
he may never change. In Tony
Kytes we are satisfied with the closed ending, even though the modern
feminist reader would pity Milly?s decision we are left knowing that they did end
up getting married. There is a bit of poetic justice as he didn?t get his first
choice but as he is genuine to all three of the women he would?ve been happy
with either women. Dialect
is used throughout Tickets Please. It shows the typical early 20th
century working class Nottinghamshire people and their identity. The narration
in Tickets Please is Standard English but the characters ?start lapsing
into dialect? when they are in conversation with one another. For example ?why
tha does?, ?Ay, he will? and ?come on me old duck?. In Tony
Kytes we are given the rural class dialect. It is not Standard English and
is much less formal. For example the narrator describes Tony Kyte?s facial
features in dialect: ?twas a little round face? This is the cart driver
speaking and he would have been using dialect because he would have not been
educated. He said Tony Kytes had small pox ?baddish?. It is 19th
century West Country dialect, when Tony says that he doesn?t want to ?kick up a
bit of a miff? the modern day translation would be to ?break out into a
quarrel?. ????????? Even though both authors Hardy and Lawrence are educated
they use dialect in their texts. They do this so they can add authenticity to
the story. The cart driver in Tony Kytes would have not been educated,
so Hardy needed to give us a real feeling to the characters. It makes them
sound more genuine and real to the period. We can clearly visualise the
characters and it gives us a local flavour. ????????? In both of the texts there are many individual and unique
features that are worth commenting on. In Tickets Please the long
sentences at the beginning of the story mimics the journey and the movement of
the tram. We feel we are being taken through the journey ourselves. We pass
through the regional landmarks such as the ?Co-op?, the ?market place? and
there are many more throughout the passage. By mentioning these, we feel a real
sense of place. There are several of commas, colons and semi-colons to break up
the passage and to fix it into place. When the ?patients halt at the loops?; it
creates a sense of impatience. The use of ?wee???hurray? increases the reader?s
participation. The tram drivers, ?rush? at the ?reckless swoops? and ?to ride
on these cars is always an adventure? because the drivers have the ?spirit of
the devil? in them. They have this attitude because they are loosing out in the
excitement and participation of the war so they want to feel some sort of
satisfaction. At
the start of the story it is all in the present tense. This creates a sense of
timelessness as the ?workmen?s houses?, ?cinemas? and ?fat gas works? will
always be there. It will always be a feature of life. There is no consistency,
whereas the story of the characters is told in the past tense. It gives us a
sense of their fleeting lives. ????????? In Tony Kytes the scene is set in a very different
way. Straight away we are introduced to the eponymous hero. We start off with
the narrator?s point of view and we immediately feel that the narrator is
indulgent and lenient towards Tony Kytes. Further on in the story we know that
he is indulgent towards Tony Kytes because he still gets a wife at the end. A
feminist writer in favour of the women would have ended it much more
differently by being less light-hearted towards him. ????????? The story in whole is light-hearted and there is no moral
to the story. We are not meant to feel any anger towards Tony Kytes. It is
meant to be humorous. We should treat him like a rogue and forgive him. Female
readers in general would feel a slight annoyance, whereas the male audience
generally would go along with the writer?s point of view and enjoy the humour
of these typical 18th century women falling for all of his lies. ????????? In Tickets Please there are many groups of metaphors
that Lawrence uses, for example he compares the women to ?reckless sailors?. He
uses navel ship images and descriptions: ?Careering vessel of a tram car? They are in ?peril, rocking
on the waves of a stormy land? and ?live abroad gives them a sailors dash?.
Because they are compared to sailors it gives us the impression that they
indulge in casual sex, like sailors having ?a woman at every port?. Sailors in
general are ?reckless? like the girls in Tickets Please and they have
the bouched attitude. The tram car is the ship and the depot is the port.? ????????? The women have a carpediam attitude. Unlike the women in Tony
Kytes who need to think about their future and not have the ?live for the
day? attitude. It was the war that allowed the women like Annie to have these
attitudes.??? ????????? Throughout the text
there are also many wartime references, which include: ?Outside was the darkness and lawlessness of
war-time? Lawrence
mocks the characters by comparing Annie to a ?tartar?. A ?tartar? was a warrior
figure of the Mongolia race who were famous for conquering many lands, whereas
Annie was just a working class Nottinghamshire ticket collector. The only
similarity Annie could have had with a ?tartar? is that she turned the tables
on John Thomas. Similarly a ?tartar? turns the tables on their assailant. ????????? There is also another reference: ?thermopylae?. It was a
pass between the sea and the mountains where a famous battle took place. Again
there is a mocking tone as the tram car step isn?t a place where something
famous had taken place like a great battle. ????????? Lawrence also uses many metaphors to describe John Thomas
and the women, which are linked with animals. The women are ?predators? whereas
John Thomas is the ?prey?. Annie was a ?swift cat? and John Thomas was now
?their sport?. We visualise hunting images as John Thomas lay ?like an animal?
as he ?was at the mercy of the captor?. The women were ?wild creatures? and
John Thomas ?started to struggle like an animal might?. The girls had a
?supernatural? strength but as soon as he chose Annie she became a ?dazed
creature?. The women get hysterical with their ?wild frenzy of fury?. They are
very vicious and have lack of control. They are acting on their instincts
because they had ?mute stupefied faces?. They couldn?t believe the
?supernatural? strength they had. An animal would act on instincts – not
humans. ????????? When Annie and John Thomas share their first kiss Annie has
to keep justifying her behaviour. There is a repetition of ?after all? several
times: ?After all it was pleasant? John Thomas? kisses were
?soft and slow and searching?. This uses the rule of three and the ?s? sounds
represent the movement of the kissing.? In Tony
Kytes Hardy uses rural metaphors to describe Milly and Tony?s reactions.
Milly was crying in ?watery streams? and Tony looked like a ?tree struck by
lightning?. ????????? As a modern day feminist reader I much preferred Tickets
Please, as there was a strong sense of sweet revenge. I felt Milly from Tony
Kytes was too pathetic and passive for her own good. Her life is worthless
and has no meaning to the feminist reader. But while reading the story we have
to constantly keep reminding ourselves that Milly needed to be passive and
obliging so she could secure herself a husband. If Milly was living in Annie?s
time or in the 21st century, then she too may have been forward and
liberated like Annie. If I were to re-write Tony Kytes, as a female
writer and reader I would make sure that other female readers would not respond
to the text with annoyance just because the narrator has been indulgent towards
Tony. Tony would get his full poetic justice, like John Thomas got his.???