A Level English Lit Prose Coursework

This document contains a completed coursework essay which counts for 10% of the final grade in English Literature.

This essay was submitted in 2018 as part of a student’s coursework and was graded an A*. This essay is not to be copied due to plagarism, however can serve as a sufficient guide to students taking a feminist approach to their coursework.

The question this essay answers is:
“Feminists believe in nineteenth century fiction, very few women work for a living, unless they are driven to it by dire necessity. Instead, the focus of interest is on the heroine’s choice of marriage partner, which will decide her ultimate social position and exclusively determine her happiness and fulfilment in life, or her lack of these.”
In the light of your reading from the critical anthology, how does Thomas Hardy’s novel support this view?