Courtship is the behavior by which the male normally attempts to persuade the female to have a romantic relationship or marriage. In Jane Austen's "Persuasion", as well as Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", courtship is shown in a kaleidoscopic vision thus portraying a plethora of meanings and interoperations. However, these two books give an extremely contrasting view of courtship despite being written in the same century. This is evident since in "Persuasion" Austen presents courtship as derived from emotions as well as very gender stereotyped; yet in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' it appears to be simply lust and the consequences of a fall into false courtship. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In "Persuasion" the character Frederick Wentworth leaves Anne a heartfelt letter in which we can see how to court a beautiful experience as it is told: “One word, one look will be enough to decide whether I will enter your father's house tonight or never again." The use of asyndectic lists catalogs which for Anne would give a single sign of attraction and which for Wentworth would be enough. Furthermore, the use of indicating consequences makes Wentworth's motivation for writing this letter clear, and by using the adverb 'never' we are able to tell how he is illustrating strong and passionate emotions towards Anne. The 19th century reader might see this as a final attempt to woo Anne and place the faith of their relationship in his hands, however a modern reader might see it as Wentworth simply wanting to know if she feels the way he does while he can wait. not anymore. Socially, this would have been seen as a very romantic gesture as this is considered courtship by Wentworth admitting his feelings towards Anne. Despite this, we can see how in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' Hardy presents a courtship based solely on lust on the part of Alec d'Urberville as he says: "Well, my great beauty, what can I do for you?" ?" The adjective 'large' gives the whole sentence a sexual connotation as it could be interpreted as her physical appearance as Tess could be a well-developed woman. In addition to that, the capitalization of the word 'Beauty' could indicate how Alec finds this the most attractive characteristic of Tess. A 19th century reader might find it a little repulsive as it is a very vulgar way to talk to a woman you have just met, and a modern reader might agree with this. albeit to a lesser extent due to the fact that sexuality and sexual comments have become more accepted, but this may offend some readers. In the social context, we are able to understand why Tess continued with this interaction as she needed the help of someone of higher status. So we are able to see a clear difference in how Austen and Hardy present the theme of courtship, as Austen presents it as a very romantic and sincere expression of one's emotions and this is juxtaposed with how Hardy presents it. presents as based on sexual desire and ardor. In 'Persuasion we can see how in the 19th century courtship was a purely male action as it is said: "if Mr Elliot should some time henceforth visit you... accept him" The verb "to pay" ' prefigures that Mr Elliot will soon make his interests in Anne and Lady Russell advises Anne to "accept". This therefore shows not only how courtship is dominated by men, but also gives us an idea that when courting a woman it is for.