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Sophy’s Braided Hair
The village of Gaymead symbolizes hard work and rural simplicity; London symbolizes the world of high society. “The Son’s Veto” is divided between these two settings: the fictional country village of Gaymead, Sophy’s birthplace and the location of Mr. Twycott’s first parish, and the sprawling metropolis of London, where Sophy and Mr. Twycott move after their marriage. Gaymead is presented as a place full of life, closely associated with Sam and the plants he grows, while London is depicted as dull and lifeless, with overflowing cemeteries. For Sophy, London is a place of isolation and confinement, while she comes to see her home village of Gaymead as a symbol of freedom. Hardy uses the contrast between the two settings to vividly depict the contrast between the artificial constraints imposed by human society and the freedom that exists in nature.
London/Gaymead Quotes in The Son’s Veto
The The Son’s Veto quotes below all refer to the symbol of London/Gaymead. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part II
Quotes
Her life became insupportably dreary; she could not take walks, and had no interest in going for drives, or, indeed, in travelling anywhere. Nearly two years passed without an event, and still she looked on that suburban road, thinking of the village in which she had been born, and whither she would have gone back—O how gladly!—even to work in the fields.
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“You are not happy, Mrs. Twycott, I'm afraid?” he said.
“O, of course not! I lost my husband only the year before last.”
“Ah! I meant in another way. You’d like to be home again?”
“This is my home—for life. The house belongs to me. But I understand”—She let it out then. “Yes, Sam. I long for home—our home! I should like to be there, and never leave it, and die there.” But she remembered herself. “That's only a momentary feeling. I have a son, you know, a dear boy. He's at school now.”
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London/Gaymead Symbol Timeline in The Son’s Veto
The timeline below shows where the symbol London/Gaymead appears in The Son’s Veto. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part I
...suicide” by marrying Sophy. They move from their country home to a small house in London, intending to escape from everyone who knew that Sophy had once been Mr. Twycott’s maid.
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Returning to the present moment, Sophy continues to live in London, with her injured foot and fading youth, and spends much time braiding her hair. Mr....
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