Hardy's native Dorset, especially his birthplace in Higher Bockhampton of Dorchester, the county town of Dorset, was the inspiration for his ancient Kingdom of Wessex, the setting for "The Withered Arm" and "The Three Strangers". Hardy drew on scenes familiar to him in his childhood and incidents recounted to him by his mother to create a realistic picture of country life, its dialect and the inhabitants of those who lived in this place.
             The Kingdom of the West Saxons (Wessex) and Dorset has a very strong sense of history, which Hardy illustrates in "The Withered Arm" and "The Three Strangers", due to a history extending back to the pagan times. Parts of "The Withered Arm" draw on the ancient superstitions of the country people of these times – Rhoda and Gertrude go to visit a Conjuror to find a cure for Gertrude's diseased arm. This also highlights the beliefs that are prevalent beneath an ostensibly modern society. Hardy constantly reminds us of the ancient history of Wessex – in "The Withered Arm", Gertrude and Rhoda go to visit Conjour Trendle and pass over a heath "not improbably the same heath which had witnessed the agony of the Wessex King Ina, presented to after-ages as Lear." This has the effect of the characters being trapped by the landscape, and constantly reminds us that Wessex is a place of tragedy, and will continue to be so. The superstition of the characters is shown in both short stories. In "The Withered Arm" we are told of "smouldering village beliefs" . These beliefs 'smoulder' beneath the social faces that people assume. The cure for Gertrude's arm is said to be touching a man who has just been hanged. In "The Three Strangers" the reaction of the party goers towards the second stranger as he slowly reveals through the ancient medium of a ballad, his real trade: a hangman. All the hidden superstition bubbles to the surface. "Instinctively they withdrew further and further from the grim gentleman in their...