A Wife In London Flashcards
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Introduction
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Written during the Second Boer War, Hardy uses the poem ‘A Wife in London’ as a vehicle to highlight the effects on relationships due to the wide scale effects of war, particularly focussing on the wives who are left widowed as there husband never return. He uses the poem to express the hardships that women face as war ends their blossoming relationships prematurely. With over 22,000 dead he emphasises the futility of the war as lives were lost for diamonds and gold. He felt that the men are disenfranchised and that there should be a more humane response to war. Through his poem he emphasises how was should be seen as a tragedy rather than to be celebrated.
