A Wife in London Flashcards
introduction
- victorian period - 1899, shortly after the outbreak of the Boer War (1899-1902)
- about a woman who receives a telegram informing her that her husband has died in battle
- the following day, she receives a posthumous letter from him, full of life and full of hope
- POEM FOCUSES ON THE IMPACT OF WAR ON THOSE AT HOME, EXPLORING THE FAR REACHING IMPACT OF WAR ON ORDINARY INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE POWERLESS IN INFLUENCING A COUNTRY’S DECISION TO ENGAGE IN MILITARY ACTION
form
- 3rd person female perspective
- iambic pentameter
structure
- splitting the poem into two - could represent how the wife and soldier were separated
- II the irony - indicative of a shift
- FINAL STANZA - dashes - remind the reader of the telegram - contrasting its sad message with the positive tone of the letter
- 4 stanzas
rhythm/rhyme
- ABBAB - constant rhyme scheme - suggestive of the patterns in society - repeated example - war and dying is just another aspect in life
- rhyme scheme establishes an ordered pattern juxtaposed with the impending upheaval in the wife’s life. It fosters a melodic tone, suggesting inevitability. Coupled with pathetic fallacy, it instils a sense of unease from the outset
ellipsis and caesurae
- suggests the wife cannot read more of the telegram - raw emotional state - her inability to accept the news she has received
- dashes - mimic the telegram - mimetic of her shocked state
finish the quote: ‘the street lamp..
..glimmers cold’
‘the street lamp glimmers cold’
- oxymoron : ‘glimmer’ and ‘cold’ - foreshadows the sense of dread the wife will feel when she finds out her husband is dead
- could suggests that the wife will never feel warm again now that her husband is dead
finish the quote: ‘waning..
..taper’
‘waning taper’
- a candle burning down - a classic image to suggest the fragility and imminent end of life
- foreshadows the husband’s untimely death
finish the quote: ‘fog..
..hangs thicker’
‘fog hangs thicker’
- pathetic fallacy - as the poem progresses, the weather deteriorates, reflecting the prevailing mood of sorrow. This is in contrast to the mention of summer in the penultimate line
- fog is often associated with feelings of grief, sadness and depression - she is probably feeling
- REFERENCE TO SMOG/FOG - symbolic of confusion and symbolises the civilian’s ignorance
- ‘fog hangs thicker’ - oppressive - depression and so the fog gets worse - more confused
finish the quote: ‘firelight..
…flicker’
‘firelight flicker’
- another image of waning light
- further represent the fragility of life and the inevitability of death
finish the quote: ‘summer..
..weather’
‘summer weather’
a time of happiness and bliss - ironic - soldier may have been in the ‘summer’ of his life
finish the quote: ‘home-planned..
..jaunts’
‘jaunts’
- connotations of youth
- short excursion/journey
- his abrupt death - unpredictability of war
title
- A Wife in London
- ‘A’ - indefinite article - suggests that there are many more people in a similar situation - talking about one of many - the wife is generic and all people are in a similar situation
- ‘Wife’ - refers to the women - poem indicated that the most important aspect of a woman’s identity is her marital status - poem will be about her husband
- ‘London’ is at the heart of England - clear the poem will be about an English soldie
finish the quote: ‘whom the..
..worm now knows’
‘whom the worm now knows’
- highlights death and physical decay
- blunt way of expressing death - contrasts with ‘has fallen’ at the start of the poem - no matter how much comfort is offered to the wife, the husband will not return
- euphemism for death
‘cracks’
‘flashed’
‘dazes’
‘fallen’
semantic field of war
finish the quote: ‘has..
..fallen’
‘has fallen’
- within dashes
- euphemistic language
- used to show how the wife cannot, or will not accept the news
- british soldiers don’t care enough to be upfront with her
‘flashed’
‘cracks’
‘knock’
- abrupt
- active verbs
- symbolic of the husband’s abrupt death
- ‘flashed’ - news was sudden and unexpected
- telegram
finish the quote: ‘webby..
…fold on fold’
‘webby fold on fold’
- sense of entrapment
- in a spider’s web / trapped in widowhood
- hardy is criticising london
I - the Tragedy
- creates a sense of foreboding and inevitability
finish the quote: ‘tawny..
..vapour’
‘tawny vapour’
- referring to yellow fog which frequently covered london during this time
- eerie and ominous atmosphere
- description of the “tawny vapour” alludes to air pollution in London, which led to poor health and deaths; Hardy explores the ills of the era, literally and metaphorically
finish the quote: ‘new..
..love’
‘new love’
- reminds us of how many couples married each other before war without knowing each other properly
- systemic of many couples at the time
‘sits’
- wife has a sense of powerlessness about her
- wife is devoid of agency of her own fate
- connotations of inactivity and passiveness
finish the quote: ‘fresh-..
..firm’
‘fresh-firm’
- associate with life
- ironic
- indicating his vitality when he wrote it
soundscape
- onomatopoeias
- ‘knock cracks’
- makes the phrase sound harsh and violent - like the soldier’s death
- harsh interruption to her life
‘he’
- structural repetition
- emphasises her husband as the subject and the lack of identity renders him a symbol of many others
key quotations for isolation
“A wife in London”
“She sits in the tawny vapour
That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled”
“The postman nears and goes”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR ISOLATION
“A wife in London”
“She sits in the tawny vapour
That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled”
“The postman nears and goes”
The title conveys the wife’s loneliness and the disconnect between her and her husband. London is depicted as a hostile, cold environment adding to the sense of discomfort
The use of the indefinite article “A” implies there are numerous wives experiencing similar separations from their husbands
The language is ominous. Isolated in the city, she is surrounded by fog, connoting a sense of confusion and uncertainty
The simplicity of the language belies the weight of the postman’s visit. The mundane nature of his arrival is juxtaposed against the impact of the message he delivers
key quotations for death
“A messenger’s knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news in her hand”
“He — he has fallen — in the far South Land…”
“His hand, whom the worm now knows”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR DEATH
“A messenger’s knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news in her hand”
“He — he has fallen — in the far South Land…”
“His hand, whom the worm now knows”
The onomatopoeic phrase “cracks smartly” evokes a suddenness and urgency and the verb “flashed” further adds to the abruptness. This reflects the sudden shift in the wife’s circumstances
Caesura adds dramatic effect and mimics the mental discord of processing tragic news and disrupts the iambic pentameter rhythm. The repetition of “he” and the fragmented syntax and ellipsis adds to the gravity of the moment
The physicality of the imagery conjured by “hand” and “worm” emphasises the tangible reality of death and alludes to decay and inevitability
key quotations for tragedy
“I The Tragedy”
“Flashed news in her hand”
“Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR TRAGEDY
“I The Tragedy”
“Flashed news in her hand”
“Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly”
The first part of the poem comes under the heading “Tragedy”, positioning the husband’s death as such. It is descriptive rather than emotive
The verb “flashed” alludes to the shock and abrupt interruption to the wife’s life. The phrase “her hand” contrasts with “his hand”, conveying the juxtaposition between the wife’s immediate experience and her husband’s fate
Alliteration in “shaped so shortly” highlights the brevity of the message in sharp contrast to the enormity of its impact
key quotations for love
“In the summer weather”
“And of new love that they would learn”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR LOVE
“In the summer weather”
“And of new love that they would learn”
Looking forward to “summer weather” has connotations of happy times
The words “new love” is ambiguous but the poem concludes with a lost hope for renewal through love. It encapsulates a sense of waste and loss
