A Wife in London Flashcards
What year was A Wife in London published in?
1899
Who wrote A Wife in London?
Thomas Hardy
What is the plot of A Wife in London
-Wife waiting for husband, receives news telling her he died in a battle.
-Ironically, she then receives a letter from her husband in which he speaks of his excitement of when he will see her
What are the themes of A Wife in London?
-Grief
-Love
What is the context of A Wife in London?
-Poem written in 1899
-Poem narrative divided like chapters
-Boer war 1899-1902
-Poet is a novelist- his style was tragic
What is the form and structure/ concepts of A Wife in London?
-Poem split into two section->
TRAGEDY: a story that evokes pity & sorrow
IRONY: a moments significance is contrary to its intent- his letters arrives after news of his death
“He has fallen in the far south land…”
“He has fallen”-euphemism-> doesn’t say ‘he is dead’- wants to deny it.
“…“-pauses-> can’t form the sentences due to being overwhelmed
“the fog hangs thicker”
-pathetic fallacy-> grief, misery
“his hand, whom the worm now knows:”
-synedoche-> remembering him as a person
“fresh - firm - penned in highest feather- page - full of his hoped return.”
“fresh” “firm”- light heartedness-> each positive word is ironic for the sadness she is feeling.
“a messenger’s knock cracks smartly, flashed news in her hand”
“knock cracks” “flashed”- sudden & sharp words- juxtapose the mood
“and of new love that they would learn.”
“new love”- love his memory
-idea of grief, talking about the future
Finish the context quote: “Tis better to have loved and lost….”
“Than to never had loved at all.”
What main theme does A Wife in London fall under?
War-> the problem of aestheticizing the horror of war
