a wife in london Flashcards
1
Q
overview
A
Hardy explores the effects of the brutal Boer war by describing what life was like for those not directly involved which shows how it wasn’t just soldiers effected by war. The purpose of the poem is to create sympathy for the wife who’s husband died. At the beginning of the poem the wife receives a telegram saying that her husband has died in the war. After, she gets a letter from her husband and she reads it and it’s about all the things they will do together once he returns. The impersonal reference to the wife is vague which tells us that this experience was common.
2
Q
beginning
A
- She sits in a ‘tawny vapour’. The use of pathetic fallacy with the brown fog could suggest the isolation she was feeling as no one can see her as the fog cuts her off.
- The fog is then described like a ‘webby fold on fold.’ This could suggest that she is trapped in a spiderweb and can’t escape. The fold on fold’ suggests that it is endless and therefore the wife can’t see any way out.
3
Q
middle
A
- When the wife receives the telegram of the husbands passing the phrasing is clumsy which suggests the pain and confusion that the wife is feeling.
- When she receives the letter from her husband it is given to her by the postman unlike the messenger who gave her the telegram. This suggests that the postman is more personal to the wife as he was the link between her and her husband. This effect of this is that Hardy can create more sympathy for the wife as the postman will no longer visit her because her husband has died and she won’t get anymore letters.
4
Q
end
A
- When she reads the letter its about all the things they will do once he has returned in ‘the summer weather.’ However, while she reads the letter the weather is dark and gloomy which emphasises that all the things he planned will never be possible.
5
Q
form & structure
A
- written in the present tense to show that her wait goes on and on and is never ending
- written in 3rd person to show that the observer is an outsider
- the poem has a feeling of doing nothing as the wife feels helpless and can’t do anything
