A Wife In London Flashcards
The structure is split into two parts with titles, almost like a play. This suggests…
That the soldiers in the war were playing a designated part and that war is controlled and forced, as he was against the Boer War
And of a new love…
They would learn
First wife Emma died so he knew what it was like to mourn a future he would not have - couldn’t have children - so he saw what women were going through
The soldier and his wife were most likely…
Newlyweds because of “of a new love they would learn”.
His life ended too soon, and they would not get to experience a happy and fulfilling life together.
Widows in the 1800s were…
Shunned.
Wife in the poem’s life is also affected, as well as soldiers.
Page-full of his…
Hoped return
Hardy was known to tackle uncomfortable subjects through uncommon view points.
Gave a different PoV so reader knows what first hand loss feels like - wife did not receive closure
She sits in…
The tawny vapour
Wife is unnamed to represent all wives
Vapour represents how she does not know what is happening; foggy mind
Pathetic fallacy
Street-lamp…
Glimmers cold
Represents her cold, depressed mood
Little light is given representing little hope she has
Webby
Trapped in her thoughts
Cracks…
Flashed
Smartly - onomatopoeia
Broken connection
Dazes
Inability to take in the information; shock
Last line has dashes, fragmenting it - represents inability to take it in
Hangs thicker
Deeper depression - pathetic fallacy
