A Wife in London

Question 1

Form / Structure

Answer 1

2 stages:

I THE TRAGEDY
II THE IRONY
- echo each other
- 1: introduced setting and message
- 2: setting and message

Question 2

Imagery

Answer 2

THE STREET LAMP GLIMMERS COLD
- metaphor of death
A MESSENGERS KNOCK CRACKS SMARTLY
- knock on the door echoes the gunshot that killed her husband
BY THE FIRELIGHT FLICKER
- candlelight, bombs, hope, Gina
Ambiguous

Question 3

Language

Answer 3

A Wife in London

• indefinite article
• happening to lots of wives

Landscape of war echoed
- vapour
- waning
-flashed
- fog
 Words are light and simple yet the effect is heavy and real

Question 4

Mood

Answer 4

Love vs Loss
Pathetic Fallacy reflects the mood
One speaker echoing the experience of many women in London

Question 5

Soundscape

Answer 5

Clear Rhyme Scheme

- inevitability of events