characterisation of the wife Flashcards
overview
In “A Wife in London,” Thomas Hardy characterizes the wife as a woman overwhelmed by grief and confusion following the death of her husband in a distant war. Initially depicted as passive and isolated, she sits in a foggy, desolate world, consumed by sorrow. Her emotional state is shattered further when she receives a letter from her husband, written before his death, which contrasts sharply with the reality of his loss. Hardy’s portrayal of the wife captures her deep sense of isolation, the disorienting nature of time, and the crushing weight of unfulfilled hope, emphasizing the personal devastation caused by war.
She sits in the tawny vapour”
At the start of the poem, the wife is portrayed in a state of deep sorrow, with the description “She sits in the tawny vapour” establishing a mood of melancholy. The word “tawny” is an unusual but deliberate choice—its warm, brownish tone suggests something fading or dying, a loss of life or hope. This imagery contributes to the tone of resignation that permeates the poem’s opening. Hardy contrasts this with the word “vapour,” which conveys a sense of intangibility, as if the wife’s grief is not only suffocating but also undefined or uncertain. The image of her sitting also conveys passivity and inaction; she is trapped, emotionally immobilized by her sorrow. The choice to describe her as sitting, rather than actively engaging with her surroundings, symbolizes her inability to move forward in the wake of such devastating news.
, “Like a waning taper / The street-lamp glimmers cold.”
Hardy continues to develop the wife’s grief with the phrase, “Like a waning taper The street-lamp glimmers cold.” The “waning taper” is a particularly potent image of fragility. A taper is a small candle that burns out quickly, symbolising the wife’s diminishing hope. The “waning” suggests that this hope is in the process of dying. The juxtaposition of a street-lamp’s “glimmering cold” further emphasizes this sense of hopelessness. While the lamp still emits some light, the word “cold” strips it of warmth, indicating the emotional chill the wife feels. The image of the wife surrounded by this faint, cold light encapsulates her loneliness—physically alone in a foggy London, and emotionally isolated by the news she has received. The tone here is one of cold, desolate grief, mirroring the wife’s emotional paralysis.
s, “A messenger’s knock cracks smartly.”
The shift in the poem’s tone occurs sharply with the arrival of the messenger. Hardy writes, “A messenger’s knock cracks smartly.” The verb “cracks” introduces an auditory, sharp sound, and its choice is highly significant. “Cracks” suggests something breaking open, both physically and emotionally. The sound, rather than being soft or quiet, is jarring, emphasizing how the message interrupts the wife’s world. This disruption, marked by a “smart” knock, further reinforces the emotional shock she experiences. The word “smartly” here is full of irony—its typical association with something quick and neat contrasts sharply with the harshness of the news, amplifying the emotional violence the wife faces upon hearing the devastating announcement of her husband’s death. At this moment, the wife’s life is no longer passive or defined by the dull fog of her sorrow—this is a sharp, immediate, and overwhelming intrusion into her life. Hardy’s choice to present the news as a literal “knock” is significant because it forces the wife to confront the reality of her loss. The “knock” is not just an announcement; it is a force that fractures her sense of security. This sudden impact shifts the tone from somber reflection to a more abrupt, painful realization of the truth.
In the second section of the poem, Hardy introduces a striking moment of irony when the wife receives a second letter. “His hand, whom the worm now knows” contrasts sharply with the previous line. The “worm” represents death, but the letter is from her husband, whose “hand” is still writing. This juxtaposition of life and death is profound—the letter is still alive with the energy of her husband’s handwriting, but the reader understands that it is futile, as her husband has already passed. Hardy’s use of irony here is devastatingly cruel. The wife is still receiving the letter, unaware that it will never reach her in the way it was intended. The letter, filled with hope, contains words from a man who is now “known” by death, creating a cruel tension between the expectation of life and the brutal reality of death. The irony heightens the emotional complexity of the poem because it forces the wife (and the reader) to grapple with the disorienting nature of time. While the wife believes she is receiving correspondence from her husband, the letter represents a past that has already been overtaken by death. The “hand” in the letter is, therefore, no longer the hand of a living person but of someone who has already died. The tone here becomes increasingly tragic as the wife is caught between two worlds: the reality of her grief and the illusion of hope offered by the letter from her deceased husband.
“Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather”
The line “Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather” brings forth a strong contrast to the wife’s grief. The adjectives “fresh” and “firm” imply vitality, certainty, and energy, while “highest feather” evokes an image of optimism, lightness, and confidence. Hardy’s use of these words works to emphasize the stark contrast between the husband’s optimistic, hopeful tone in his letter and the wife’s own experience of death and loss. The wife receives this letter full of plans and new beginnings—ideas of reunions, holidays, and a future together—but these plans have been violently interrupted by her husband’s death. The optimism conveyed through “fresh,” “firm,” and “highest feather” becomes tragically ironic, as the wife’s present is dominated by mourning and regret. The letter embodies the husband’s hopes, and these hopes are embodied in the energetic and vibrant language of the writing. The dissonance between the husband’s expectations and the wife’s crushing reality amplifies the emotional devastation she experiences. The tone shifts here, moving from the blunt reality of death to a poignant, almost cruel remembrance of what could have been. The wife is left not only with grief but with the haunting presence of a future that will never materialize.
In the final line, “Of new love that they would learn,” the wife’s loss is fully realized. The phrase “new love” suggests that the couple had plans to rediscover each other, to experience fresh emotions and connections when her husband returned. The idea of learning “new love” implies growth, the anticipation of a deeper, more meaningful relationship. However, this is brutally cut short by the news of his death. The word “learn” suggests that they were still in the process of exploring new aspects of their relationship, which now remains forever unfulfilled. This final line deepens the tone of tragedy by emphasizing the unfulfilled potential of their relationship. The future that the wife had hoped for is not only lost but replaced with a reality that will never allow her to experience the joy that was promised. This moment reflects the irreparable gap between the life that was and the one that will never come to be.
structure
The structure of “A Wife in London” mirrors the emotional journey of the wife, reflecting her grief and shock. The poem is divided into two sections: the first conveys her immediate, numbing despair after receiving the news of her husband’s death, while the second introduces bitter irony as she receives a letter from him full of hope. The shift from the passive, sorrowful tone in the first stanza to the ironic, tragic tone in the second reflects her emotional transition from disbelief to a deeper, painful realization of her loss. The use of enjambment in both stanzas helps create a flowing, almost suffocating sense of time, emphasizing the wife’s ongoing internal turmoil.
context
In “A Wife in London,” Thomas Hardy uses the wife’s emotional journey to highlight the personal toll of war. Set during the Boer War, the wife is characterised as a figure of sorrow and isolation. She is initially depicted as passive and overwhelmed by grief, struggling to process the devastating news of her husband’s death. Through the irony of receiving two contrasting letters—one full of hope from her husband, the other announcing his death—Hardy underscores her emotional turmoil and confusion. The characterisation of the wife reflects the profound sense of loss, isolation, and the cruel disjunction between expectation and reality that war inflicts on those left behind.
conclusion
In conclusion, Hardy’s “A Wife in London” is a masterful exploration of the characterisation of the wife, conveyed through a shifting tone and the use of imagery, irony, and contrast. The tone evolves from passive sorrow to shocking grief, then to bitter irony, and finally to profound, crushing loss. Through Hardy’s careful manipulation of language and tone, we see the wife not only as a woman who is grieving the loss of her husband but also as someone who is caught between the false hope offered by a letter from the past and the painful truth of her present. The poem underscores the devastating emotional toll of war, as the wife is left to mourn the future that was promised to her, now irrevocably lost. The tragic irony of receiving a letter from the dead encapsulates the theme of war’s brutal impact on the individual and the unrelenting isolation that follows such loss.
