Maude Clare Flashcards
How is Nell described initially? What does this symbolise?
“His bride was like a village maid” - simile: sets up the expectations that she isn’t good enough. Possibly not respectable.
How is Maude Clare juxtaposed with Nell at the beginning?
“Maude Clare was like a queen” - simile: this is ironic because it present the idea that Thomas would be better off with Maude than Nell.
How is it insinuated that Nell and Thomas are not really in love?
The mother says “But he was not so pale as you, Nor I so pale as Nell” - Pale suggests shallow, superficial love. Thomas and Nell are not nearly as in love as his parents are.
Why are Nell and Thomas pale and what does this mean? How does the speaker address Thomas?
“My lord was pale with inward strife, and Nell was pale with pride” - My lord suggests the speaker feels possessive over Thomas. Thomas is pale with “strife” which shows his unhappiness about the marriage. Nell is pale with “pride” because she;s proud of achieving the purpose of a woman - links to the idea of competition in the marriage market. and perhaps proud that she has maintained her reputation.
Who does Thomas look at throughout the whole interaction?
“My lord gazed long on pale Maude Clare or ever he kissed the bride” - he constantly stares at Maude even when he’s kissing his wife. Shows he’s still in love.
Why has Maude come?
“I have brought a gift, my lord… to bless the hearth, to bless the board, to bless the marriage-bed” - shows bitterness and she’s tainting all the things that are precious to a newly-wedded couple. Shows perhaps some resentment towards Thomas. Could link to the fact that men abandoned women for the ‘newer’ ones. Even though he’s in love with her, he didn’t choose her.
How does Maude allude to the idea of intimacy between her and Thomas?
“That day we waded ankle-deep for lilies in the beck” - reminisces about this publicly.
“The lillies are budding now” - allusion to pregnancy, link to being a fallen woman as a result of being abandoned. Rossetti felt sympathy for fallen women.
How does Nell react to what Maude “leaves” her?
"”And what you leave,” said Nell, “I’ll take… for he’s my lord for better and worse and him I love Maude Clare” - Nell is picking up the scraps that Maude has left. Links to marriage market. The repition of wedding vows highlights how she believes she’s won now.
What is the last thing Nell says?
“though you’re taller by the head, more wise and much more fair: I’ll love him till he loves me best, Me best of all Maude Clare” - Nell wins because she gets the last word. She says how although Maude SHOULD have won Thomas, Nell won and she will work hard to achieve his love for her. This shows how women often married for security and then learned to love. Reflects female selflessness.
What are the themes of this poem?
Patriarchy
