The Farmer's Bride Flashcards
What is “The Farmer’s Bride” about?
a relationship between a farmer and his young wife who runs away but is brought back and locked up. their relationship is distant and probably unconsumated.
Who wrote “The Farmer’s Bride” and when?
Charlotte Mew in 1916
What is the form of the poem?
-dramatic monologue in the eyes of the farmer
- range of punctuation used in the end reflecting their troubled relationship
What is the structure of the poem?
-crafted lack of rhyme scheme and stanza length to show farmer’s lack of understanding on how to deal with the situation but also his lack of education or unconventional relationship
-caesura to separate the couple or the wife from other people emphasising their isolation
What is the context of the poem?
-written in the time of woman’s suffrage
-dark undertones was influenced by her siblings dying and being institutionalised
-made pact with sister to never marry
What does the title suggest?
-possessive apostrophe to show farmers control of wife
-he calls her a bride showing he is frozen in their wedding day and the fantasy of what a marriage should be and their relationship has not progressed since then
What are some main language points?
-farmer compares wife with animal, plants and fairies distancing her from the world
-wife remains unnamed conveying how the farmer only views her as an object of his desire who is in his control
Finish the quote: “Three….” LINE 1
“Three summer since I chose a maid”
Analyse the quote: “Three summers since I chose a maid”
-time phrase to show how the relationship has been dragging out
-“maid”is a female domestic servant emphasising how he is in possession of her but also how she is a prisoner in this new home
-or how she is a virgin and innocent
Finish the quote: “she turned afraid…//” LINE 4-5
“she turned afraid// Of love and me and all things human”
Analyse the quote: “she turned afraid// Of love and and me and all things human”
-syndetic listing to show her isolation
-shows how the wife would be overwhelmed using threes
-exaggerated reaction showing her naivety and immaturity
Quotes to show the bride being presented animalistically:
“flying like a hare”
“but like a mouse”
Finish the quote: “We caught her…” LINE 18
“We caught her, fetched her home at last”
Analyse the quote: “We caught her, fetched her home at last”
-animalistic and predatory emphasising her role as prey “caught” “fetched”
-inclusive pronoun perhaps representative of a patriarchal society ready to rein women in when they try and find freedom apart from what society has told them to be
-she is always in the passive position
Finish the quote: “Shy as a…” LINE 30
“Shy as a leveret”
Analyse the quote: “Shy as a leveret”
-zoomorphism portraying the wife as wild and untameable
-“leveret” timidity and fragility of wife, emphaises her youth and therefore her vulnerability
-simile emphasises wife’s isolation
-characterises her as flighty and innocent (young hare)
Finish the quote: “Straight and slight…” LINE 31
“Straight and slight as a young larch tree”
Analyse the quote: “Straight and slight as a young larch tree”
-“larch” sparse leaves of the tree show how she is underdeveloped and childlike in her body
-farmer desires her physically and continues to objectify her
-sibilance, thoughts are in harmony or he is having impure thoughts leading him to supposedly take advantage of her
Finish the quote: “To her wild self…?”
“To her wild self. But what to me?”
Analyse the quote: “To her wild self. but what to me?”
-he can not control her/ she belongs to nature “sweet as the first wild violets”
-caesura shows that he can’t have her in he way that he wants and there is a gulf between them in which they are separated because he can’t give up his false sense of control
-“me?” he is unsure of their relationship but is expectant of what she owes him
Finish and analyse the quote: “She sleeps in the…”
She sleeps in the attic there// Alone, poor maid. ‘Tis but a stair// Betwixt us.”
-stairs are symbolic of the obstacles between them showing their emotional distance is insurmountable
-there is a power shift with the wife being above him and she must descend to be with him,she is no longer able to run from him
-enjambment reinforces separation representing his broken heart
-archaic language shows he is out of date and overtly traditional
What could be said about the last two lines?
repetition of brown and hair shows his obsession and is elucidated when it says “wide brown stare”
-colour imagery shows he sees nothing past her physicality
-wide stare may imply that she is more knowing than the speaker is led to believe shown also when she runs away
