The Lammas Hireling

Question 1

‘light heart and a heavy purse’
‘he struck so cheap’

Answer 1

ambiguous whether author is happy abt heavy purse (not spending much) or hireling-> can’t confirm physical attraction
‘light heart’- > farmer’s early feelings of love
- ‘heavy’ - links to the guilt/shame/sin of the speaker regarding his homosexuality

Question 2

‘fat as cream’

Answer 2

simile- hireling brings prosperity
hireling given magical element

Question 3

‘grew fond of company that knew when to shut up’

Answer 3

cliche->dig at women who nag a lot

Question 4

‘my dear wife’

Answer 4

‘my’- patriarchy gives him ownership over wife
‘dear’ premodifier to make it seem that he loved her however the contrast between how much he tqalks abt the wife compared to the hireling shows the lack of affection he ahd towards her
homosexuals got married to women as it was expected+ would act as a cover for his true feelings and affairs