The Ruined Maid Analysis Essay

Women who had no claim to wealth or beauty received the harshest of realities in America’s Victorian era. Author Charlotte Bronte – from America’s Victorian era – examines and follows the life of a girl born into these conditions in her gothic novel Jane Eyre (of which the main character’s name

However, in poems such as ‘A Sunday Morning Tragedy’ and ‘The Newcomer’s Wife’, Hardy shows only a negative view on life throughout them. Hardy uses the idea of women's sexual impurity as a way to negatively portray society, to show the way society in his time treated people unfairly. In ‘A Sunday Morning Tragedy’, it is shown that even through a strong maternal love shown to the daughter in the ballad, the daughter still suffered from her unwed pregnancy. ‘‘Is there an herb…?’ I asked. ‘Or none?’/ Yes, thus I asked him desperately.’ When the mother says ‘herb’ it is meant that she is trying to find something to abort her daughter’s unborn baby. The mother asks the shepherd ‘desperately’ which shows her strong maternal love for her daughter, in her desperation to help her and get what her daughter needs to live a life without shame. ‘’This scandal shall be slain,’ Said I,/ ‘That lours upon her innocency.’’ The use of sibilance and alliteration in what the mother says highlights the idea of the secretive nature of the family's situation and the gossip that is being spread around the village about them. Furthermore, in the first line, Hardy uses eight syllables whereas he uses nine in the second line; ‘’That lours upon her innocency.’’ This break in the regular rhythm of the ballad can suggest to the reader a lack of truth from the mother. In the society that Hardy was living in, it was socially unacceptable to become pregnant while unwed. By also breaking the regularity in the syllables, it draws attention the the line, which could be used to suggest the unwanted

Women have been the victim of unfair stereotypes and placed at different standards than men since the beginning of time. The Ruined Maid by Thomas Hardy and One Perfect Rose by Dorothy Parker take an in depth look at how women are viewed by the opposite gender. Although they take a different approach and have contrasting poetry styles, the theme that is portrayed is prominent for both. Hardy’s poem portrays a woman living in the Victorian Era where the norm was to be married and faithful. The character ‘Melia lives in an individualistic way and is not only unmarried, but has participated in sexual activities before marriage. With this liveliness comes riches and prosperity, but also social backlash. One Perfect Rose tells the story of a woman who receives a rose as a gift from her love interest. The unnamed persona is displeased with this rose because it is typical and thoughtless. The classic gift that men give to women is a rose, which is looked at as a romantic gesture. This poem’s purpose is to show the audience that not every girl’s dream gift is a “perfect rose.” The Ruined Maid by Thomas Hardy and One Perfect Rose by Dorothy Parker explore how two women break away from typical stereotypes and long for a more unconventional way of life.

In “It’s a Woman’s World,” Eavan Boland uses allusion, imagery, and tone in her poem to vocalize the everyday life of a “woman’s world.”

In Hardy’s poem he uses irony to show how rehearsed and unhappy ‘Melia feels about her new self. The girl assumes ‘Melia is happy with her new life when she states, “‘And you’d sigh, and you’d sock; but at present you seem/ To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!’-” (18-19). She points out that ‘Melia does not appear unsatisfied, but her response ironically shows the unhappiness she feels. In response to the girl, ‘Melia says, “True. One’s pretty lively when ruined,’”(20). The sarcastic tone proves ‘Melia does not feel happy with her new life despite her fancy upgrades. Another example of irony is the way the girl treats ‘Melia. Instead of treating ‘Melia the way ruined girls are usually treated, she speaks friendly to her and actually envies what ‘Melia has. In the poem, the girl uses the phrase, “-I wish” to point out how envious she is towards ‘Melia, and in result ‘Melia tries to warn her that changing herself would not be the best choice (21). The girl fails see ‘Melia’s true feelings or hear the unhappy tone of her voice because she does not have the same perspective as ‘Melia. ‘Melia was the girl who gave up the country lifestyle and ruined herself in hope of a better life. However, the transformation did not fix all of her problems. The author’s purpose of ‘Melia’s ironic response and the girls lack of perspective emphasizes the realization that

When Henry Constable attempts to describe his “lady”, he paints the reader an image of love, pureness, and of natural beauty. In his sonnet, “[My lady’s presence makes the roses red]”, Constable talks to the various body parts of his “lady”, claiming that they inspire envy into flowers and that his “lady” is in fact the source of the power for the flowers. Using this personification of the flowers, Constable shapes his sonnet as one that is complementing and treasuring his “lady”, however, a deeper examination into the tone of his work shows a much more intriguing side of this sonnet and of Constable’s feelings toward his “lady”.

In Thomas Hardy’s poem, The Ruined Maid, the maid is ‘ruined’ from past behaviours which have led her to become an ostracized victim of the Victorian society. The term ‘ruined’ in the Oxford Dictionary can mean broken down, neglected, as well as un-cared for (Oxford Dictionary), while in the poem, being ‘ruined’ refers to the maid being impure, labelled, and unworthy. The inscription of language and imagery, as well as the ideas of social class, permanence of labelling in society are used in this conversation poem to answer why Melia has been ruined. The language between Melia and the first speaker are very different, as if they come from different classes.

The Wife of Bath's “Prologue” and “Tale” from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales has critics divided between being a feminist tale or making fun of feminist women and condoning writing stories about them. Is she advocating women's rights or is she meant to be a joke? It is hard to say for sure, one way of the other. Though there are feminist movements, the Wife of Bath is set up, it seems, as a comedic character, making jokes and being bawdy. But as her prologue goes on and she discusses her own experience with domestic abuse and as she begins her tale with rape, it becomes clear that she is more than meets the eye. In this paper, I am going to argue that the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale can be considered feminist because it discusses women's sexuality, domestic abuse, and gender double standards.

The Ruined Maid” begins by two former friends meeting, one a country girl and the other women, who was once a country girl, but has now changed her life in the town. Firstly we are told about the maid`s change of clothing, as she now wears “fair garments” as supposed to “tatters, this is a sign

In the poem “The Ruined Maid” by Thomas Hardy, there are two women talking in a town. The first women is admiring and praising the second called Amelia. She tells her about how much she has changed and how she has practically moved from rags to riches. In a constant back and forth banter between the two Amelia continues to respond with, that is what happens when one gets ruined hinting to repetition. Apart from using repetition Hardy also extensively uses voice with the second woman to show just how surprising the changes are. In using repetition and voice Thomas Hardy slowly gives the readers the theme of not letting money consume one.

The Victorian era was characterized by a patriarchal society that imposed strict ways of life and moral codes on its women. Because women were considered to have belonged primarily in the domestic realm, the traditional and ideal Victorian woman was the passive, pure, and virtuous “angel in the house.” Women were expected to maintain their virginity until marriage, and expressions of female sexuality or promiscuity were of moral outrage and came with serious consequences. Accordingly, Robert Browning uses this idea of female sexuality and its ramifications in several of his dramatic monologues. Close readings of Browning’s poems “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” demonstrate how Victorian women are empowered by expressions of their

Hardy initially only wrote novels, but after much criticism and hatred for his ideas and concepts, he transitioned into writing strictly poetry (Huntely). However, he was still met with the same amount of criticisms he was previously. His poem, “The Ruined Maid,” was one of his controversial poems which portrays a conversation between two women set in the Victorian age, which most of his poems are set. He criticizes the Victorian concept that a women’s purity and worth is related strictly to her virginity (Prior). Hardy opens the poem in a street in the middle of an English town.

In the third act of Thomas Middleton 's A Chaste Maid at Cheapside (1613), the audience is presented with the christening of the Allwit newborn. As Mrs. Allwit 's bed is brought onto the stage, the christening is attended by five gossips, two Puritan women, Maudlin Yellowhammer, Mrs. Allwit 's midwife, and a number of other women—namely, the majority of the play 's eighteen female characters. However, the female characters are allowed to dominate the stage only up to a point, as the christening scene is also witnessed by Allwit, whose sole function in the scene is to comment on the events of the christening. It is through Allwit that the audience learns that the women are overindulging in the food and wine served to them; he also alerts us of the women 's, to use Gail Kern Paster 's euphemism, leaking. Most importantly, however, Allwit becomes a mouthpiece of sorts for the social and cultural perceptions of these women.

In the short story “The Beggar Maid”, Alice Munro explores the opposing force created from contrasting social identities between partners which later can create an abusive relationship. Your social identity, in terms of social class, is an understanding of yourself and is based off of where you are seen in a social hierarchy. Your socioeconomic position is a contributing factor in an abusive relationship. The term abuse tends to correlate with physical actions, however, it is important to acknowledge that abuse can also be psychological. Coming from a small town and a lower- class family, Rose is able to attend university due to a scholarship she received. Once at university, Rose

This poem like the previous discussed represents a continuous critique on marriage from the juxtaposition of the woman in a patriarchal societal marriage. We have now seen a woman twice go completely against everything that marriage in a patriarchal society is supposed to look like, and comes out of such not facing any sort of punishment.