preview

The Ruined Maid

Decent Essays
Open Document

The Inbetween Some people go through life wanting to become someone they are not. They dream of having material objects that would make them what they think is better than what they are now. Other people, on the other hand, feel as if they are destined to become someone due to traumatic events that have happened in there life or where they came from. In the poem “The Ruined Maid” by Thomas Hardy, a girl named ‘Melia runs into a town girl she used to know at the market. The girl continues to lavish over ‘Melias new found riches of materials and happiness. ‘Melia’s emotions, though, exhibit the opposite of what her old friend assumes, revealing that ‘Melia will never completely change into the person she has appeared to become and will never …show more content…

Throughout the poem ‘Melia talks with a quite depressing tone that others ignore due to her extravagant appearance, so when others see her they automatically assume she is happy but the way she expresses being ruined makes it seem otherwise. She proves this in phrases such as, “‘True. One’s pretty lively when ruined,’ said she.”(20). ‘Melia makes it clear through the poem that she is ruined, but the way she speaks and acts shows her true loneliness and depression which is the opposite of what she calls ruined. Tension also appears in a type of rebuttal such as, “My dear- a raw country girl, such as you be, / Cannot quite expect that. You ain’t ruined”(23-24). ‘Melia continues to rebutt her old friend with the idea that she is not ruined, but the way she talks of being ruined brings forth the idea that if ‘Melia had a choice she would leave this new inbetween and go back to her origins. This furthers the evidence that ‘Melia no longer has a place she can call home. Instead, she remains stuck in a place between who she once was and who she wants to …show more content…

These emotions remain due to the fact that once an individual has changed they can not completely fall back into their old life, but they also will not completely be able to conform to the new version they want to become. Therefore, ‘Melia will remain in between two identities that will control her emotions leaving her to aim for a new life as she clings on to a past

Get Access