the ruined maid essay

Emily Egbert Dr. Karen C. Holt ENG 333 3/26/2013 Literary Analysis: “The Ruined Maid” Introduction Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Ruined Maid” introduces its reader to the harsh reality of lower class Victorian Women. Critical scrutiny through a feminist lens helps widen the scope of understanding to reveal beyond the satirical irony of the writing and bring to light the deep rooted social issue of Victorian England’s paralyzing poverty and its effects on women. In Critical Theory Today feminist

In the beginning, the poem, “The Ruined Maid,” starts out with the nameless woman speaking; she lived in the village where the two of them grew up. The nameless maiden and the maiden named Amelia start chatting. The woman said, “This does everything crown.” By this she is basically said that this just tops everything. Next, she explained that she is surprised on how she ran into her in town, then she went on to comment on her new look. Since she now has nice clothes, a cleaner appearance, and a more

The Ruined Maid Analysis 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

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

true for female sexuality. While modern times have come to accept female sexuality in all its forms, past literature often dealt with it through the act of prostitution. Both George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Ruined Maid’ deal with the representation of female sexuality through prostitution and brothels. This is portrayed as empowering for the women involved despite societal conditions forcing this role, yet deals with the reaction from society very differently

Ruined Maid and To His Coy Mistress Both the “Ruined Maid” and “To His Coy Mistress” provide us with disturbing images / pictures of love, sex and relationships as I am about to explain. The “Ruined Maid” was written by Thomas Hardy in 1866, during the time when women didn’t have sex before marriage and they were thrown out of their village for being “ruined”. The public at that point in history had a very strict view of sex and marriage. They thought that women in particular should never

The Ruined Maid was written by Thomas Hardy, who back in the Victorian days was all about exploring into the sexual norms. Being "ruined" in those days meant to have sexual affairs outside your marriage or to lose your virginity before getting married which was frowned upon back then.The "ruined" maid in the poem was a young girl who became a rich man's mistress to escape her own poverty. Her un-ruined friend, who still is a poor country farmer envies her "ruined" friend, "You left us in tatters

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

that we have read is completely different from the last, but they each do not have the same meaning. I decided to compare the themes of the poems “Dover Beach” and “The Ruined Maid.” “Dover Beach” is about a couple looking at the water on the English Channel and what the sound waves bring the speaker to think about. “The Ruined Maid” is about two old friends, who used to work together, running into each other and speaking on how one of them has moved up in life, as some would say. These two poems may

Blissful Ignorance Sometimes, the less one knows, the happier they are. This is most certainly the case in Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Ruined Maid.” In the poem, the character ‘Melia is met with someone from her past. This friend talks with her about how much she has changed since leaving and how lovely her new life seems to be. Little does the country girl know, ‘Melia has gained these luxuries by compromising her own sexual purity. Hardy’s skillful use of literary elements contribute to the overall