a wife in london

Question 1

overview

Answer 1

Hardy explores the effects of the brutal Boer war by describing the impact of war on those not directly involved in fighting which shows how it wasn’t just soldiers effected by war. The purpose of the poem is to create sympathy for the wife. At the beginning of the poem the wife receives a telegram saying that her husband has died in the war. Afterwards she receives a letter from her husband and it talks about all the things they will do together when he returns. The order of ideas helps to create sympathy by showing what the wife has lost with her husband’s passing. The impersonal reference to the wife is vague and unspecific which tells us that this experience was common.

Question 2

part 1

Answer 2

• She sits in a ‘tawny vapour’. Hardy uses pathetic fallacy with the brown fog cutting her off from the rest of London to suggest the isolation she was feeling. This was because the fog is so thick that no one can see her which could suggest how she feels no one understands the feelings she’s going through. Therefore she is alone.
• The fog is then described like a ‘webby fold on fold.’ This could suggest that she is trapped in a spiderweb and can’t escape. The phrase ‘fold on fold’ suggests how the spiderweb is endless therefore there is no way out. This could reflect the wife’s feelings and how she thinks that there is no escaping her situation.
• The street lamp beside her is described to be like a ‘waning taper.’ Hardy uses this metaphor to show how the wife is losing hope. The fact that the candle is ‘waning’ suggests that the light is fading and leaving her in darkness. The darkness could represent her loss of hope.
• When the wife receives the telegram of the husbands passing she refuses to say that he has died but instead says ‘he - has fallen.’ The euphemism suggests how she finds it hard to admit that he has died. The dash creates a pause which emphasises the pain and confusion the wife must be feeling.

Question 3

part 2

Answer 3

• When she receives the letter from her husband it is given to her by the postman unlike the messenger who gave her the telegram. This suggests that the postman is more personal to the wife as he was the link between her and her husband. This effect of this is that Hardy can create more sympathy for the wife as the postman will no longer visit her because her husband has died and she won’t get anymore letters.
• When she reads the letter it’s about all the things they will do once he has returned in ‘the summer weather.’ However, the contrast of reading the letter while the weather is dark and gloomy emphasises the point that all the things they wanted to do together will never be possible.

Question 4

form & structure

Answer 4

• It is broken up into two parts which are ‘the tragedy’ and ‘the irony.’ The tragedy is the fact that her husband has died and the irony is the fact that she receives his letter about his future plans after she receives the news of his death.
• It’s written in present tense to suggest how the grief that she feels goes on and on and will never end.
• Throughout the poem there is no mention of the wife’s feelings which suggests how the authorities don’t care about the impact the war has on other people. The wife has no voice.