The Ruined Maid

Question 1

Thomas Hardy

Answer 1

1840-1928
Popular Victorian novelist and poet
Disapproved of hypocrisy of society and division of class

Question 2

Typicality

Answer 2

The perks of being an upper class man’s mistress
Farm worker’s naivety
Victorian era - ruined
- expectation of purity and chastity
- large sexual industry
- sex out of marriage abhorred
Sympathetic portrayal of sex outside of marriage in two later novels that society disapproved of

Question 3

Structure

Answer 3

‘Ruined’ - past tense
- loss of virginity out of wedlock
Juxtaposition- ‘ruined’ and ‘maid’ - cleanliness and innocence
Two ordinary women in dialogue form
‘Melia’ shortened - lower class and ironic pun on Latin word ‘melior’ meaning better
Six regularly structured quatrains except for last
Contrasting attitudes of women
Satirical poem
AABB rhyme scheme

Question 4

Types of love

Answer 4

Sexual desire
Societal hypocrisy
Physical

Question 5

Gatsby

Answer 5

Myrtle - luxury earned for being Tom’s mistress
Villianised female sexuality
Female realism