In each stanza, the country girl speaks for three lines. The ruined maid is a dialogue between two women who used to work together on a farm or a barton. Hardys dramatic dialogue the ruined maid attempts to portray the injustices and ironies of victorian morality. The ruined maid by thomas hardy essay 1248 words cram. When a woman had sex outside of marriage, she was ruined. The speaker of the poem is an old maid who is in awe over melia. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem the ruined maid. Playful tone of poem considering seriousness of subject matter. Melia is prosperous because she is wealthy, but ruined because she has lowered herself to prostitution. The poem has six stanzas of four lines each, or quatrains, and in each of the first five the farm girl speaks for the first three lines. The ruined maid by thomas hardy about this poet one of the most renowned poets and novelists in english literary history, thomas hardy was born in 1840 in the english village of higher bockhampton in the county of dorset. Ppt the ruined maid powerpoint presentation free to. The ruined maid analysis essay 1888 words 8 pages emily egbert dr. In the beginning of each stanza the farm girl speaks, and melia, the ruined girl speaks just for the last line.
O melia my dear this does everything crownwho could have supposed i should meet you in townand whence such fair garments such prosperity. In particular, the poem studies the challenges women. The ruined maid summary the ruined maid is a dialogue between two women who bump into each other in the street. The ruined maid the ruined maid was written by thomas hardy in 1866. Neither women in good situation because of womens position in victorian society. The ruined maid by thomas hardy famous poems, famous. The ruined maid is a dialogue between two women who bump into each other in the street.
Thomas hardy has a unique way of standing up for women, such as in this poem the ruined maid. There are six quatrains with regular rhyming couplets aabb. The differences in the way people dress, what people do for work and how nonchalant people are about their way of life. The ruined maid study guide by evelinexxx includes 29 questions covering vocabulary, terms and more. William acton, the truth about prostitution, and hardys not. Irony the irony in the passage is present when melia calls herself ruined yet the speaker sees her as a success and looks up to her 2. Hardy also utilized irony in his poem the ruined maid by.
Hardy also utilized irony in his poem, the ruined maid by comparing the innocence in two women and their lifestyles as a result of that. The poem is a dialogue between a simple country girl and her old friend, who has now left the country and lives as a prostitute in the city. Satire aims to show the reader the absurdity of human follies and vices. And although we dont tend to associate hardy with satirical writing, one of his later volumes of poetry was called satires of circumstance combining the ironic genre of satire with one of hardys favourite words. The ruined maid is a satire and full of intended irony. Throughout the poem, i found there is a lot of irony and sarcasm surrounding the ruined maid herself, and effectively hardy seems to sympathetically patronizing humanity as a whole, as often we seem to get caught up in the moment and therefore dont think of longterm consequences at all. Tone, rhyme, and irony in thomas hardys the workbox essay. As a victorian man, hardy knew the harsh double standard that was placed on men and women. Her superficially, counterpart is enigmatic, by greeting implies the ruined maid contrast.
A free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on. In the ruined maid, thomas hardy uses dramatic dialogue between two women who used to work together on a farm. While women were expected to be virtuous and pure, men could do whatever they liked. The speaker immediately notices a vast difference in amelia and is obviously envious of her appearance, language, and wealth. This is a device writers use to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. The class distinctions and moral codes placed upon women. The girl who speaks first is still a farmhand, and she has just met. Thomas hardys the ruined maid essay example 1011 words. This poem has six stanzas, which consists of four quatrains each. Irony in 2 short excerpts in the ruined maid essay. In his poem, the ruined maid, hardy utilizes thoughtprovoking word choice, broken dialect, and ironic satire to champion his overarching theme of the dire. Irony in 2 short excerpts in the ruined maid and other kinds of academic papers in our essays database at many essays. The ruined maid by thomas hardy hardys poem was written in 1866 and published in 1901, exactly ten years after he completed tess of the durbervilles, which also revealed the injustices of. The speaker, who still works at the farm, runs into an old friend named amelia.
You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks, tired of digging potatoes, and. After students have marked words they dont know, and after you or other students have supplied definitions or explanations or pronunciations for the words, read the poem aloud. What is the ruined maid by thomas hardy about answers. The ruined maid is a poem by english novelist and poet thomas hardy.
It was written in 1866 but first published, in a slightly bowdlerized form, in poems of the past and the present 1901 overview. Far from being the damaged goods that the concept of ruin implies, melia appears as the epitome of female success. The ruined maid uses the voice of a woman who has been ruined in the eyes of society. There is a strong threa of irony running through the poem wherever the words about ruin are mentioned and it is strongest towards the end almost like the ruined maiden is telling the other one not to wish for such frivolous things but to hold on to her maidenly modesty as that is worth much more. Extract of sample tone, rhyme, and irony in thomas hardys the workbox carly shaw composition 2 march 24, paper 2 thomas hardys the workbox is a narrative poem that portrays an ironical situation between a manand his wife. A comparison of andrew marvells to his coy mistress and thomas hardys the ruined maid a comparison of andrew marvells to his coy mistress and thomas hardys the ruined maid in this essay i will look at the two poems, explore what the poems are about, look at the language and images used in them by the writers and then compare the two. It similarly revealed the injustices of victorian morality. Imagery is present throughout the poem in the description of melias grand characteristics she has inherited since she has become ruined. One of them, melia, has moved away to the town and been ruined, meaning shes either a prostitute or some rich dudes mistress. The woman who has tainted her image by some unknown experience was an exmaid on the same farm with the other woman, but. Thomas hardys the ruined maid is a poem about a woman who loses her purity or virginity during the victorian era, which is looked down upon. Discussion questions on thomas hardys the ruined maid. A short analysis of thomas hardys the ruined maid interesting.
Complete analysis of the ruined maid by thomas hardy. The ruined maid by thomas hardy a sample presentation by mrs. It was written in 1866 but first published, in a slightly bowdlerized form, in poems of the past and the present 1901. Why does hardy give melia the last two lines of the poem, rather than. The irony is that they get to stay together but the man was hopingto get away from her. The ruined maid is a conversational poem between two countryside girls, the first is the. The irony lies in the fact that you can be prosperousruined in terms of money richbankrupt or prosperousruined in terms of morals good. The ruined maid thomas hardy o melia, my dear, this does everything crown. The woman who has tainted her image by some unknown experience was an ex maid on the same farm with the other woman, but now is dressed in fancy. The ruined maid, one of his earliest and bestknown poems, is a rare.
The poem examines the social norms of the victorian era in great britain. Weve got a farm, potatoes, dirt, and references to rural laborcheck, check, check, and check. The first to speak is an unnamed woman, who comments on. The ruined maid is a satirical poem by thomas hardy. Essay about irony in 2 short excerpts in the ruined maid. Irony is used in the curates kindness purely for thecomical effect, in contrast to this the irony within the ruined maid which isused to show how wrong the rules of society can be. I think that by adding all of these sections there will be a complete and decent article on wikipedia so people can understand and learn about the ruined maid. Thats like getting two for the price of one, or something like that.
Hardy is able to achieve this through his elaborate control over language. The basic irony of the poem, emphasized by its title the ruined maid, is obviously that she is not ruined. The woman of innocence was a maid on a farm wearing tattered clothing with dirty hands and living a simple life. Hardys works take place in wessex named after the anglosaxon kingdom which existed in the area.
Nevertheless, some critics argue that the poem is more serious than one might think due to what was going. The style is a ballad, with jogging rhythm, simple language including dialect, and regular aabb. Whether the tone of this poem could be criticised as male heartlessness, or whether hardys humour is more revealing of a deeper seriousness, is debatable. The ruined maid by thomas hardy is a great example of how things used to be in the eighteenth century. If the ruined maid is a satire, explain what or whom hardy is satirizing, and with what intention.
How does the poems rhyme scheme complement the dual voices. Thomas hardy and the ruined maid thomas hardy 18401928 thomas hardy was born in dorset in 1840 to a father, also named thomas, who was a stonemason and builder, and a mother, jemima, who encouraged hardys love of learning and storytelling. The ruined maid introduction thomas hardys poem the ruined maid introduces its reader to the harsh reality of lower class victorian women. Irony the irony in the passage is present when melia calls herself ruined yet the speaker show more content. Heres a virtual movie of a very enjoyable poem by the great thomas hardy the ruined maid the poem spoken in two voices was published in 1901, the ruined maid, like hardys novels, comments on. Quizlet flashcards, activities and games help you improve your grades. The ruined maid is a poem by thomas hardy about a fallen or ruined woman, that is, one who engaged in premarital sex, something that could destroy a. The ruined maid by thomas hardy by miss crockart on prezi. Takemoto for senior english students thomas hardy victorian era poet 18401928 born in england married.
One of his distinctive achievements is to have captured the cultural atmosphere of rural wessex in the golden epoch that existed just before the coming of the railways and the agricultural and industrial revolutions that were to change the english countryside for ever. The ruined maid by thomas hardy poem animation youtube. Hardys poem the ruined maid was written in 1866 and published in 1901, exactly ten years after he completed tess of the durbervilles. Hardy has a unique way of standing up for women in this poetry. The ruined maid is a poem by 19thcentury british writer thomas hardy. About the ruined maid the poem comprises six stanzas of four lines each, known as quatrains. Thomas hardys poem the ruined maid, written in 1866, takes the form of a dialogue between two girls or young women who previously worked together on a farm. The irony in the poem is due to melia being both prosperous and ruined normally opposites. Writers who use satire want the reader to acknowledge such wrongs in society.
How does hardy use of rhyme and repetition effect your reading of the poem. The basic irony of the poem, emphasized by its title the ruined. Even though the ruined maid is a poem about two women who bump into each other in town, there are plenty of little references to the country. The irony of the poem works by counterpointing the advan. The ruined maid, one of his earliest and bestknown poems, is a rare example of thomas hardys satirical verse. The ruined maid analysis essay 1888 words bartleby. What do you think hardys views on victorian attitudes to women are.
Unlike most poems using couplets, however, this one relies on a single, repeated rhyme for the second half of every stanza, giving the poem this. He died in 1928 at max gate, a house he built for himself and his. The first to speak is an unnamed woman, who comments on melias short for amelias new clothes and look she seems cleaner, more elegant, etc. I will find at least three sources of critics of the poem and discuss what their point of view on the poem is. The main idea is that sometimes the things that you think are the best in the world are truly not what your heart desires. Poetic structure the ruined maid has six stanzas, each with two rhyming couplets. The ruined maid explained the ruined maid is a satirical poem by thomas hardy. The poem is full of contrasts between the two speakers, as well as between the past life and present situation of the ruined maid. The irony in this poem is that, of course, being ruined has actually resulted in what looks like success and happiness for melia. The ruined maid resources for miss archers gcse classes.
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