The Ruined Maid

312 Words1 Page

"The Ruined Maid" is a poem by Thomas Hardy, published in 1901. Two farm girls from the country, one whom has left. The dialogue between two farm girls, Melia and an unidentified girl. Melia, whom has returned to town (setting) to meet up with the unidentified girl. It's been awhile, since the two girls seen each other. The unidentified speaker addresses Melia about her "fair garments" and "such prosperity"." O didn’t you know I'd been ruined?" Melia responded. "You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks," describing how Melia used to look. As the poem continues, Melia responds with a short remark on how she's ruined, each time the woman discusses something. The woman wishes she had all the finer things, "feathers, a fine sweeping gown,

Show More
Related

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Passage Explication (928 -1207)

    1508 Words  | 4 Pages

    But unlike to look upon, those ladies were, for if the one was fresh, the other was faded: bedecked in bright red was the body of one; flesh hung in folds on the face of the other; on one a high headdress, hung all in pearls; her bright throat and bosom fair to behold, fresh as the first snow fallen upon hills; a wimple the other one wore rounded her throat; her swart chin well swaddled swathed all in white; her forehead enfolded in flounces of silk that fraimed a fair fillet, of fashion ornate, and nothing bare beneath save the black brows, the two eyes and the nose, the naked lips, and they unsightly to see, and sorrily bleared. A beldame, by God, she may well be deemed of pride! (Norton 178)

    Read More

  • A Jury of Her Peers, by Susan Glaspell

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Glaspell wrote her story in 1917, and women were looked at differently then than they are today. In those days, women were the house keeper; keeping the house extra tidy and taking extra good care of their spouse. When Mr. Hale walked into the house, Mrs. Wright was sitting on her rocking chair and making sure her pleats on her apron were perfect. Her house was in complete chaos; and the men mocked her for that, stating she was “not much of a housekeeper” (p.382). The importance here is that the men paid attention to the house being untidy, and instead of blaming the current situation, or both the Wrights, they blamed it on the wife. They made her ought to be a bad wife, and even worse, a bad woman. For, at tha...

    Read More

  • Anna Sewell Black Beauty Analysis

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    Black Beauty, written in 1877, by Anna Sewell is a progressive text that demonstrates her multidimensionality as a writer. Sewell explores several relevant themes and social changes regarding Victorian England. Sewell’s unconventional writing style, narrated by Black Beauty himself provides the reader with a unique illustration of Victorian society from an outsider’s perspective although he and other horses interact with human lives throughout the novel. Sewell’s ability to incorporate two over-arching ideas of Victorian society, specifically regarding the legislative changes for animal rights, and commenting on the role of women demonstrates her creativity and skill as a writer. In chapter 111, “My Breaking In,” utilizes the house, Duchess,

    Read More

  • Comparison of The Seduction by Eileen McAuley and Cousin Kate by Christina Rossetti

    2834 Words  | 6 Pages

    class than the maid is. The poem is set out as the maiden telling us

    Read More

  • Objectification of Women in The House of Mirth

    2117 Words  | 5 Pages

    Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is an affront to the false social values of fashionable New York society.  The heroine is Lily Bart, a woman who is destroyed by the very society that produces her.  Lily is well-born but poor.  The story traces the decline of Lily as she moves through a series of living residences, from houses to hotel lodgings.  Lily lives in a New York society where appearances are all.  Women have a decorative function in such an environment, and even her name, Lily, suggests she is a flower of femininity, i.e. an object of decoration as well as of desirability to the male element.  We see this is very true once Lily's bloom fades, as it were, a time when she is cast aside by her peers no longer being useful as something to admire on the surface.  The theme of the novel in this aspect is that identity based on mere appearance is not enough to sustain the human soul physically or metaphysically.  Once she is no longer able to keep the "eye" of her peers, Lily finds herself with no identity and dies.  This analysis will discuss the theme of the objectification of women in a male dominated society inherent throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • The Lady's Dressing Room and A Modest Proposal

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Lady’s Dressing Room, Swift signals to his readers of his satiric literary persona through the use of both metaphorical language and tone. Swift begins to depict the exterior notions of women, that women within his society must be fully polished in order to fit within his masculine society, as they’re image would be negatively distorted if seen or done otherwise. Within this poem, Swift establishes this artificial facade through the use of irony and satire in order to distinguish the disparity amongst what is actually being affirmed by the speaker and what is truly implicit within the author’s intentions. Throughout the poem, Swift establishes this emphasis on metaphor in order to reveal to his readers the delusion of woman’s proper appearance as false, as women to Swift, have many hidden faces and qualities; as he exemplifies within the introduction, he states, “Fi...

    Read More

  • Comparison Of The Barbie Doll And The Chimney Sweeper

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem Barbie Doll was both written and published in 1971. During this time, which was shortly after Barbie dolls became popular, a plethora of attention was being directed towards the appearance of women, both old and young. Society now had a perception of what it believes should be considered beautiful or attractive in a woman. This could have easily caused many women, no matter the age, to feel self- conscious, much like the young girl in the poem. The Chimney Sweeper was written in an entirely different time period. It was published in 1789, one-hundred and eighty-two years before Barbie Doll. At this time, a situation like the one described in this poem was not at all uncommon. This was due to the fact that child labor laws had not yet been established in many parts of the world. Many young children were forced to partake in jobs with atrocious working conditions and menial pay. The difference in the time periods of these two poems are crucial, as it severely alters the upbringing of the characters, their social projection, their self-image, and the types of problems that they

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Beauty In Ligea And Hawthorne's The Birthmark

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    “There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles,” George Eliot. Beauty has caused men to move mountain, and jump through countless hoops. It is a quality that is subjective and affects the beholder differently. In Poe’s Ligea and Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, Ligea, Rowena, and Georgina all had different orders of beauty that similarly affects how their husbands saw them. In these two pieces of literature there was an exaltation of beauty as an abstraction that hid the depth of the women and led to deceit and the sense of superiority in their husbands.

    Read More

  • Misogyny in The Canterbury Tales

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In all, the misogyny presented in these two poems is not restricted to the time period they were written. Just as in medieval literature, it is still common for today's woman to be recognized only for her physical attributes. I believe that in order to have equality of the sexes and to help overcome the objectifying of women, it is necessary for women not to use the misogynistic views placed against them to their advantage.

    Read More

  • A Woman’s Place in Society Explored in Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the first stanza we see the beginning of an ideal image being stained in the girls mind. She was “...presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE ovens and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (2-4). By being presented these gifts the girls parents have already instilled a visualization of what the perfect woman is like and the girl is already learning her place in society. The poem was written in 1936. In this day and age women were still seen as objects and not really people. Their place was in the kitchen and taking care of the kids. Piercy has painted an image to the reader of a little girl playing with toy stoves and irons and wearing red lipstick to make herself pretty.

    Read More

  • Lady Mary's Unintentional Perpetuation of Beauty Standards

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite the fact that Lady Mary disputes Swift’s view of women, she inadvertently supports the societal expectation that women be physically striking. In response to Swift’s accusation about women’s filth, Lady Mary presents the woman as bold and beautiful by proclaiming, “The nymph grown Furious roared by God / ‘The blame lies all in Sixty odd’” (74-75). Both of these lines emphasize the expectation for women to be beautiful in different ways. Lady Mary’s use of the word “nymph” raises an image of women as inherently and divinely beautiful. In addition, by placing the blame totally on the man for the disappointing intercourse, she denies what he had previously claimed about her disgusting state. Lady Mary shows the woman as a perfectly beautiful

    Read More

  • Havisham and To his coy mistress

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem, ‘Havisham’ by Britain’s contemporary poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, focuses on the bitter and resentful Miss Havisham from the book, ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens. It tells the story of love coming to an acrimonious end, where Miss Havisham is deserted by her fiancé at the altar, on the day of her wedding. In addition, the poem ‘To His Coy Mistress’ written in the metaphysical genre by political satire Andrew Marvell, who is from the 1600’s. He writes in the point of view of an individual expressing his desire, love and yearning for a women, who he finds to be coy, and feeling that they will run out of time if they do not get together soon. Both of these poems explore various areas of love and relationships, using numerous literary techniques and structural devices, giving off very divergent impressions of these motifs.

    Read More

  • Theme of Beauty in La Belle Dame Sans Merci

    477 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats, the main theme is the idea that beauty is only skin deep and can be an extremely painful emotional experience. The title loosely translates into “the beautiful woman with no mercy”. As we read the poem it becomes clear that the knight had his feelings shattered by this woman on his steed.

    Read More

  • Lies In A Doll's House

    515 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Ibsen’s A Dolls House the truth comes out, but the lie is what comes out more powerful. The lie is the deal breaker, the truth manipulated, the decision ender. Nora is most affected by lying about her problem which was when she committed forgery of her father’s signature. Her lying becomes her worst enemy and the truth is told. After the truth was out, her decisions were later influenced by her lies. The truth and the lie both come with consequences.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    The text is written by an American writer by the name Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It was first published in the month of January, the year 1892 in the New England magazine. It is considered as an important work as far as the feminist literature of the America is concerned. It actually illustrates the altitudes towards women health, both mental and physical health. The story is actually about a woman whose husband has rented a mansion for the summer (Goodall 26). The mansion is said to be old. The couple moves into the upstairs nursery. The woman who is unnamed in this case is exempted from doing any kind of work. She has been encouraged to take strong diets and exercise a lot so that she can recover from a temporal nervous depression. The story

    Read More

More about The Ruined Maid

Open Document