A comprehensive Analysis of Thomas Hardy\'s \"The Ruined Maid\" By Ahmed Sileem PDF

Preview

Summary

The Ruined maid is a poem written by Thomas Hardy in 1866. Although Thomas Hardy was not famous for satirical poems, this one is satirical. This poem criticizes the Victorian society in which women would have considered ‘ruined’ if they had had a sexual relation outside marriage while men were given...

Description

A comprehensive analysis of ‘‘The Ruined Maid’’ by Thomas Hardy

Abstract The Ruined maid is a poem written by Thomas Hardy in 1866. Although Thomas Hardy was not famous for satirical poems, this one is satirical. This poem criticizes the Victorian society in which women would have considered ‘ruined’ if they had had a sexual relation outside marriage while men were given the absolute freedom to do whatever they want. Those women are called ‘damaged goods’ at that time. Hardy also criticized the Victorian mannerism through his novel Jude the Obscure in which two people have had a complete sexual relationship outside marriage, and Tess of the D'Urbervilles that tells the story of a ‘ruined woman’. This research is going to deal with ‘the ruined maid’ by scrutinizing it in terms of four phases: a) paraphrasing and summarizing b) Illustrating its themes, c) highlighting its structure, d) and excerpting its figures of speech.

Keywords: the ruined maid, damaged goods, Thomas Hardy, the Victorian society, analysis.

Introduction The poem talks about two women that were old friends and it seems that they didn't see each other for a long time. Both of them were working in a farm and they were maids but Melia (the second speaker) had left the farm and became ruined, meaning that she had lost her virginity outside the frame of marriage. She might have been the kept woman of a wealthy man or she might have had sexual relations with more than one man (a prostitute). The poem opens when they meet each other in the town by chance. While meeting in town, Melia's friend (the rural country girl) is fascinated with Melia's new appearance. Throughout the poem, the rural country girl asks about the reason behind Melia's beauty and her elegant clothes; but Melia tells her that this is the result of being ruined.

A) Summarizing and Paraphrasing First stanza:

!O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?

-"?And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty "O didn't you know I'd been ruined?" said she. The first stanza opens with someone who unexpectedly meets Melia in ‘town’. We assume that the person addressing Melia is a woman. The phrase ‘my dear’ in the first line indicates that they were close friends. The expression ‘‘this does everything crown’’ refers to the fact that Melia has some kind of power or prestige or maybe she wants to say: when I see you, everything becomes fantastic. By the third line, Melia's friend is wondering about her neat clothes that indicate her ‘prosperi -ty’. She asks her from where she got such elegant clothes. It should be noted that there is something with the girl's pronunciation of the word ‘prosperi-ty’ as if she is pronouncing the word for the first time or she may be too poor to know anything about prosperity even how to pronounce the word itself. So, she finds a difficulty in pronouncing it. It also may refer to the fact that she is not a well-educated person. Melia answers her in a satirical and arrogant manner ‘‘O didn't you know I'd been ruined’’ which means that all of this is a result of relinquishing her body and honor. Second stanza:

,You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks"Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;

-"! And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three "Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she. Melia's friend reminds her of her previous status when she was in the farm. She tells her that she was barefoot and she was wearing rags before leaving. Moreover, she was exhausted of ‘digging potatoes’ and digging up weeds. It should be noted that ‘‘spudding up docks’’ is a local dialect term meaning to dig up weeds (docks) with a small knife (spud). Besides, the use of local words indicates that the other girl wasn't a well-educated girl and so was Melia before leaving the farm. Being barefoot indicates how poor they were; they were extremely destitute. By the next line, Melia's friend remarks Melia's new status that she is now bright and happy ‘gay’ and is wearing ‘bracelets’ around her wrist and also she has three feathers --that were probably put in

a hat as a manifestation of wealth. Just like the first stanza, Melia confirms the fact that she is ruined and this is the way ruined women dress. Melia's response is more formal, so in the next stanza her friend is going to remind her of her previous way of talking when she was in the farm. Third stanza:

',At home in the barton you said 'thee' and 'thou"And 'thik oon' and 'theäs oon' and 't'other'; but now Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compan-ny!""Some polish is gained with one's ruin," said she. The girl continues to remind Melia of her previous status when she was at the ‘barton’ (another dialect word means: farm). The girl shows us the local way with which Melia was speaking; she used local dialect words like ‘thee’, ‘thou’ (you) and 'thik oon' (this one), ‘theäs oon’ (these ones), and ‘t'other’ (the other). However, Melia gives in this local language and speaks with a way that is suitable with the high-class people. Just like the word ‘prosperi-ty’ in the first stanza, the girl has the same problem in pronouncing the word ‘compan-ny!’, which may refer to her low level of education; it seems that she always has problems with big words due to the lack of good education. Finally, the present stanza concludes with another affirmation of the same idea that she gained all of this because she has been ruined. According to Melia, one gain some polish after being ruined. The word ‘polish’ is a metaphor for being refined and elegant. Fourth Stanza: Your hands were like paws then, you face blue and bleak"But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek, And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy!""We never do work when we're ruined," said she. The rural girl continues to remark Melia's new appearance. She resembles her hands with an animal's paws, which shows how ugly her hand was and how sour her work was. Her face was also dirty ‘blue and bleak’ but she has a soft face now ‘delicate cheek’ and this is what made her friend (the rural girl) charmed and stunned. Besides, her hands are no longer ‘paws’ as the gloves are convenient for her like a lady. Again the last line affirms the same notion that she is ruined and she doesn't do any work. So, her face and hands become nice and neat.

Fifth Stanza:

"-You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream, And you'd sigh, and you'd sock; but at present you seem To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!""True. One's pretty lively when ruined," said she. Melia's friend continues to point out the changes happened to Melia. While being at the farm, Melia was describing her life as a ‘hag-ridden dream’, which means that her life was just like a dream that full of monsters and witches, that's to say her life was unpleasant at all. She would groan ‘sigh’ and ‘sock’ (to take a short intake of breath). However, she is now so happy that she don't know anything about ‘melancholy’ (sadness or grief) or ‘megrims’ – another dialect word meaning migraines (severe headache). This stanza is also concluded with Melia's repeated response; she says that the beauty of someone appears and lives ‘when ruined’. So, the gist is to say that her life is better now even though she is ruined; but I think there is an irony here because at that time a ruined woman is considered as an outcast. Sixth Stanza:

"-I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown, And a delicate face, and could strut about Town"-

"My dear - raw country girl, such as you be, Cannot quite expect that. You ain't ruined," said she. Like what happens in all the previous stanzas, The rural girl (the first speaker) speaks first; but now she wishes she had ‘feathers’, a soft and smooth face that showing relief from anxiety, and an elegant gown just like Melia. She also wishes she could walk in a pompous or swagger manner in town as Melia does. By the last two lines, it's now clear that there were juxtaposition between two lives: the rural girl represents the old life of Melia which is completely miserable and Melia's current life which is a better version. However the girl is still virtuous, she wishes she had that better life like Melia; but Melia made it clear that her friend is a ‘raw country girl’ and she can't even expect any of this life refinement because she hasn't been ‘ruined’ yet.

B) Themes a) Feminism Throughout this poem, Hardy points out how women were treated at that time. Melia has become a woman of wealth and turned from being destitute to a lady only because she has become the mistress of a wealthy man or even a prostitute. Unlike the other works of art at that time, this poem lacks the writer's opinion and condemnation; that's to say the poem doesn't condemn what Melia does or even encourage the reader to become a prostitute. I'm not sure but I think the writer encourage us not to judge or control any person's behavior. At the end of the poem, Melia's friend wants all the aspects of wealth that Melia has. So, even the two maids became ruined, we shouldn't care because this is their own choice and not our business. b) Society and class This is another favorite theme of Hardy's works. It can be seen in almost every line in this poem; the separation between the rural/ poor country girl and Melia, who represents the high class after being ruined, is clear. Therefore, the poem highlights the differences between Melia and her friend. Melia has nice clothes, untired face ‘delicate cheek’, nice gloves like a lady but her friend doesn't. Even the language is different; the rural country girl uses a lot of dialect and local words whilst Melia tries to be formal and conservative. Apparently, Melia doesn't even want to talk to this rural country girl despite the fact that she was like her one day. In the last line, Melia uses the word ‘ain't’ which isn't formal at all as if the writer wants to say that even she has been changed, she can't be changed completely; there is always a difference between maids and ladies. c) Nature Thomas Hardy has been influenced by the Romantics. Therefore, although this poem is not about nature, we can find a lot of references to nature. For instance, we can find references to digging potatoes, spudding up docks, the rural labor, even the language of the rural areas.

C) Structure 1) Grammatical analysis: The poem contrasts two lives: the life of the rural country girl (the first speaker) and the life of Melia (the second speaker). The former is very simple while the latter is complex; thus the grammar used to describe the two lives is expressive. While talking about Melia's life, the writer uses conjunctions and more complex structures as in the third stanza:

', At home in the barton you said 'thee' and 'thou"And 'thik oon' and 'theäs oon' and 't'other'; but now Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compan-ny!"2) Form and meter: The poem is composed from six stanzas each of which is 4 lines. The Rhyme scheme is AABB CCBB DDBB EEBB FFBB AABB. Mainly, the poem uses the anapestic trimeter; trimeter means that each line is composed from three anapests (two unstressed feet followed by stressed one). It should be noted that the anapestic trimeter is one of the less popular meters; and that's why I think the writer used it to illustrate an unpopular notion about the ‘ruined’ women. In the following line, ‘who could’ is an iambic because it contains unstressed syllable followed by stressed one. The iambic was the common meter at that time so the writer might want to grab the reader's attention at first. ‘‘Who could have supposed I should meet you in town?’’

---------------

D) Figures of Speech The title ‘‘the ruined maid’’ has some kind of paradox. I think he might mean "maiden". Simile: ‘‘Your hands were like paws then…’’ indicates how she was like an animal with ‘‘paws’’ when she was working in the farm. It also shows how difficult the work was and how ugly her hand was. Irony: ‘‘"O didn't you know I'd been ruined?" said she.’’: she says that she is ruined but she dresses well and seems happy. Metaphors: 1) ‘‘this does everything crown’’: indicates the power and wealth of Melia. 2) "…your face blue and bleak": shows how poor she was; her face was blue and gloomy. It might be blue because of cold. 3) -"You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream," her life was compared to a dream that is full of devils and witches, which depicts how dreadful her life was. Caesura: "Cannot quite expect that. You ain’t ruined,’ said she." That stop emphasizes the word "you" and what is coming after it. ------------------------------------Alliteration in the following lines shows the negative mood. –‘You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream, And you’d sigh, and you’d sock; but at present you seem To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!’ – ---------------------------------------Images The poem is full of images with its all versatile attitudes and kinds. Visual images: crown, fair garments, tatters, shoes or socks, potatoes, docks ...etc. Kinesthetic and auditory images: "… digging potatoes, and spudding up docks". Kinesthetic image: "…and could strut about Town": walking is a swagger manner like a peacock. Auditory images: "Your talking", "And you'd sigh, and you'd sock …" The nice clothes in this poem symbolize the new social status acquired by Melia.

Conclusion In conclusion, the ‘‘ruined maid’’ (1866) by Thomas Hardy deals with how women were judged in the Victorian society. It talks about two women that have met each other by chance in town, one of them (Melia) had been ‘ruined’. Back to the Victorian era, ruined meant that a woman had a relationship outside marriage. In consequence, Melia has been changed a lot; as well as relinquishing her body, she has changed her appearance and even her language. At the end, Melia's friend wishes she had nice clothes and all wealth manifestations like her but Melia pointed out that her friend is a ‘raw country girl’ and isn't ruined; so, she couldn't even ‘‘expect that’’. The writer has depicted his idea through a variety of images and used a great deal of poetic devices. Thus, the present paper has put ‘‘the ruined maid’’ under scrutiny by a) paraphrasing and summarizing it, b) Illustrating its themes, c) highlighting its structure, d) and excerpting its figures of speech.

References https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/the-ruined-maid/

https://poemanalysis.com/thomas-hardy/the-ruined-maid/

https://interestingliterature.com/2019/07/a-short-analysis-of-thomas-hardys-theruined-maid/

https://www.hardysociety.org/media/bin/commentaries/1532428909.pdf

https://drapersacademy.fluencycms.co.uk/MainFolder/aenglish/11_the_ruined_maid.pdf

https://drapersacademy.fluencycms.co.uk/MainFolder/aenglish/11_the_ruined_maid.pdf

https://www.slideshare.net/anieerajputt/the-ruined-maid-36183144

https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3898&context=etd...