Standby for another post this weekend about the homework. That's where I'll be expecting you to post a feedback comment as the final part of your homework (you have until Tuesday). Can I also remind those of you who have not done Qs 1, 2 and 3 that they will need to be done as well.
Now, The Ruined Maid.
It's fairly easy to get your head around this poem - and it is a good poem to discuss in terms of structure. If you are still unsure, please look here. I'd recommend visiting GCSE Bitesize after each lesson to reinforce your understanding of the poems.
All I want to do now is pose some questions to help you develop your interpretation of this poem. It's fairly ambiguous - there's no right answer:
1. What do you think was Thomas Hardy’s attitude to the characters? With whom do you think his sympathies lie?
2. Do you think statement a) or b) below is a more accurate interpretation of the poem?
a) Although ’Melia’s life seems to be much better now she has moved from the country to the town and become a prostitute, this is only on the surface. Hardy is suggesting that what’s underneath is much more important and it’s on the inside that ’Melia is ‘ruined’.
b) In this poem Hardy is mocking the commonly held assumption of the time that prostitutes are automatically ‘ruined’ and miserable. ’Melia is actually much better off as a prostitute than she could ever have been as a country girl. She’s not ‘ruined’ at all.
a) Although ’Melia’s life seems to be much better now she has moved from the country to the town and become a prostitute, this is only on the surface. Hardy is suggesting that what’s underneath is much more important and it’s on the inside that ’Melia is ‘ruined’.
b) In this poem Hardy is mocking the commonly held assumption of the time that prostitutes are automatically ‘ruined’ and miserable. ’Melia is actually much better off as a prostitute than she could ever have been as a country girl. She’s not ‘ruined’ at all.
3. In the final couplet of the poem, 'Melia seems to talk down to her old friend as a simple farm-girl. Is she:
a) Trying to warn her away from the same mistakes she made?
b) Happy to have left her old life behind her - and wants things to stay that way?
4. And what about the farm worker? Is she envious of 'Melia's life as a prostitute? Or is she just too innocent and naive to understand the grim realities of what it means to be 'ruined'?
Finally, here are the pictures from today's lesson depicting the plight of the 'fallen woman':
Finally, here are the pictures from today's lesson depicting the plight of the 'fallen woman':
Have a good weekend (but do your homework!)
Mr M
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