A Trampwoman's Tragedy
"A Trampwoman's Tragedy"
According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Thomas Hardy’s poems often “illustrate the perversity of fate,” “the disastrous or ironic coincidence,” or “some aspect of human sorrow or loss…” (Greenblatt). In “A Trampwoman’s Tragedy,” a narrative poem about people who make terrible decisions that yield terrible consequences, Hardy utilizes irony and fate to explore traditional gender roles and their effects on the human condition. The poem contains the sorrow, regret, and anger that are characteristic undertones in much of Hardy’s poetry. In “A Trampwoman’s Tragedy,” Hardy uses characters that embody negative gender stereotypes to emphasize the themes of destined justice and loss.
There are two female characters in the poem, the speaker and Mother Lee, and they both portray, through their actions and inactions, negative female stereotypes. For example, the speaker of the poem is presented as a manipulative tease. She also seems rather stupid and careless because she lacks the foresight to predict the negative consequences of her unnecessarily cruel joke. Hardy writes in section five, “I teased my fancy-man in play/And wanton idleness." It appears the speaker is presenting her actions as a harmless joke, yet she uses the adjective “wanton” to describe how she teased her lover. This adjective was originally used only to describe women, and a few of the most common definitions for “wanton” include “unchaste,” “ill-mannered,” and “undisciplined” (Oxford English Dictionary). Hardy’s use of “wanton” suggests that the speaker is incapable of controlling her actions, so she uses her time to create manipulative games that have serious consequences. For example, her game utilizes of a classic female method of manipulating men: pregnancy. Women who force men into further commitment through false pregnancy are the ultimate immoral manipulators. Also, the title of the poem, and the speaker’s actions throughout most of the story, give the
According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Thomas Hardy’s poems often “illustrate the perversity of fate,” “the disastrous or ironic coincidence,” or “some aspect of human sorrow or loss…” (Greenblatt). In “A Trampwoman’s Tragedy,” a narrative poem about people who make terrible decisions that yield terrible consequences, Hardy utilizes irony and fate to explore traditional gender roles and their effects on the human condition. The poem contains the sorrow, regret, and anger that are characteristic undertones in much of Hardy’s poetry. In “A Trampwoman’s Tragedy,” Hardy uses characters that embody negative gender stereotypes to emphasize the themes of destined justice and loss.
There are two female characters in the poem, the speaker and Mother Lee, and they both portray, through their actions and inactions, negative female stereotypes. For example, the speaker of the poem is presented as a manipulative tease. She also seems rather stupid and careless because she lacks the foresight to predict the negative consequences of her unnecessarily cruel joke. Hardy writes in section five, “I teased my fancy-man in play/And wanton idleness." It appears the speaker is presenting her actions as a harmless joke, yet she uses the adjective “wanton” to describe how she teased her lover. This adjective was originally used only to describe women, and a few of the most common definitions for “wanton” include “unchaste,” “ill-mannered,” and “undisciplined” (Oxford English Dictionary). Hardy’s use of “wanton” suggests that the speaker is incapable of controlling her actions, so she uses her time to create manipulative games that have serious consequences. For example, her game utilizes of a classic female method of manipulating men: pregnancy. Women who force men into further commitment through false pregnancy are the ultimate immoral manipulators. Also, the title of the poem, and the speaker’s actions throughout most of the story, give the