The Drovers Wife Analysis

How does Lawson explore ideas about the Australian identity in ‘The drover’s wife’ through visually distinctive language? Need to mention hardship, resilience, optimism, and the protagonist opposing the setting (300 ­ 400 words) Henry Lawson uses visually distinctive language to express ideas about Australian identity in his short story ‘The drover’s wife’. He explores and discovers that, Australian identity is developed through hardship, resilience and optimism and uses a female protagonist to demonstrate this. In the story lawson acknowledges the hardships of
Australian women living in the bush through the mother’s fight against the snake as well as the loneliness she faces. Lawson’s use of imagery in the harsh description of the mother as a “Gaunt, sun browned bushwoman” depicts that the mother is struggling to protect herself and family from the elements and is being shaped by the landscape which she inhabits. In addition the repetition of the elongated vowel sounds in the blunt description of the family’s surroundings such as “nineteen miles to the nearest sign of civilisation – a shanty on the main road.” creates a depressing impression of isolation and loneliness. In the story the mother is not given a name as Lawson wanted his story to encompass all ‘bush women’ and allow for readers to empathise with the mother’s situation. Lawson’s story also reflects the idea of the Australian identity as being resilient and optimistic. The juxtapositioning in the story through the lines “she sat down to have a good cry” and “Then she had to laugh” Highlights that, despite being surrounded by obstacles and hardships, laughter is a way of overcoming and escaping the Monotony of bush lifestyle.