Q) Read the poem given below and answer the question that follows:
Methinks, ’tis strange you can’t afford
One pitying look, one parting word;
Humanity claims this as due,
But what’s humanity to you?
Cruel man! I am not blind,
Your infidelity I find;
Your want of love my ruin shows,
My broken heart, your broken vows.
Yet maugre all your rigid hate,
I will be true in spite of fate;
And one preeminence I’ll claim,
To be forever still the same.
Show me a man that dare be true,
That dares to suffer what I do;
That can forever sigh unheard,
And ever love without regard:
I then will own your prior claim
To love, to honour, and to fame;
But till that time, my dear, adieu,
I am superior to you.
Elizabeth Thomas (1675-1731)
Explore how Elizabeth Thomas explores the theme of abandonment in the poem, “The Forsaken Wife”.
PLANNING-
Title- It tells us what we need to know about the feelings in the poem. Wife has been abandoned by her husband the reality of the time is that she would have had to suffer her heart ache and ruination in silence as women and particularly wives had little or no voice rights or power in 18 century england this poem serves as a way of venting her true feeling, that she would not have been able to share in polite society.
Theme of abandonment- She is amazed that he doesn't feel any guilt or sympathy for her as a result of his cheating so she decided that it is because he has no compassion (first stanza).
The title is highly emotive to be forsaken is to be is to be forgotten or ignored and totally abandoned so the poet bitterly says that it is strange to her that he cannot give her “One pity look one parting word” or one sign of sympathy for the pain she must be feeling.
This is highlighted by the harsh repetition and the harsh conencese of the P’s that make us almost spit out the word then she questions how anyone could be so heartless when se says “whats humanity to you?” this paints his actions as not just holes of a terrible husband but as someone without heart and without any care or consideration for his fellow human beingsThe exclamation mark in the second stanza “cruel man!” confirms her fury at the situation she has been left in the word cruel again presents his actions as something more than simple heartlessness but as an act of deliberate harm to cause her pain.
Second stanza- she moves on to dementraite the flaws in marriage rights first she revals that she knows of his unfaithfulness and perhaps suggest that although she doesnt mention it, it is not because she is ignorant or stupid or blind. She points out that she is the one punished for his failure to stand by the promises of his marriage . Despite the hurt she promises to remain true because she claims the moral high ground by sticking to her promises.
The exclamation mark in the second stanza “cruel man!” confirms her fury at the situation she has been left in the word cruel again presents his actions as something more than simple heartlessness but as an act of deliberate harm to cause her pain.
When she says “I am not blind” the poet is making a broder point here in society wives were expected to tolerate this sort of behaviour from their husbands. Thus we would not expect a wife to make her husband's indiscretions public, instead she would be expected to bear her pain,shame and her embarrassment in silent dignity. So this line shows us that although the poetic voice may not mention the affair it is not due to her ignorance or her stupidity but rather the confines of societal expectation that makes her deal with the pain only internally.
3rd and 4th lines (2nd stanza) we have the greatest injustice to marry rights as Her “broken heart” reveals her emotional involvement in the marriage while on the previous line her “want of love” suggests that he feels he has no connection with her. Stanza shifts from the 5th line on “yet magure…..” to consider her reaction to his unfaithfulness. She has no choice but to be true based on the injustice to the marriage system but she sees this as something she can use to demonstrate her “pre eminence” or superiority. However she classified her action as being taken in spite of his rigid hate which shows us that she does not harbour any delusions of the relationship being restored this phrase further suggests that his actions are pre mediated to cause her suffering and the word rigid shows us that she has nowexpectation of changing his stance.
Explore how Elizabeth Thomas explores the theme of abandonment in the poem, “The Forsaken Wife”.
Elizabeth Thomas explores the theme of abandonment in the poem by showing us how uncompassionate and heartless her husband is and her heartbreak and how forsaken she is.
