Old Mrs Chundle

Authors Avatar

Old Mrs Chundle

     Old Mrs Chundle is written by Thomas Hardy and tells the story of how a young Curate who just moved to a village. Whilst he is out painting he comes across a old kind woman who feeds him. After she says that she goes to church every week and the Curate asks his rector he confronts the old lady after she lied. Mrs Chundle says that she is too deaf to hear anything so the Curate helps to hear at church. However the method he uses is very uncomfortable on him so he tries to avoid the old woman. When he finally goes to see her she has died and left her possessions to him. The Curate feels very humble.

Join now!

       The main themes of the story are liked in kindness. The old lady is kind to the young man at the start of the story by cooking him a meal and he repays her by helping her to hear at the service. Another theme of the story is the change in attitude of Mrs Chundle as the Curate shows her kindness. “He’s a man in a thousand” is what she said about him.

       Thomas Hardy conveys a strong message about human weakness for example Mrs Chundle lying “once a week to my parish church”. ...

This is a preview of the whole essay