Tahar+Analysis

The Farmers Bride Explication By Tahar Bowen-Pinto

The relation between a husbad and wife is very fragile ,and needs to be handled with care to keep it from falling apart.In the poem //The Farmers Bride//, the author Charlotte Mew shows how the relation between a husband and wife can be strained. The reason for the strain can range from anything from the husband abusing the wife, to her wanting to be a free spirit, to there just being no chemistry, and thus the relationship just could not work. However, it seems that the wife is crying out for somebody to save her from the relationship, because whenever she tries to do something, she is only held down. Though it is not entirely known what was the cause for the break up, it can be inferred

The most apparent reason for the collapse of the relationship is that the husband is abusing his wife. In the beginning of the poem, the wife attempts to run away, and although the reason is not told, it is most likely because she is not happy in the relationship. Once captured, she is in trouble for leaving her husband so abruptly, and thus scared of him since he is an imposing figure. She is then put to work by her husband, for she is afraid of what he may do to her. as wuoted in lines 20-21, “She does the work about the house/as well as most, but like a mouse”. This quotation shows that her husband has made his wife work, and she is thus intimidated b him. However, when the husband is not around, the wife is still her old self. is stated in lines 22-26 “Happy enough to chat and play/with birds and rabbits and such as they,/ so long as men-folk keep away./‘Not near, not near” her eyes beseech/when one of us comes in reach”. In that quotation, Mew depicts the wife as a woman who is free, kind, and good natured, but she cannot show that to people for she has been abused to the point that all men scare her. The actions of her husband had had such an impact that his wife was so incredibly shy that she could not even say that she did not want to be approached, for only her eyes could do the talking for her. This shows how much the relationship had changed her. Her whole mindset towards life has been altered by the abuse that she suffered, and thus she is completely changed.

The way that Mew is able to convey the poem is very interesting. She writes from the point of view of the husband, so it is apparent what is going through his mind, although it can only be inferred what is happening within the mind of the wife. One point that is very interesting is that the speaker (the husband) claims is that he is still in love with his wife. This is very interesting because she seems to have become so distant from him. "She sleeps up in the attic there/alone, poor maid. ‘Tis but a stair/ betwixt us. Oh, my God! the down,/The soft young down of her; the brown,/The brown of her - her eyes, her hair, her hair!”. This quotation from the last line of the poem shows that the husband has developed almost an obsession for his wife, from her eyes to her hair. Writing the poem from the point of view of the farmer shows the reader all of the different thoughts that are going throught the farmers head, and this makes the reader really have to think about what is going on in the wife's head. Also, from writing from this point of view, it shows how one member of a relationship is trying to figure out what the other is thinking, and how they try to deal with different situations, and how the strains affect them. The husband is distraught fromt he original loss of his wife, and how he put in effort to find her, which shows his love for her. And while it is completely unjust how he treated her after these events occur, it can be said that he just did not want to lose the love of his life. Mew is able to show why actions happen in a relationship, and the thought porcess going on in the mind of one of the members.

//The Farmers Bride// requires the reader to do some thinking, because although it is obvious that there is tension between the husband and wife, the reader must figure out why and come up with their own reasons. Thus, it is up to the reader to really create their own story, as they only have a frame, and it is up to them to determine how the farmer and his wife got to the point that they are at by that end of the poem.