The Farmer's Bride Poem and Themes for Kids - Key Quotes & Analysis

Open

Elizabeth

24/05/2023

English Literature

THE FARMERS BRIDE LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS POETRY

Subjects

English Literature

The Farmer's Bride Poem and Themes for Kids - Key Quotes & Analysis

The Farmer's Bride by Charlotte Mew explores themes of patriarchy, marriage, and female oppression through a dramatic monologue. The poem presents a disturbing narrative of a controlling farmer and his young, frightened bride.

Key aspects:

Told from the farmer's perspective as a dramatic monologue
Features strong hunting imagery and natural metaphors
Explores themes of patriarchal control and female voicelessness
Written in varying rhyme scheme with iambic tetrameter
Reflects Charlotte Mew's own tragic life experiences

24/05/2023

The farmers bride by Charlotte Mew
context
- She had a tragic life but is a
very influential female voice
>
poem concentrates on the confine

Hunting Imagery and Female Oppression

In "The Farmer's Bride," Charlotte Mew employs powerful hunting imagery to illustrate the terror and oppression experienced by the young bride. This imagery serves to highlight the predatory nature of the husband and the vulnerability of the wife.

Quote: "We chased her, flying like a hare / Before our lanterns. To Church-Town / All in a shiver and a scare / We caught her, fetched her home at last"

This vivid description portrays the wife as prey, desperately trying to escape her husband's clutches. The simile "flying like a hare" emphasizes her fear and desperation, while also dehumanizing her in the eyes of her pursuer.

Example: The hunting imagery continues with phrases like "We chased her" and "We caught her," further reinforcing the idea of the wife as an animal being hunted.

The use of such barbaric imagery serves multiple purposes:

It illustrates the wife's terror and her desperate need to escape the marriage.
It reveals the husband's possessive and controlling nature.
It criticizes the patriarchal society that allows such treatment of women.

Highlight: The hunting imagery in "The Farmer's Bride" is a powerful tool used by Mew to critique the oppressive nature of marriage for women in early 20th century society.

This imagery, combined with the poem's structure and language choices, creates a chilling portrait of a woman trapped in an abusive and controlling relationship, unable to voice her own desires or fears.

View

Themes of Patriarchy and Female Voicelessness

"The Farmer's Bride" by Charlotte Mew is a powerful exploration of patriarchal themes and the silencing of women in early 20th century society. The poem's structure and content work together to highlight the oppressive nature of marriage for women during this period.

Key themes of patriarchy in the poem include:

Female Objectification: The farmer's obsession with his wife's physical attributes, particularly her hair, reduces her to an object of desire rather than a person with agency.
Loss of Identity: The bride remains unnamed throughout the poem, symbolizing her loss of individual identity within the marriage.
Voicelessness: The poem is told entirely from the farmer's perspective, leaving the bride without a voice to express her own thoughts and feelings.

Quote: "I've hardly heard her speak at all."

This line emphasizes the bride's silence and withdrawal, highlighting her lack of agency within the marriage.

Definition: Patriarchy refers to a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.

The poem's structure as a dramatic monologue further reinforces these themes by allowing only the farmer's perspective to be heard. This narrative choice mirrors the societal norms of the time, where women's voices were often silenced or ignored.

Highlight: The themes of patriarchy in "The Farmer's Bride" serve as a critique of the unequal power dynamics in marriage and the broader societal structures that perpetuated female oppression.

By exploring these themes, Mew challenges readers to question the accepted norms of her time and consider the devastating impact of patriarchal systems on women's lives and identities.

View

Page 4: Concluding Analysis

The final page examines the poem's closing imagery and symbolism.

Highlight: The simile comparing the bride to natural elements (leveret, larch tree, violets) emphasizes her wild nature and desire for freedom.

Quote: "Straight and slight as a young larch tree"

The page concludes with analysis of the rhetorical question "But what to me?" which reveals the farmer's frustration and inability to understand his wife's perspective.

Can't find what you're looking for? Explore other subjects.

Knowunity is the #1 education app in five European countries

Knowunity has been named a featured story on Apple and has regularly topped the app store charts in the education category in Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Join Knowunity today and help millions of students around the world.

Download in

Google Play

Download in

App Store

Knowunity is the #1 education app in five European countries

4.9+

Average app rating

20 M

Pupils love Knowunity

#1

In education app charts in 17 countries

950 K+

Students have uploaded notes

Still not convinced? See what other students are saying...

iOS User

I love this app so much, I also use it daily. I recommend Knowunity to everyone!!! I went from a D to an A with it :D

Philip, iOS User

The app is very simple and well designed. So far I have always found everything I was looking for :D

Lena, iOS user

I love this app ❤️ I actually use it every time I study.

Subjects

English Literature

The Farmer's Bride Poem and Themes for Kids - Key Quotes & Analysis

Elizabeth

@elizabethpm

77 Followers

Key aspects:

Told from the farmer's perspective as a dramatic monologue
Features strong hunting imagery and natural metaphors
Explores themes of patriarchal control and female voicelessness
Written in varying rhyme scheme with iambic tetrameter
Reflects Charlotte Mew's own tragic life experiences

...

24/05/2023

607

10/11

English Literature

Sign up to see the content. It's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Hunting Imagery and Female Oppression

Quote: "We chased her, flying like a hare / Before our lanterns. To Church-Town / All in a shiver and a scare / We caught her, fetched her home at last"

Example: The hunting imagery continues with phrases like "We chased her" and "We caught her," further reinforcing the idea of the wife as an animal being hunted.

The use of such barbaric imagery serves multiple purposes:

It illustrates the wife's terror and her desperate need to escape the marriage.
It reveals the husband's possessive and controlling nature.
It criticizes the patriarchal society that allows such treatment of women.

Highlight: The hunting imagery in "The Farmer's Bride" is a powerful tool used by Mew to critique the oppressive nature of marriage for women in early 20th century society.

Sign up to see the content. It's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Themes of Patriarchy and Female Voicelessness

Key themes of patriarchy in the poem include:

Female Objectification: The farmer's obsession with his wife's physical attributes, particularly her hair, reduces her to an object of desire rather than a person with agency.
Loss of Identity: The bride remains unnamed throughout the poem, symbolizing her loss of individual identity within the marriage.
Voicelessness: The poem is told entirely from the farmer's perspective, leaving the bride without a voice to express her own thoughts and feelings.

Quote: "I've hardly heard her speak at all."

This line emphasizes the bride's silence and withdrawal, highlighting her lack of agency within the marriage.

Definition: Patriarchy refers to a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.

Highlight: The themes of patriarchy in "The Farmer's Bride" serve as a critique of the unequal power dynamics in marriage and the broader societal structures that perpetuated female oppression.

By exploring these themes, Mew challenges readers to question the accepted norms of her time and consider the devastating impact of patriarchal systems on women's lives and identities.

Sign up to see the content. It's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Page 4: Concluding Analysis

The final page examines the poem's closing imagery and symbolism.

Highlight: The simile comparing the bride to natural elements (leveret, larch tree, violets) emphasizes her wild nature and desire for freedom.

Quote: "Straight and slight as a young larch tree"

The page concludes with analysis of the rhetorical question "But what to me?" which reveals the farmer's frustration and inability to understand his wife's perspective.

Sign up to see the content. It's free!

Access to all documents

Improve your grades

Join milions of students

By signing up you accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

The Farmer's Bride: Context and Structure

The Farmer's Bride by Charlotte Mew is a poignant exploration of marriage and female oppression in early 20th century society. This poem, written from the perspective of a possessive farmer husband, provides a stark commentary on the patriarchal norms of the time.

Charlotte Mew, despite her tragic personal life, emerged as an influential female voice in poetry. The poem's structure reflects the deteriorating relationship between the farmer and his bride:

First two stanzas: Depict the failing marriage
Last stanzas: Convey the husband's sadness and desire

Highlight: The poem is structured as a dramatic monologue, primarily in iambic tetrameter with varying rhyme schemes, giving it a strong rhythm that drives the narrative forward without becoming predictable.

The title itself, "The Farmer's Bride," with its possessive apostrophe, immediately suggests the wife's lack of agency in the relationship.

Quote: "Three Summers since I chose a maid / Too young maybe - but more's to do / At harvest-time than bide and woo."

This opening stanza sets the tone for the entire poem, highlighting the farmer's practical approach to marriage and his disregard for his young bride's feelings.

Vocabulary:

Bide: To wait or remain

Woo: To seek the affection or love of someone

The poem's structure and language choices effectively convey the unequal power dynamics in the marriage, emphasizing the bride's voicelessness and the farmer's control.

Can't find what you're looking for? Explore other subjects.

Knowunity is the #1 education app in five European countries

Knowunity has been named a featured story on Apple and has regularly topped the app store charts in the education category in Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Join Knowunity today and help millions of students around the world.

Download in

Google Play

Download in

App Store

4.9+

Average app rating

20 M

Pupils love Knowunity

#1

In education app charts in 17 countries

950 K+

Students have uploaded notes

Still not convinced? See what other students are saying...

iOS User

I love this app so much, I also use it daily. I recommend Knowunity to everyone!!! I went from a D to an A with it :D

Philip, iOS User

The app is very simple and well designed. So far I have always found everything I was looking for :D

Lena, iOS user