GCSE (9-1): Literature: Poetry: AQA Love and Relationships: The Farmer's Bride: Author's Purpose

to expose how convention can be cruel

the farmer follows Victorian marriage conventions without feeling any need to understand his wife

to criticise Victorian marriage conventions

Mew uses dramatic irony to expose how Victorian marriage conventions do not take the bride's emotions into account: 'But what to me?'

to criticise the lack of rights for women in Victorian marriage conventions

Too young maybe - but more's to do' - he is a hopeless romantic; insensitive toward the young, frightened girl and ignorant of a woman's needs and humanity

to explore what it meant to be a man in Victorian society

Mew uses a fictional persona as an alternative means of exploring what it meant to be a man in Victorian society

to challenge social expectations and values

the fictional persona of the farmer is used to challenge gender and social expectations

to dramatise the human condition

In this case we can see how Mew is dramatising Victorian values of tradition, marriage and gender roles to make us question their true moral value

to explore situations, episodes of lives that are still in the process of developing

dramatic monologues are concerned with situations, episodes of lives that are still in the process of developing, in this case, the farmer is developing an understanding of why his wife does not return his love

to explore examples of self-occupied men and women as they attempt to overcome the limitations of their physical lives

dramatic monologues also focus on examples of self-occupied men and women as they attempt to overcome the limitations of their physical lives; in this case, the farmer's limitation is his lack of understanding

to explore the workings of the speaker's mind

Robert Browning, who is often credited with having created the dramatic monologue said, 'My stress lay on the incidents in the development of a soul. Little else is worth study'

to explore a unique perspective of life

dramatic monologues feature real, fictional, mythical or historical personae as an alternative means of exploring what it meant to be a woman, a man, someone of different status, etc

to criticise Victorian attitudes towards women

Mew may have wanted to criticise Victorian attitudes towards women who are seen as the property of their husband

To expose the lack of empathy caused by sticking rigidly to conventions

Mew may be suggesting that the Victorian love of tradition sometimes made it impossible for him to empathise with those of a lower status than himself