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

central themes in 'The Farmer's Bride'

innocence and ignorance

summary of the events in the poem

a nineteenth-century farmer considers his relationship with his wife; he relates how they were married: she ran away, he forcefully recaptured her and he relates her current state in the house

gender roles

Having no concern for her feelings, the farmer expects her simply to step into the role of his wife

mental illness

'We caught her, fetched her home at last / And turned the key upon her, fast.' - In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Bertha is imprisoned in a space in which the Victorian 'home' is effectively transformed into an asylum for women; a striking resemblance to 'The Farmer's Bride'

animal and human nature

To the farmer, human nature is not much more complicated than animal nature

convention definition

a way in which something is usually done

the theme of convention in the poem

everyone on the farm seems to think the same way the farmer does: A wife, even a young, frightened wife, belongs at home with her husband. Even the women make little attempt to help her; they are perhaps busy with their chores or have forgotten their own transition into married life.

convention vs cruelty vs madness

the farmer treats the young girl as if she is mad because he is unable to understand that she is simply frightened, afraid and not interested in him; Mew appears to illustrate how convention, cruelty and madness can all appear the same, depending on how they are seen...

human beings as property

I chose a maid': the verb 'chose' almost makes it sound like a business transaction or a simple natural right; he chooses her as he would his cattle, seeing no need to woo her

unrequited definition

If love that you feel for someone is unrequited, it is not felt in the same way by the other person

unrequired love as a theme

the farmer loves his 'bride' but she does not return the emotion: 'Sweet as the first wild violets, she, / To her wild self. But what to me?'

sadness

What's Christmas-time without there be / Some other in the house than we!'