Forsaken Wife

Q. Comment closely on ways in which the following poem present the speaker's attitude to her
husband .

Elizabeth Thomas in this apostrophe has shown her distant towards her husband and his "infidelity".
From the beginning till the end we see her condemning her "cruel" husband and ultimately claiming
superiority over him

Thomas has used first person narration to effectively criticize his husband's inhumane behaviour. She
calls him out for his "due humanity" but ironically uses a rhetorical question and ultimately declares that
he has none . She demeans her husband for not even giving her a "pitying look or a parting word". This
bicolon and polosive alliteration emphasizes her anger for being mistreated. Elizabeth had been engaged
to her husband for 16 years but he ultimately left without any regard. For this she holds him
questionable in the court of humanity.

From challenging her husband for his lack of care we see a shift towards an angry outburst. She
addresses him as a "cruel man". This dysphemism represents that she is no longer going to remains
silent against what she had experienced.She scorns him for his "want a love" from other women despite
the fact that she was desperately in love with him. She metaphorically describes herself as "[ruin]"ed
after her husband left. This metaphor reflects her fury and disappointment for the situation in which she
has been left in. The readers also see a contrast in her attitude towards her husband before and after his
"infidelity". She had given him her "love without regard" and always "sighed unheard". But now her
"heart is broken" by his "broken vows". This isocolon and personification refers to her emotional internal
damage which her husband has caused her. But after all we see her resilient. Instead of mimicking her
husband's betrayal he chooses to maintain her dignity and forever remains "still the same". The
sibilance emphasizes on her generosity against her husband's "rigid hate".

At the end again she "dares" her husband to be true or "suffer what I do". The word "dare" is used
deliberately to emphasize the psuedo bravery and cowardness of men, who outwardly pretend to be
protectors of family and men of great esteem but in reality are infidels. By the end speaker has treated
her husband to accept his defeat against her "[superior]ity" in respect "to love to honour and to fame".
This anaphora emphasizes on determination to humiliate and discredit her husband in all phases of life
after his betrayal.