Key learning points

1. The bride is forced to marry the farmer at a young age and is scared of her husband.
2. The bride attempts to run away and then is chased and captured by a group of men.
3. When the bride returns she is locked up by her husband and becomes reclusive.
4. Despite her refusal to speak, the farmer still fantasises about his wife.
5. Mew was writing at a time when women's position in society was often restrictive.

Keywords

• Autonomy - independence over one’s thoughts and actions

• Suffrage - the right to vote- in the early 20th century women's suffrage was an important political issue

• Dramatic monologue - a poem written in the form of a speech from an individual character

• Dysfunctional - not operating properly; broken

Common misconception