Comparison of Works by Thomas Hardy and Gwendolyn Brooks Free Essay Example, 1250 words

Analyzing the rhetorical elements of Hardy s The Ruined Maid and Gwendolyn s Sadie and Maude, the reader can find the fact that both of them have practised various rhetorical features like pathos, ethos and logos in different forms. Both Hardy and Gwendolyn Brooks depict the story of two sisters and allow the readers to capture the tragic elements of both poems. The image of Fallen woman in Hardy s poem The Ruined Maid permits the reader to think about the possibility of pathos in this poem. The girl who speaks first is a farm- hand and she feels surprise when she met her friend Amelia accidently and notices her changes. Amelia informs that she was ruined or fallen. Having s strong feeling of frustration, reader understands she is a prostitute. The city girl never gets that chance to find a husband and lead married life. Savannah Schroll Guz observes; In this context, ruined means that she has crossed the Victorian-era morality line by selling herself. Here, Poet changes the cha racter of Amelia as a person who breaks the existing social system. We will write a custom essay sample on Comparison of Works by Thomas Hardy and Gwendolyn Brooks or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page In the fifth stanza, Hardy analyses Amelia s life having different perceptive. Before she reached in town the girl felt unhealthy and frustration. But when she became a ruined girl she lost her unhappiness and anxieties. Now she enjoys the life as a prostitute. Poet expresses his anger and frustration about the Victorian hypocrisy and a reader can easily notice the elements of ethos in the fall of Amelia. Hardy permits the reader to think about the logical backgrounds in Amelia s misfortune and pathetic end.