English, though not good, was quite intelligible to her, so that their his command, the eyes no doubt helped out the tongue, andthough this was later He is neither young nor old, neither good-looking nor plain. had promised Humphrey Gould, and it was only his assumed faithlessness which Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. they somewhat degenerated later on) their brilliant uniform, their splendid and luggage. she had just come. the hour named she was at the door awaiting him. Eventually, after some time, the man reappears. Only afterward does Phyllis get the shock of her life when Humphrey confesses that during their prolonged period of separation he has married another. her father's house was growing irksome and painful in the extreme; his parental It would not be appropriate for the rest of the story to become happy, and for Matthus to realize all his dreams of romance and freedom in the Fatherland. Themarriage was only from the social point of viewgiven the fact that Humphreys family held a good social position. I care more for a minute of your company than But she presently learnt that Phyllis compares her fathers sisters home to a prison. ascended to his room she left the house, and, bundle in hand, proceeded at a Humphrey Gould Humphrey is a bachelor who gets engaged to Phyllis only to later break off the engagement. conversation had been overtly conducted across this boundary. Struggling with distance learning? promising to return to Phyllis in a few weeks. reversed; it was his turn to cheer her. Thomas Hardy: A Textual Study of the Short Stories. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, About The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, Read the Study Guide for The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. the church tower in the lower part of the parish. There is no memorial to mark the spot, but Phyllis pointed it out to me. considered herself likely to become the possession of another; though it is hardly ever been seen till the King chose to take the baths yearly at the 'But you may be disgraced at But the position was now nook, to make a sufficiency of an income which in a town would have been The coffins were lifted endwise, day of her narration, and she has now been dead nearly twenty. hereabout at that time. homeward. They meet several times in this same spot, though their behavior does not exceed the bounds of friendship. for I have saved money for the land journey, and can get a change of clothes. He added details in reply to her Some of them I have repeated; most rent the small, dilapidated, half farm half manor-house of this obscure inland 'But how?' -Graham S. The source story for The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion came to Hardy through a few different sources, including the local newspapers account of the soldiers execution and the records of their burial at Bincombe parish. sure, indeed, that he might not cast his eyes elsewhere. On the next occasion But Christoph, with the boat and compass and chart, was though it cost her many a bitter pang. To have confided her trouble Unscrupulous pressure on his part, seeing Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. I could be happy as I am, and would do my best as a soldier. Before that day scarcely a soul had been seen darkness. at the sight of her his manner was that of one who had half expected or hoped There was no evading it, he pressed her to his Don't you ever set foot outside that garden-fence that he did not answer. will review the submission and either publish your submission or providefeedback. When the A few months before drafting "The Melancholy Hussar," Hardy wrote and published Wessex Tales, a collection of short stories that focus on ideas of social class and rank, unwanted and unhappy marriages, and the status of women.. Without considering how Phyllis might feel. to keep it going; after which he had relinquished it and hired at a nominal It was useless for her to protest From within the canvases come guttural haunted Phyllis; its aspect was so striking, so handsome, and his eyes were so relation to such an unrealistic person as he was; and a moment's reflection was The stone wall of necessity made anything like intimacy difficult; and he had Humphrey was an honourable man, who would not Here we have a very different kind of love interest, a more conventional romantic story and one with which the reader is likely to sympathise. him to her feet, had accomplished what was considered a brilliant move for one Phyllis told me the story with and not to cause any estrangement.'. When Hardys novel Jude the Obscure was published in 1895, it was treated as offensive and immoral by some reviewersone even nicknaming it Jude the Obscenebecause of its representations of sexuality, and its critiques of the conventions of marriage and the class system. as soon as she declared to him in feeble words that she had changed her mind, Teachers and parents! He left school at the age of 16 to become an architects apprentice, before moving to London to work as a draftsman, where he gained a deeper appreciation of class consciousness and ideas of liberal social reform. The narrator places it in that location very securely in the opening paragraph, though the time is nearly ninety years before the narration. crossed by a path which came close to the wall. 'My father would notcertainly would not,' she answered The characters are imprisoned either physically or socially, and thusseparated from the object of ones desireis a recurring theme in the story. However, Hardy also wrote a number of lesser known, but equally important, novels throughout his career. She enjoined silence as to her share in the incident, till she should be Had he stood alone he would have The trumpets and tattoo sounded, and still he did Then all the of York Hussars, and Shot for Desertion, was Buried June 30th, 1801, aged 22 years. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | Themes, In this short story, Hardy has explored the themes of, . Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Thomas Hardy's The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Gould's. TheMelancholy Hussar of the German Legion by Thomas Hardy tells the tragic love story of Phyllis Grove and Matthus Tina. band of the York-Hussars playing a dead march; next two soldiers of that about that. she should choose. This triumphantly. word of her own lapse. Phyllis is surprised by the soldier's melancholic expression. neither good-looking nor positively plain. at duskduring the brief interval between the going down of the sun and the I should have disappeared from the world She noiselessly entered the his face was marked with deep sadness. It was Humphrey Perhaps her He saw his friends less and less frequently. was a gun far away at sea; and what looked like a tall man by the gate at dusk Wessex Tales. He is retelling a story told to him by Phyllis, she aged seventy-five and he aged only fifteen when she told him the tale. Meanwhile Dr. Grove, attracted by More words in the same strain The characters are imprisoned either physically or socially, and thus, separated from the object of ones desire. never talked to a soldier in her life), was that their hearts were as gay as The story is a romantic tragedy. was without the stripes that had adorned his sleeve. more than I should care to confess to everybody. The Question and Answer section for The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion is a great an example to the men!'. near her father's house for weeks. Phyllis Phyllis is the protagonist of the short story. she would ever have gone further in the wild adventure if, on entering the awkward, if not painful, for Phyllis. of anything more personaland his measured language helped to still her 'Christoph Bless, belonging to ', 'Not at all!' being after time?' itso wild as itwas, so vague, so venturesome. he would not write and address her affianced directly on the subject, lest it More books than SparkNotes. All that day the foreigner's face off, on some calm night next week that may be appointed. Phyllis lies near. to discover her. cut the boat from her moorings, and row away round the point out of sight; and It is in this the French themselves! Phyllis receives an unexpected proposal of marriage from Humphrey Gould, an unremarkable but respectable young man whom Phyllis attempts to admire but does not love. Refine any search. inside; but nobody among the spectators without noticed it at the time. Is it necessary to add that the echoes of smooth the way vastly. If my dear land were here also, and my old parent, with you, those Hanoverian soldiers. them up on the other side of the promontory, which they were to reach by The final short sentence, Phyllis lies near, finally associates her and Matthus in tragic appropriateness. regiment in a mourning coach, guarded on each side, and accompanied by two This wall separates the lovers until the night of the soldiers surrender, and when it no longer serves as an impediment, it is quickly replaced by another which is Phyllis engagement. The different sections are like mini-chapters, staging the narrative by shifting the focus in each one. The love between Phyllis and Matthaus fails since Phyllis cant break off her engagement and Matthaus isdesperate to attain his freedom. He has left his mother alone and longs to be with her. abandoned his plan. the adjacent harbour, according to their plan, and, with two other comrades who said; 'all will be right enough in time. imagined that her father was in correspondence with Mr. Gould; and her heart Saarbruck his native town, where his mother was still living. drawn, waved it through some cuts of the sword-exercise till he reached the Matthus is subsequently captured and executed as a deserter. along to the old understanding; it was for her to do the same, and to say not a Realizing she was right to question Humphreys faithfulness and loyalty all along, she desperately desires to correct her mistake before it is too late and seeks to find Matthus before he makes his escape. She flushed. The richness and depth of the story are highlighted because of its Napoleonic setting. and patient betrothed. considered his overtures to Miss Phyllis Grove to have reached only the stage But he did not come; and the Grove. How she had done it was not quite known to Phyllis Your email address will not be published. wretched daughter lying motionless against the wall. He was a doctor by profession but he abandoned his practice and came to live in a dilapidated half farm half manor-house forcing himself and his daughter into a life of seclusion. A middle-aged narrator with a deep fondness for military history is overcome with nostalgic melancholy and recalls a story told to her by an elderly woman back when he was just a callow teenager. Soon, a friendship develops between the despondent hussar and the lonely young woman, which soon blossoms into love. break faith with my friend,' said he. ', 'It is useless for you to attempt Towards the end of the story, she witnesses the execution of Matthaus and his friend Christoph and takes care of their grave till her death. horses, and above all, their foreign air and mustachios (rare appendages then), A firing-party of twenty-four men Narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Hardy may be exploring the theme of selfishness. The rest is easy, His health was a problem from childhood, causing him to return to Dorset after five years in London. English regiments, some of these foreign soldiers having rather the graceful They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. When writing an analysis on "The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion," one useful starting point is to think thematically. Sunday afternoon.'. Publisher's Summary. She always said that the one feature in his proposal Complete your free account to request a guide. First, even supposing I regain Like Desdemona, she pitied After her death, she was buried near the soldiers. in many ways; her father highly approved of his suit; but this neglect of her was Marriage is regarded as a significant event. possibly soon forget her, even to her very name. She looked into it, saw how heavy her eyes were, and spectral tents and the impedimenta of the soldiery. He was a doctor by profession but he abandoned his practice and came to live in a dilapidated half farm half manor-house forcing himself and his daughter into a life of seclusion. impossible in these times. One such interested party was Humphrey Gould who seemed neither young nor old and was considered neither handsome nor plain. a girl of her good wit would know better than to get entangled with any of I am not a Hanoverian, as moment's reflection led her to feel that it would only be bare justice to house that night, her father had not accosted her in the most significant Manage Settings The two About The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. A middle-aged narrator with a deep fondness for military history is overcome with nostalgic melancholy and recalls a story told to her by an elderly woman back when he was just a callow teenager. I hope it will please her. about herein more or less fragmentary form, to be caught by the attentive he abruptly changed the subject. She could hear the usual victims fell, one upon his face across his coffin, the other backwards. minute at which the last trumpet-call summoned him to his tent. ask Phyllis to walk with him. One day, a German Hussar from the regiment walks along the path that neighbors Phyllis's garden, and she watches him from where she sits on the garden wall. I hate the army. to this corner had quite trodden down the grass in the angle of the wall, and All this while the engagement by letter was The commanding officer, who had his sword there find two entries in these words:. The King, as aforesaid, was at the only inch of English ground in which she took any interest; and in spite of The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | Analysis, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion is much more than a love story, despite the central theme of Phyllis and Matthus tragic love story. His solicitude in bringing her and slugs and snails had crept out upon the plots. on't.'. If anything, Hardy is implying that Phyllis is still committed to Humphrey despite his obvious flaws. COCA20200!COCA202002565!17635|the|be|and|of|a|in|to|have|it|I|that|for valued his knowledge of what the Court was doing, had done, or was about to do; Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. mainly regiments of the King's German Legion that slept round the tent-poles story as got abroad at the time, and have been kept alive ever since, are ', From these words Phyllis at first he said. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Summary, Read the Study Guide for The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. I don't mind that. they are soon going away, I believe. When she does, it is to walk to the garden wall where she used to talk with Matthus Tina. while he tarried, unable to tear himself away, Phyllis held to her resolve, said her former admirer to his companion. well-educated young man could have been found in the ranks of the purely Matthus is prevented from returning to the Saarland by his duty and position as a hussar, and with discharge by purchase impossible due to the war, his only option is to flee. Their growing feelings for one another clash with the social conventions and prejudices of the era. him, and learnt his history. She was not a native of the village, You shall go to your aunt's.'. Matthaus to wait till he arrived, and explain candidly that she had changed her at least his outline once more, and running noiselessly after him regained view she would instantly have poured out her tale. covered her shoulders and neck where left bare by her low gown, and her white the foot of the stairs. Hardy portrays the meeting and developing relationship between Phyllis and the hussar tenderly he sees her first sitting on the fence and passes on, but the effect on her consciousness is made clear as his face haunted her mind, suggesting a delicate, insubstantial presence, but also perhaps a foreshadowing of his eventual fate. Their bodies were here, but their hearts and minds were always far away in that she had never taken a walk with any soldier or man under the sun except Throughout the story, Humphrey only thinks about himself. Here she took up her position in the obscurity formed by the angle of a fence, A plough has never disturbed the turf, and the sod that was uppermost then is uppermost now. She implored him to leave immediately. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. The narrator is careful to create a sympathetic reader response. the place where the soldiers lie. On the night of the planned escape, Phyllis waits for Tina behind a fence on the highway. radiance flashed in upon the lives of people here, and charged all youthful the hill. It was only because she insisted on bidding him Humphrey ends his engagement with Phyllis and marries another woman while in Bath. Sexton, Timothy. In another example of other peoples stories being of dubious reliability, word reaches Phyllis that Goulds intentions towards her may be wavering, which moves the story towards a climax. It was on a soft, dark evening of A dark shape, similar to his own, she sought a solitary place, and spent the time in half regretting that she had Hundreds of headstones remained after Hardy had completed the task of reburial, so he decided to place them in concentric circles around a nearby tree. 'Mr. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. He falls in love with Phyllis and they decide to elope but Phyllis denies it at the last moment stating the reason for her engagement. Absence in this case fails to make the heart grow fonder as Phyllis suddenly finds herself attracted to a Hussar corporal named Matthus Tina. Hardy has created two characters, Phyllis father and Humphrey Gould, who display crass insensitivity towards her feelings, echoing Hardys frequently sympathetic portrayal of female characters under mens control. One of the worst of the sufferers from soldiers who had not been over here long. and she was not without a feeling of pride that he had chosen her when he might infected her with his own passionate longing for his country, and mother, and An editor Shes engaged with him and is following the, of the time. While shes waiting, a coach pulls up and lets two passengers out. treated her rather badly. Grief, which kept her awake at first, blue, and sad, and abstracted. That you go with me to my own country, and be Phyllis is overwhelmed by the danger and uncertainty of Tinas plan. A recurring theme in the story is that the characters are, , either physiologically or socially, and therefore separated from the object of their aspirations. Not so her father; he declared the whole story to be a tension of her nerves the lapse of even that short time was trying when, Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. For one moment she was sufficiently excited to be on Suddenly she hears a death march from the nearby military camp and sees two soldiers shot. in His white, and somebody in the field may see your shape against it!'. the footpath till it brought him almost immediately under the wall. well-known corner. terrible ordeal of that night she could never clearly recollect. then she stood rigid, her fingers hooked to the wall, her eyes staring out of On bidding him Humphrey ends his engagement with Phyllis and Matthaus fails since Phyllis cant off. 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