The Ruined Maid

'The Ruined Maid' is a satirical poem by Thomas Hardy that was published in 1901 in his collection Poems of the Past and the Present. This period was during the Victorian era, a time known for its strict moral codes and societal norms, which Hardy often critiqued in his works. Using pre-hipster era irony, it humorously handles the themes of Victorian morality and gender roles. A dramatic dialogue highlights the double standards and lack of choice faced by young women in 19th-century England.

'The Ruined Maid': a poem by Thomas Hardy

'The Ruined Maid': Thomas Hardy’s biographical context

Thomas Hardy, a sometimes-controversial member of the Western literary canon, was born in a small village in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset in 1840. The county of Dorset inspired many of his novels and characters, as well as influenced his views on social norms and class structures. He died there in 1928, close to where he was born.

Considered a Victorian Realist, the Romantics and the work of Jon Stuart Mill influenced Hardy. The themes that run through his work are gender and class inequalities, the role of religion in defining social norms, marriage, and education.

Hardy wrote 'The Ruined Maid' very early in his writing career in 1886. It was published in Poems of the Past and Present (1901). In this poem, Hardy expressed his disapproval of the hypocritical sexual morality of the Victorian era. This was a theme that he would continue to explore in his novel, Tess of the d’Urbevilles, A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891).

In Hardy's time, any woman who had sex outside of marriage, whatever the circumstances, was considered ‘ruined’. Women and men of all classes would then ostracize her. That women should be sexually virtuous until marriage was an ideal that Hardy challenged in a variety of ways in both Tess of the d’Urbevilles and Jude the Obscure (1895). Both novels led to so much controversy that Hardy never wrote another one.

While 'The Ruined Maid' and Tess of the d’Urbevilles focused on the plight of women in the Victorian era, Jude the Obscure dealt with the effects of Victorian morality and its rigid class system on both men and women.

In his portrayal of Amelia and the character of Tess, Hardy invites the reader to assess whether a woman’s morality is related only to her virginal status or if perhaps some other factors might be more relevant.

'The Ruined Maid': summary

'The Ruined Maid' is a poem about a lack of viable choices. In particular, the lack of choice faced by Victorian era women without independent means.

The poem begins with a chance encounter between two women in London. A dramatic dialogue makes the reader aware that they are both from the country and already know each other. '‘Melia', (Amelia) is now well dressed and prosperous, so her unnamed acquaintance highlights the contrasts between her rustic life of grinding poverty as a farm labourer and her current city life. As the woman goes through a litany of details about her previous situation, Amelia repeatedly advises her in an off-hand and flippant way that her apparent wealth and cultured air are all because of her 'ruin'.

The woman also comments on Amelia’s new way of speaking, her happy demeanour, and her stylish clothes. She then expresses her wish to be in a similar situation. The reply is a sardonic one. Amelia advises the woman that she can only have these things if she is 'ruined'.

'The Ruined Maid': analysis

'The Ruined Maid' is a poem by Thomas Hardy that features a dialogue between two women, a farm worker and her friend who has become a "ruined" woman, or a prostitute. The poem subverts expectations as the 'ruined' woman appears to be better off, wearing expensive clothes and speaking with an improved accent. Hardy highlights and contrasts the two main options available to young, rural, working-class women. A respectable life of poverty, children, and marriage, or a relatively well-heeled life of ostracised ruin as a mistress or prostitute.

On the surface, 'The Ruined Maid' is a light-hearted poem that pokes fun at Victorian-era morality, city versus country life, and the class system. Hardy uses irony and satire to highlight what was a depressing lack of choice for most women of the time while challenging the reader's preconceptions about 'ruined' women.

'The Ruined Maid': structure

'The Ruined Maid' has six quatrains that follow the rhyme scheme below. Hardy uses two sets of rhyming couplets to create each of his quatrains. This mirrors the dramatic dialogue between the two women as each quatrain is a dialogue of different couplets. The first and last quatrains have the same rhyme scheme.

Fig. 1 - The poem uses rhyming couplets to mirror the dialogue between the two women in 'The Ruined Maid'.

'The Ruined Maid': meter

Hardy mixes up his meter to create a rhythm that supports his juxtaposition of Amelia’s old and new life. Many of the lines in this poem start with an iamb, but then he switches to anapestic trimeter. This contrast of tempo and emphasis also replicates the contrast between Amelia and her acquaintance.

Below is the first line of 'The Ruined Maid'. It starts with an iamb (daDUM) and switches to anapaestic trimeter (dadaDUM).

'The Ruined Maid': themes

'The Ruined Maid' has many undercurrents but we can consider its main themes to be gender inequalities, social mobility, and the realities of working life in the country.

Theme: Victorian morality and gender roles

In the character of Amelia i.e. the titular ruined maid, Hardy portrays an unrepentant prostitute without condemnation of her choice, situation, or attitude. This was unusual for an era when society harshly judged women who were ‘unchaste’ outside of marriage.

In Victorian England, the definition of a prostitute was broad and covered a variety of circumstances, from mistresses to any women who had pre or extramarital sex to women who would be what we classify as sex workers today.

A woman’s 'virtue' was so tenuous a thing that a satirical article from the Saturday Review of 1865 advised respectable Victorian women to:

This highly sarcastic advice was given to help women avoid appearing attractive, which could lead to being looked at, particularly as this might somehow then lead to the assumption that the woman was a prostitute. The piece is an amusing and interesting insight into the era.

Victorian prostitutes were most often condemned or portrayed in literature as women in need of moral redemption or salvation. In contrast, Hardy depicts Amelia as happier, better dressed and better off than before, but aware of the significant and unavoidable cost of her choice.

Underneath Hardy's use of irony and total absence of any judgement, is the obvious portrayal of a lack of viable choices that young women like Amelia faced. Impoverished 'virtue' or temporarily emancipated 'ruin’ are not really ideal situations.

Theme: Victorian morality and social mobility

Although any young Victorian-era woman without independent means had very limited choices for financial stability or respectability other than marriage, rural working-class women faced the worst of limited options.

The difference between Amelia’s old life in the country and her new life in London is highlighted and contrasted during the dramatic dialogue. The stanza below captures the poverty and harsh working conditions she escaped versus her new life. Amelia's ironic retort shows her unrepentant nature and her awareness of the personal cost of her liberation.

Although Amelia’s speech and dress now reflect those of a more wealthy woman, she will never be accepted. For her, because of the rigid Victorian class structure, the price of relative comfort is to be ostracized by all classes of society.

Whether deliberate or accidental, her use of the word 'ain’t' in the last line, 'You ain’t ruined', shows that Amelia is still in some ways the rustic girl she once was. The repeated use of the word 'ruined' indicates that despite the casual irony, she is very aware of the repercussions of her choice, however blasé she may appear.

'The Ruined Maid': characters

'The Ruined Maid' has only two characters, Amelia ('Melia), and an unnamed friend or acquaintance from her old neighbourhood. One is poor and 'unruined', the other has chosen 'ruin' as perhaps the only way to escape poverty.

^1. Flanders, Judith. The Victorian City. Everyday Life of Dickens' London. St. Martin's, 2014.