The Drover's Wife: Portrays the Willpower of Australians?
‘In the character of the drovers wife, Lawson has constructed a portrait of stoicism, endurance and resilience in the face of poverty, isolation, fear and danger.’ Explore how Lawson has successfully used the character of the drover’s wife to convey a distinctively visual image of the courage of so many Australians living in the 19th
Century.
The 19th century was a difficult time to live in and so many Australians made it through their live with endurance, courage and resilience. Henry Lawson conveys the willpower of the
Australian living in this time through the story,
The Drover’s Wife.
This story revolves around a mother of three that is threatened by a snake and flashbacks that expresses the courage and strength that women in the 19’s possessed. The use of visual imagery, symbolism and dialogue help to shine light upon the women that suffer silently in the background. In this story, the drovers wife is a mother of three and is raising them in the bush alone. She is alone because her husband is a drover and need to be out for a couple of months to work.
The book presents a lot of visual imagery to project an idea of what the landscape look like, in this case, the environment creates feelings of isolation and monotony; the bush has “no horizon”,”no ranges in the distance” and “no undergrowth”. Pathetic fallacy is in play, showing the reader a glimpse of the bleakness and emptiness in the bushwoman’s life. This presents the courage of this one woman that speaks for all. The Drover’s wife is able to confront all her challenges singlehandedly and every difficult experience she’s had is in the absence of her husband. She raised her children on her own and constantly protects them from dangers. That image of loneliness in the bush is very hard to relate to but she says she “is used to being left alone, She once lived like this for eighteen months”. She has sacrificed her femininity because “her surrounding are not favorable to the
Century.
The 19th century was a difficult time to live in and so many Australians made it through their live with endurance, courage and resilience. Henry Lawson conveys the willpower of the
Australian living in this time through the story,
The Drover’s Wife.
This story revolves around a mother of three that is threatened by a snake and flashbacks that expresses the courage and strength that women in the 19’s possessed. The use of visual imagery, symbolism and dialogue help to shine light upon the women that suffer silently in the background. In this story, the drovers wife is a mother of three and is raising them in the bush alone. She is alone because her husband is a drover and need to be out for a couple of months to work.
The book presents a lot of visual imagery to project an idea of what the landscape look like, in this case, the environment creates feelings of isolation and monotony; the bush has “no horizon”,”no ranges in the distance” and “no undergrowth”. Pathetic fallacy is in play, showing the reader a glimpse of the bleakness and emptiness in the bushwoman’s life. This presents the courage of this one woman that speaks for all. The Drover’s wife is able to confront all her challenges singlehandedly and every difficult experience she’s had is in the absence of her husband. She raised her children on her own and constantly protects them from dangers. That image of loneliness in the bush is very hard to relate to but she says she “is used to being left alone, She once lived like this for eighteen months”. She has sacrificed her femininity because “her surrounding are not favorable to the