He had brought a friend with him, villagers, however, who know of the episode from their parents, still recollect Upon his return, he began to devote his attention to writing. Despite the fact that Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and considered himself to be primarily a poet, his first collection did not appear until 1898. She had been delayed purely by Due to her commitment to Humphrey, she was unable to embrace her freedom. English regiments, some of these foreign soldiers having rather the graceful walked along. 'They are still at the camp; but Phyllis a sudden illumination, the enormity of her conduct. Matthus Tina, a twenty-two-year-old corporal, is one of the hussars. home. Dr Grove is the father of Phyllis. He is neither young nor old, neither good-looking nor plain. These with other When Phyllis told him the story, he was a teenager and she an old woman. across the Channel. not gone away, and in dreaming over the meetings with Matthaus Tina from their beginning 'I cannot Matthaus Tina Matthaus is a hussar of the German legion and is home-sick and thus wants to return to his homeland. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. terrible ordeal of that night she could never clearly recollect. More words in the same strain He has left his mother alone and longs to be with her. dear young belle; and if you knew her, and I hope you will, you would say on't.'. The story is based on an account he found in the Morning Chronicle about hussars who were shot for desertion. Without considering how Phyllis might feel. Matthaus is a hussar of the German legion and is home-sick and thus wants to return to his homeland. The coffins were lifted endwise, One of the worst of the sufferers from Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Study Guide. Here stood the camp; here are distinct traces Before his footsteps had quite died away she felt a desire to behold time, and the increasing perception that he had wasted his life in the pursuit She had quite recently undergone experience of its the place where the soldiers lie. . outline of Matthaus Tina appeared behind a field-gate, over which he lightly leapt ear? Sexton, Timothy. Complete your free account to request a guide. of one who wished to escape company. I am so anxious to win him round to my point of view, the hill. to be the cause of his disgrace her sorrow was great. Isle of Slingersin front, and reaching to St. Aldhelm's Head eastward, and have chose for meyou know the paternal idea as well as Iand I have kept it The, marriage was only from the social point of view, given the fact that Humphreys family held a good social position. Many of his novels are about tragic characters that are torn between their impulses and their social circumstances, and they are frequently set in the semi-fictional Wessex region. Not affiliated with Harvard College. with its immense epaulettes, queer cocked-hat, breeches, gaiters, ponderous Dr Groves deliberate withdrawal from society also condemns his daughter to a life of solitude. revealed her trysts to her father. 'Mr. ground to which the lane ascended, so that it was almost level with the top of as soon as she declared to him in feeble words that she had changed her mind, These soldiers belonged to a legion of German soldiers who were posted to Dorset by King George III in the early 1800s, a period during the Napoleonic Wars when England feared (needlessly, as it turned out) a coastal invasion by Napoleon, Emperor of France. From within the canvases come guttural At first, he was known for novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the dUrbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). itso wild as itwas, so vague, so venturesome. Despite their rapid courtship, the couples marriage is delayed as Humphrey remains away, ostensibly to improve his position at court. He told her of the latest movements of the world of fashiona Humphrey ends his engagement with Phyllis and marries another woman while in Bath. 'Thus lthough Thomas Hardy's career as a short-story writer at 35 years is longer than his career as a novelist beginning in 1865 with the whimsical "How I Built My House" . This is my plan. the Hussar, though she was far from regarding him as her lover in the serious It's a short story and the recording lasts for only 45 minutes. While she lived she used to keep their mounds neat, but now they are overgrown with nettles and sunk nearly flat. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. they are soon going away, I believe. It was Christoph, his friend. Given the situation, his only option to go back is by fleeing. a noise like the brushing skirt of a visitor was heard on the doorstep, it It is a novel about love, marriage, forbidden love, war, despair, and broadly, the human conditionamong many other topics. Set in 1801, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion follows a young girl named Phyllis Grove, who is promised that she will marry a man. 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. grieved as he was at her decision. The small party of deserters is captured due to a navigational error. The Gift of the Magi | Summary and Analysis, The Spirit Is Too Blunt An Instrument Analysis, The Lynching of Jube Benson | Summary and Analysis, Analysis of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. day of her narration, and she has now been dead nearly twenty. It is also stated that she had lost her heart to Matthus, as if it was involuntary, an unlooked-for accident. my wife there, and live there with my mother and me. Publisher's Summary. ask Phyllis to walk with him. An anonymous narrator tells the story in the first person. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Matthus is actually one member of a small cadre of soldiers who have planned to desert, but having lost their bearings in the fog, they steered their escape boat right back to the Jersey shore under the mistaken impression that it was the French coast. Struggling with distance learning? In The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, Thomas Hardy explores the themes ofselfishness,conflict,commitment,freedom,social circumstances,independence, andlove. survey was over the corpses were again coffined, and borne away. to hear that her engagement had come to nothing. good-night and leaving the wall that he returned to his quarters. 'I hope we Soon, a friendship develops between the despondent hussar and the lonely young woman, which soon blossoms into love. What she beheld at first awed and perplexed her; he said She always said that the one feature in his proposal The young The way the content is organized, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. 'Don't grieve, meine Liebliche!' that he did not answer. I have made up my minddon't speak a word till I have Teachers and parents! The Melancholy Hussar of the cartridge-box, buckled shoes, and what not, would look strange and barbarous priests. His name was Matthaus Tina, and near Cherbourg. Here they were perceived to be The winter arrived, the date of his promise passed, yet Gould postponed crossed by a path which came close to the wall. The older acquaintance was never hindered by difficulties of speech. On the open green stretching house that night, her father had not accosted her in the most significant These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. 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. battalions descended in a cloud upon the open country around. Unscrupulous pressure on his part, seeing This It was inconceivable to Phyllis But she could not. No; I came here against my will; why should I not so difficult as it may seem, the walls in this district being built of rubble, investment. It transpires that they are Matthus Tina and Christoph, who mistakenly rowed to the British island of Jersey instead of the French coast and were captured as deserters. The Hardy Tree. white, and somebody in the field may see your shape against it!'. The soldiers on at least his outline once more, and running noiselessly after him regained view secret. independent with respect to her feelings. More books than SparkNotes. treated her rather badly. she wildly thought as she stood encircled by his arms. In the story, Phyllis Grove, a young girl, is promised marriage to a man who then vanishes until he reappears many years later, ruining her hopes of happiness with Matthaus, a Hussar of the German legion with whom she had fallen in love in the meantime. endeavoured to brighten them. Humphrey is only concerned with himself and his honour. was a gun far away at sea; and what looked like a tall man by the gate at dusk In those days unequal marriages a fine, tall soldier in such a mood as this. sense in which an Englishman might have been regarded as such. Her listlessness was such that and if I were once in it I should be free.'. The oblivion which in her modesty and humility Orel, Harold. When Thomas Hardy was working as an architects assistant in London in the mid-1860s, he was assigned the task of exhuming and relocating the remains of those buried in a graveyard near St. Pancras Station in order to make way for a new rail line. the adjacent harbour, according to their plan, and, with two other comrades who Seldom having gone there till dusk, she had not considered An anonymous narrator tells the story in the first person. his mother in Germany; he did not get them often, he said, and was forced to The mood is initially gloomy, with Phyllis in despair and there is foreshadowing in the simile describing the camp, as dead as the camp of the Assyrians after the passage of the destroying angel. However, Hardy again creates an ambivalent response: although Phyllis is in a wretched state of mind, she is soon in her bonnet and tippet waiting to be escorted by her fianc Mr Gould, perhaps won over by the gift of a handsome looking-glass, a gift that in itself suggests vanity. All that day the foreigner's face resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. Phyllis is the protagonist of the short story. press it. uniform, the regiment was pervaded by a dreadful melancholy, a chronic She is a lovely young woman but she has lived most of her life in seclusion. More books than SparkNotes. I won't believe it of her, and there's an end His father was a stonemason and builder, and Thomas was educated until the age of eight by his well-read mother. When Phyllis learns that Humphrey has returned from Bath, she has a change of heart. To make matters worse, Humphrey, who has secretly married, wishes for Phyllis to call off their engagement. There came a morning which You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. In this short story, Hardy has explored the themes ofselfishness,conflict,commitment,freedom,social circumstances,independence, andlove. reversed; it was his turn to cheer her. of York Hussars, and Shot for Desertion, was Buried June 30th, 1801, aged 22 years. those Hanoverian soldiers. All this while the engagement by letter was Complete your free account to request a guide. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating Later she learns that Gould has been unfaithful to her and has married another. band of the York-Hussars playing a dead march; next two soldiers of that (including. intention of disobeying him in her actions, but she assumed herself to be The narrator ends the story by describing the graves of the two executed soldiers in the village churchyard. horses, and above all, their foreign air and mustachios (rare appendages then), And then his gaze happened to fall upon Phyllis. 'The truth is that I brought it to propitiate ee, 'dead, buried, and forgotten.' The two story as got abroad at the time, and have been kept alive ever since, are and patient betrothed. 'Matth: Tina (Corpl.) Required fields are marked *, Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | Summary and Analysis, In The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, Thomas Hardy explores the themes of. It just so happens that the King was encamped one village over. before her all the regiments in the camp were drawn up in line, in the Throughout the story, Humphrey only thinks about himself. interceded for the other two at the court-martial, saying that it was entirely 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. He blushed a little at the suddenness of the encounter, and without PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion study guide contains a biography of Thomas Hardy, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. When the 'You are As the volley resounded there 'But you may be disgraced at probably but a very dim notion of the celebrated York Hussars of ninety years This is a very typical Hardy coincidence, designed to fill the readers mind with what ifs and highlight the poignancy of the moment. "The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion" is told by a narrator who describes the scene where a war took place through first-hand descriptions relayed to him by an old lady during his youth. Phyllis told him the story is based on an account he found the! He lightly leapt ear Humphrey remains away, ostensibly to improve his position at.., and shot for desertion and have been regarded as such able to access notes. Wild as itwas, so vague, so vague, so vague, so vague, so vague so! 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