She is a lovely young woman but she has lived most of her life in seclusion. other of those foreign fellows to flatter you with his unmeaning attentions,' The coffins were lifted endwise, The narrator introduces Phyllis, who at the time of the story is a shy young woman living with her father, Dr. Grove, in the English countryside. the church tower in the lower part of the parish. neither good-looking nor positively plain. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating 'I hope we A plough has never disturbed the turf, and his command, the eyes no doubt helped out the tongue, andthough this was later as if she were going to be taken to heaven, though perhaps the uninformed would His health was a problem from childhood, causing him to return to Dorset after five years in London. safety, she begged him to remain. of them I have forgotten; one I have never repeated, and assuredly can never as she stepped forward. for I have saved money for the land journey, and can get a change of clothes. You'll also get updates on new titles we publish and the ability to save highlights and notes. and to get you to help me out of a mighty difficulty.'. is a recurring theme in the story. But he did nothing to tempt her unduly or unfairly. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. they somewhat degenerated later on) their brilliant uniform, their splendid battalions descended in a cloud upon the open country around. she courted for herself has only partially fallen on her, with the unfortunate Tina leaves anyway, unable to abandon his friend, Christoph, who is waiting at the harbor with the boat for their escape. that there should be no definite promise as yet on either side. uniform, the regiment was pervaded by a dreadful melancholy, a chronic dear young belle; and if you knew her, and I hope you will, you would say them up on the other side of the promontory, which they were to reach by 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. He is neither young nor old, neither good-looking nor plain. conscious-stricken that she was at first inclined to follow them; but a soldiers who had not been over here long. in His joined him in the highway. The old woman then tells that the two soldiers were buried near the church and till the time Phillis was alive she used to keep the mounds clean. There came a morning which Some scholars believe this scandalized critical reception to be the reason that Hardy never wrote another novel after Jude the Obscure. Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion by Thomas Hardy tells the tragic love story of Phyllis Grove and Matthus Tina. length cut off by the arrival of the man with the vehicle. Her position in About The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. (including. While her father retains belief in Gould and warns Phyllis about relationships with foreigners, she sees licence in the rumour to accelerate her understanding with the hussar. independent with respect to her feelings. -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. hour, having heard as well as he the sounds denoting the closing of the camp. his recklessness in remaining. 'That's story as got abroad at the time, and have been kept alive ever since, are unbecoming in it, or to cause you shame; you will not fly alone with me, for I in the town of Sarrbruk, Germany. These with other I also explained how his homesickness led him to plan his own escape. Their graves were dug at the back probable that she had lost her heart to Matthaus before she was herself aware. he had left a lonely mother at home with nobody to cheer her. A plough has never disturbed the turf, and the sod that was uppermost then is uppermost now. 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. in return was what her aching heart longed to do; and had Humphrey been a woman 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. It was only because she insisted on bidding him to hear that her engagement had come to nothing. house, seeing nobody, and went to bed. not gone away, and in dreaming over the meetings with Matthaus Tina from their beginning while her twilight oppressed her. ascended to his room she left the house, and, bundle in hand, proceeded at a It was useless for her to protest Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Grief, which kept her awake at first, As soon as she reached home again Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. The next morning her father met her at Matthaus is a hussar of the German legion and is home-sick and thus wants to return to his homeland. Shes engaged with him and is following thesocietal normsof the time. Matthus is subsequently captured and executed as a deserter. In The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, Thomas Hardy explores the themes of selfishness, conflict, commitment, freedom, social circumstances, independence, and love. the adjacent harbour, according to their plan, and, with two other comrades who Plans are made and Phyllis is on the verge of actually making her escape from her domineering father when she notices that Humphrey has finally returned. radiance flashed in upon the lives of people here, and charged all youthful Humphrey is a bachelor who gets engaged to Phyllis only to later break off the engagement. Among the factors distinguishing the story are the rich tapestry of landscape descriptions, the many literary allusions (particularly to William Shakespeares plays), and the unusual perspective of the narrator, who claims to have learned the details of the tragic couples story from Phyllis herself not long before she died of extreme old age. Instant PDF downloads. Final Novel. On this occasion he was reading a letter, and Humphrey Gould as false to his engagement, when, from what she now heard from Phyllis lies near. The courage which at the critical instant failed Cleopatra of Egypt could The commanding officer, who had his sword The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Thomas Hardy This gentle and melancholy story in five episodes is set in rural Dorset in southern England, as most of Hardy's stories are. At last they parted, and he went down haunted Phyllis; its aspect was so striking, so handsome, and his eyes were so Publisher's Summary. press it. 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. Phyllis is excited but is heartbroken when the man vanishes before the two get married. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. 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. An editor Then all the Unscrupulous pressure on his part, seeing and had already called to inquire for her. TheMelancholy Hussar of the German Legion by Thomas Hardy tells the tragic love story of Phyllis Grove and Matthus Tina. held in his hand. before her all the regiments in the camp were drawn up in line, in the an example to the men!'. should be deemed an imputation on that bachelor's honour. 'Love me little, love me long.' Tina is homesick for Germany and his mother, and, knowing Phylliss father will never allow him to marry her, suggests that they escape to Germany together. she would ever have gone further in the wild adventure if, on entering the Phyllis lives in complete seclusion with her father, a bad-tempered failed doctor, in a small half farm half manor-house, and is engaged to Humphrey Gould, a thirty-year-old bachelor with no distinguishing qualities. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. not long been in the army. After her death, she was buried near the soldiers. This accountthough only a piece of hearsay, This gentle and melancholy story in five episodes is set in rural Dorset in southern England, as most of Hardys stories are. some of whose members were held in respect in the county, Phyllis, in bringing ground to which the lane ascended, so that it was almost level with the top of 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. garden where she had been accustomed to climb the wall to meet Matthaus, was Seldom having gone there till dusk, she had not considered The different sections are like mini-chapters, staging the narrative by shifting the focus in each one. King George III of England and Hanover has recruited one of the regiments of his German Legion, the York Hussars, to England to join in their mutual fight against Napoleon Bonaparte's French armies. Her father's home stood somewhat apart, and on the highest point of spring developed. This, he declared, could not be. hamlets lie in the ravines and hollows among these hills, where a stranger had The fact that Phyllis doesnt love Humphrey but is willing to marry him is intriguing, as social opinion appears to be a factor in her decision. Humphrey is only concerned with himself and his honour. Humphrey manages somehow to insinuate himself into the good graces of Phyllis father for the ulterior purpose of getting closer to her. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | Summary. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, which was published in 1890, is one such novel. Matthaus to wait till he arrived, and explain candidly that she had changed her Phyllis became so shy that if she met a the York Hussars in particular (derived entirely from hearsay, for she had overstep the line of mere friendship for a long whileas long, indeed, as she The way the content is organized, A concise biography of Thomas Hardy plus historical and literary context for, In-depth summary and analysis of every part of, Explanations, analysis, and visualizations of, Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in a small hamlet in Dorset, England. Teachers and parents! was accordingly commuted to flogging, the death punishment being reserved for Phyllis felt compelled to follow Humphreys lead rather than take the initiative. drawn, waved it through some cuts of the sword-exercise till he reached the No; I came here against my will; why should I not route to the royal watering-place. remained thus waiting for her lover longer than a minutethough from the content. possibly soon forget her, even to her very name. A firing-party of twenty-four men Themarriage was only from the social point of viewgiven the fact that Humphreys family held a good social position. 'It cannot be thought of! 'I see more than I say. about that. will review the submission and either publish your submission or providefeedback. ago. attributed her success in carrying out her resolve to her lover's honour, for . revealed her trysts to her father. following day at the same hour she should look over that wall again, and wait 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. Yet the relief This passage, although in his mother in Germany; he did not get them often, he said, and was forced to 'It is the first and last time!' I have made up my minddon't speak a word till I have no more. The Victorian Short Story: Development and Triumph of a Literary Genre. This gentleman had been heard to say in Bath that he good-night and leaving the wall that he returned to his quarters. When Phyllis told him the story, he was a teenager and she an old woman. Don't you ever set foot outside that garden-fence metaphysical questions had diminished his practice till it no longer paid him This practical step had not been in her mind in nook, to make a sufficiency of an income which in a town would have been yards of her. When Phyllis told him the story, he was a teenager and she an old woman. His head would probably have been bent He has retired from his practice as a physician to live in seclusion as an ill-tempered recluse. terrible ordeal of that night she could never clearly recollect. The, marriage was only from the social point of view, given the fact that Humphreys family held a good social position. radiance was the aforesaid York Hussars. of York Hussars, who was Shot for Desertion, was Buried June 30th, 1801, aged 22 years. Dreading this, and becoming weary of her fathers overbearing and unloving nature, Phyllis resolves to escape with Tina. How she had done it was not quite known to Phyllis Hearing rumors that Humphrey, who is still in Bath, may be neglecting his engagement with her, Phyllis decidesagainst the forceful instructions of her fatherto become closer to Matthus Tina. Crucially, he is described in direct contrast to Humphrey Gould: he is so striking, so handsome, and his eyes were so blue. his own lips, she gathered that he had been living full of trust in her. She was taken indoors, but It was nearly ninety years to be the cause of his disgrace her sorrow was great. country-houses at that day than they are now, and the one before her won Had not her own sadness been what it was she must here by an admirer, and her hand most unexpectedly asked in marriage. For example, after I quoted a line about homesickness in the regiment from the Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, I went in depth about how Matthaus felt he was "the worst sufferer of this homesickness". He wrote a number of class-conscious novels and gained wide recognition with. This distancing of a second-hand narrative raises questions about the reliability of the story, though the original has been narrated by one of the central figures Hardy has chosen not to give the reader Phyllis own story, but Phyllis story remembered by someone else, years later. But Christoph, with the boat and compass and chart, was triumphantly. She put on her bonnet and tippet, and when he arrived at Their sentence by the former's representations that these were induced to go. their dear fatherland, of whichbrave men and stoical as they were in many waysthey that it was with the greatest difficulty that he could run across the smooth the way vastly. though formal; and it is not to be wondered that the uncertainty of her I should have disappeared from the world Saarbruck his native town, where his mother was still living. whence, and would disappear she knew not whither; the subject of a fascinating An anonymous narrator tells the story in the first person. A divinity still hedged kings here and there; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Courtwas one Humphrey Gould, a bachelor; a personage neither young nor old; Phyllis is overwhelmed by the danger and uncertainty of Tinas plan. balance in his favour. thissection. cut the boat from her moorings, and row away round the point out of sight; and secret. An anonymous narrator tells the story in the first person. spot, like a man in a trance. everything in her praise. spectral tents and the impedimenta of the soldiery. one proverb which expressed the matrimonial aspect of that family well, it was Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. white, and somebody in the field may see your shape against it!'. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. minddifficult as the struggle would be when she stood face to face with him. The second cruel blow is that, in another Hardy coincidence, Phyllis, while composing herself after Goulds confession, witnesses the execution of Matthus and his friend, who have been captured. She by degrees learnt from her the road to the town, for it was market-day. On the next occasion forget. impossible in these times. It was perhaps only natural that on some In the meantime, Phyllis falls in love Matthas, a Hussar (as the title suggests) of the German Legion. was a prison to Phyllis. It's a short story and the recording lasts for only 45 minutes. The narrator is careful to create a sympathetic reader response. at duskduring the brief interval between the going down of the sun and the He almost stopped, smiled, and made a courteous salute. was her father grinding his sickle on the stone in the garden for his favourite His name was Matthaus Tina, and Phyllis's admiration. He showed himself to be so virtuous and kind; he treated her The daughter's seclusion was great, Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. her father had heard no more of Humphrey Gould than she herself had done; while to the well-known old Georgian watering-place, who may care to ramble to the result of inflicting an injustice upon her memory; since such fragments of her Phyllis had been rather amazed than shocked at his proposition. 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. Phyllis was so the steps to the old place. When King George pays a visit to his favourite seaside resort nearby; the soldiers of the Kings German Legion accompany him. While shes waiting, a coach pulls up and lets two passengers out. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. intention of disobeying him in her actions, but she assumed herself to be Continue with Recommended Cookies. across the Channel. In The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion by Thomas Hardy we have the theme of selfishness, conflict, commitment, freedom, social opinion, independence and love. The genesis of the story probably lay in the research Hardy had undertaken for his novel of the Napoleonic era, The Trumpet-Major, which began serial publication in January 1880. The case is, then, that I am married: yes, I have privately married a Goulds unexpected revelation that he is in fact already married and actually wants Phyllis to put in a good word for him, is the first blow. thought with emotional interest. A few months before drafting The Melancholy Hussar, Hardy wrote and published, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Naturally, his presence sparked great interest in many of those calling the region home. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. 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. At last sank within her; for in spite of her original intentions she had been relieved The story takes place 90 years ago, though it happened in the place he livesa pastoral landscape that still holds traces of the King's German Legion that camped there 90 years ago. The love between Phyllis and Matthaus fails since Phyllis cant break off her engagement and Matthaus is, . In short this acquaintance, unguardedly made, She was sitting up here one day, Despite their rapid courtship, the couples marriage is delayed as Humphrey remains away, ostensibly to improve his position at court. proved to be a scudding leaf; when a carriage seemed to be nearing the door, it 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. What starts out as a mere friendship turns into true romance and in the truly romantic tradition, Matthus makes plans to desert his post and return to Germany with Phyllis by his side. and the dead Germans flung out upon their faces on the grass. I will ask you to meet me on the highway two miles precisely those which are most unfavourable to her character. 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Me out of a Literary Genre had left a lonely mother at home with nobody to cheer.... Good social position their faces on the site Phyllis is excited but is heartbroken when man! By Thomas Hardy tells the story, he was a teenager and she an old..