“The Workbox” by Thomas Hardy
Introduction
Thomas Hardy’s poem The Workbox is about a husband who is a carpenter and a wife who share a conversation about a coffin gift. The story revolves around a man who is a coffin manufacturer. He decides to make a stitching box for his little companion using some remnants from a box made for a man named John Wayward.
“He holds the present up to her, as with a smile she nears (Hardy 374, line 5).”
The joiner perceives the box in a different way than the wife. The wife and husband display complete differences, not only in their experiences, but also in their views towards death. Although the theme of the poem has significant emphasis on death, wife’s arguments when she receives the box seem to demonstrate ironical aspects.
Irony is a poetic device that presents two conflicting ideas and opinions that often express situations that they do not mean. At the onset of the poem, the wife of the protagonist hails from the same town as John Wayward, but denies knowing the deceased. The wife says,
“How could I know that good young man, though he came from my native town? (Hardy 374, Line 27)”
It is apparent that the husband knew something about his wife’s past, which inspired him to make that coffin. This is due to the actuality that when she learned of this evidence, her initial attitude towards the gift altered. The husband points out innocently that the sewing box prepared from the same refined oak of John Wayward’s box had a message to convey. However, she still denies recognizing the deceased and maintains that she is fine and not upset. This is an indication that the woman might have been engaging in an affair with John Wayward and the husband discovered and killed him. The box was a signal of the authority he held over her and the harm he could do to her. Therefore, the irony of the tiny workbox is that it is a small coffin, which serves as an occasion for agony each time the wife takes up her sewing.
Presents are supposed to recognize contributions of love, recognition and appreciation between people, but not to inflict pain on the receiver. A sinister likelihood is that the man knows the entire story, or more probably that he doubts it and has purposely designed the workbox either to fool her or as a punishment. However, the deeper satire is that the man, through his suspicions, is probably eliminating any probability of future truth and affection with his wife. The wife’s refusal of the spouse’s idea that she is shocked is also ironic. Even though, she makes the denial to maintain her secret or to defend her from more probing, it is part of the poem’s uncertainty. The wife then tries to convince her husband that she does not recognize know that man, yet her eyes, physical response and expression indicate that she knows more than she wants to share.
“But why do you look so white, my dear, and turn aside your face? (Hardy 374, line 23).”
The author shows the bond between two worlds: existence and death. Hardy portrays this connection using the representation of wood that has workings, which show death and life separately. Irony arises at this instance because according to the husband, the connection is a symbol about varied troubles of timber, the probing juxtapositions of life and bereavement, polished and rough as well as homely and decorative, which are evoked through the separation of a single board. In contrast, according to the wife, the present is a grim reminder of a man she identified, and perhaps treasured, but about whom she can never express her husband. The gift that should have unified the joiner and his partner instead begins to divide them. In a marriage relationship, the wife should always respect the husband and remain truthful to him. This forms the basis of love and intimacy in marriages, however, in the poem, the husband subjects his wife to moments of agony and curse. The woman regrets the past affairs with Wayward and false behaviours towards the husband about the whole story. This is ironical because a husband cannot kill a past lover of his wife and still admit it. The man should be the one apologetic and the wife since she was responsible for Wayward’s death.
Another instance of irony is towards the conclusion of the poem when the wife’s words and emotions start portraying that this was only a start to an end. Discovery of her lie or deception by her husband meant that she could not twist any truth in the story. She not only recognized John Wayward, but understood exactly how he died. The revelation made her frightened since she did not know what her husband would say or do next. The frightening part was that she distinguished what the man was capable of doing when upset. The author tries to inform readers that everything must always face hard times. The lies that the woman had been telling were evident through the symbol of the small box. The box was to serve as the end of her lies or probably her life if she persisted. The box would be used to bury her just like Wayward. This means that all the people will be buried in a coffin and should not always boost of their past or upbringings. This implies that the poem is not about woodworking as it is around a past affiliation and a moment of harsh irony. The irony is that, of all the gifts, the husband opted to make a coffin as a present to his wife. This is strange and can evoke emotions in a normal setting or cause premature death to the wife due to prolonged stress and pain in the heart.
Conclusion
Hardy used elements of irony and symbolism in the poem “The Workbox” to expose the secrets that lie between wife and husband. The entire poem is representative of true scenarios that can cause pain or death and lead to breakage of marriage. It is evident that past actions of a person can lead to disastrous actions from their partners. Irony in the poem is through delivery of a small present from a man to his partner. Instead of the present bringing joy or strengthening love between the two, it breaks marriage. The man uses that opportunity and gift to reveal the hidden lies that his wife has been keeping all this time. Irony is a significant device in poems because it presents sensitive issues in clear manners. The monotony created through themes is also broken by application of ironies. The author displayed good use of irony in the poem by presenting contrasting ideas in the same symbol of a coffin. This is due to the reality that coffins symbolise the end of a person on earth, but in this context it shown the beginning of troubles to the wife.
Work Cited
Hardy, Thomas. The Works of Thomas Hardy: With an Introduction and Bibliography.
Hertfordshire: Wordsworth poetry library, 1995. Print.
