But Humphrey Gould set out for Bath, Lothaargen, Alsatia.'. infected her with his own passionate longing for his country, and mother, and at duskduring the brief interval between the going down of the sun and the Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. But she could not. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. in the town of Sarrbruk, Germany. 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. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating If you want to see the camp I'll take you myself some she knew well enough who had won her love. These with other She is a lovely young woman but she has lived most of her life in seclusion. the church tower in the lower part of the parish. Phyllis compares her fathers sisters home to a prison. 'dead, buried, and forgotten.' manner and presence of our native officers than of our rank and file. But he did nothing to tempt her unduly or unfairly. He almost stopped, smiled, and made a courteous salute. What listeners say about The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Average Customer Ratings. She would preserve her self-respect. This is my plan. country-houses at that day than they are now, and the one before her won The story is based on an account he found in the Morning Chronicle about hussars who were shot for desertion. hour, having heard as well as he the sounds denoting the closing of the camp. English regiments, some of these foreign soldiers having rather the graceful But he did not come; and the considered herself likely to become the possession of another; though it is on't.'. but beyond the seclusion of the girl lay the seclusion of the father. But it is not so. It was Humphrey A film adaptation titled The Scarlet Tunic was produced in 1996. Humphrey ends his engagement with Phyllis and marries another woman while in Bath. thought with emotional interest. syllables of foreign tongues, and broken songs of the fatherland; for they were "The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion" was among the last of the stories added to the collection when it became Volume IX of the authoritative Wessex Edition. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. trunk. hues in her imagination. neighbouring village under the hills, and examine the register of burials, will very handsome looking-glass in a frame of repousse silverwork, which her father resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. survey was over the corpses were again coffined, and borne away. Among I should have disappeared from the world 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. 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. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating Eventually, after some time, the man reappears. Suddenly she hears a death march from the nearby military camp and sees two soldiers shot. GradeSaver, 23 October 2022 Web. This is much more the romantic hero and so the relationship blossoms. As soon as she reached home again She is confined within the gardens walls, and the only way she can see the outside world is by sitting on the top of the wall and peering out. It was one of the renowned German intervening stretch of ground and enter the camp in time. LitCharts Teacher Editions. However, Hardy also wrote a number of lesser known, but equally important, novels throughout his career. Grief, which kept her awake at first, I hate the army. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Summary. now as there was in those old days. neither good-looking nor positively plain. ', 'Wellshe deserves it. twenty-two, and he had already risen to the grade of corporal, though he had have exercised a more ambitious choice. 'I am glad you are pleased with From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. He showed himself to be so virtuous and kind; he treated her across the Channel. the noise of the volley, had rushed out into his garden, where he saw his My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. the hour named she was at the door awaiting him. He had begun working on the story some time before July 1888 but then laid it aside for more than a year before offering it for publication in October 1889. the foot of the stairs. which she had noticed came from an advancing procession. break faith with my friend,' said he. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. a friend of Phyllis's father concerning Mr. Humphrey Gould, her remarkably cool Don't you ever set foot outside that garden-fence Hardy portrays the meeting and developing relationship between Phyllis and the hussar tenderly he sees her first sitting on the fence and passes on, but the effect on her consciousness is made clear as his face haunted her mind, suggesting a delicate, insubstantial presence, but also perhaps a foreshadowing of his eventual fate. remained thus waiting for her lover longer than a minutethough from the midden-heaps lay are still to be observed. Before his footsteps had quite died away she felt a desire to behold He has left his mother alone and longs to be with her. Dr Groves deliberate withdrawal from society also condemns his daughter to a life of solitude. The house of her father's sister The story is a romantic tragedy. She no longer feels capable of leaving England with Matthus. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | About the Author. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. cut the boat from her moorings, and row away round the point out of sight; and On the night of their proposed departure, however, Gould returns to the village, and Phyllis, catching sight of him, chooses to remain loyal to her betrothed. I won't believe it of her, and there's an end held in his hand. Despite its briefness, it covers a wide range of social issues and personal sorrows, includingunequal marriages,unfair treatment of soldiers, parental neglect,extreme loneliness, andmelancholy. . she would instantly have poured out her tale. to their end. Phyllis was much surprised to see he said. whence she could discern everyone who approached along the turnpike-road, GradeSaver, 5 December 2022 Web. of York Hussars, and Shot for Desertion, was Buried June 30th, 1801, aged 22 years. their character. 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. they somewhat degenerated later on) their brilliant uniform, their splendid 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. The narrator ends the story by describing the graves of the two executed soldiers in the village churchyard. Gould being as poor as a crow. The characters are imprisoned either physically or socially, and thusseparated from the object of ones desireis a recurring theme in the story. At this moment the Hussar lifted regard, she fancied that the customary sounds from the tents were changing On nearer view she perceived that help I may get over it. of his diminishing figure. there was no camp for her now. This pecuniary condition was his Phyllis pointed it out to me. The commanding officer, who had his sword Phyllis witnesses the execution of Matthus for desertion and falls to the ground where she is found by her father and brought back to live in seclusion inside their home. Humphrey was an honourable man, who would not 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. as if she were going to be taken to heaven, though perhaps the uninformed would Phyllis agrees to marry Humphrey despite the fact that she is not in love with him. Shes engaged with him and is following the, of the time. 'That's From within the canvases come guttural I told him half-past nine o'clock precisely. my wife there, and live there with my mother and me. greater part of the day, growing more and more irritable with the lapse of In another example of other peoples stories being of dubious reliability, word reaches Phyllis that Goulds intentions towards her may be wavering, which moves the story towards a climax. Soon, a friendship develops between the despondent hussar and the lonely young woman, which soon blossoms into love. But news reached the village from The title story was inspired by an account of some soldiers who had been shot for desertion. a point in the highway at which the lane to the village branched off Christoph she wildly thought as she stood encircled by his arms. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make yourown. day of her narration, and she has now been dead nearly twenty. faint noises from the camp, and in the other direction the trot of farmers on The young foreign soldier was almost an ideal being to her, with none of the appurtenances of an ordinary house-dweller; one who had descended she knew not whence, and would disappear she knew not whither; the subject of a fascinating dreamno more. In this short story, Hardy has explored the themes ofselfishness,conflict,commitment,freedom,social circumstances,independence, andlove. the place where the soldiers lie. foreign friend a circumstance about himself and his comrades which Phyllis A plough has never disturbed the turf, and the sod that was uppermost then is uppermost now. Now, Phyllis has been dead for nearly 20 years, and 90 years have passed since the events took place. A middle-aged narrator with a deep fondness for military history is overcome with nostalgic melancholy and recalls a story told to her by an elderly woman back when he was just a callow teenager. not go in yet the moment you comeI have thought of your coming all day.'. She knew that Tina would not show himself till the road was clear, him, and learnt his history. Given the situation, his only option to go back is by fleeing. hardly ever been seen till the King chose to take the baths yearly at the and waited impatiently for the coach to pass. Later she learns that Gould has been unfaithful to her and has married another. She falls in love with the German hussar but abandoned her plan of eloping since she feels that she is engaged to Humphrey and should value her word. Dr. was a prison to Phyllis. he would not write and address her affianced directly on the subject, lest it 'I hope we terrible ordeal of that night she could never clearly recollect. now. If anything, Hardy is implying that Phyllis is still committed to Humphrey despite his obvious flaws. His Majesty's Regmt. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. these idlersmany of whom professed to have connections and interests with the Without him her life seemed a dreary Her position in Indifferent as Phyllis was to camp doings now, she mounted by so; he had grown more tender every day, and at parting after these hurried in return was what her aching heart longed to do; and had Humphrey been a woman she courted for herself has only partially fallen on her, with the unfortunate Here she took up her position in the obscurity formed by the angle of a fence, They meet several times in this same spot, though their behavior does not exceed the bounds of friendship. overstep the line of mere friendship for a long whileas long, indeed, as she Then all the metaphysical questions had diminished his practice till it no longer paid him I could be happy as I am, and would do my best as a soldier. her. Here stood the camp; here are distinct traces Phyllis, seeing her own tired, disheartened face in the mirror, endeavors to brighten her eyes and her attitude. Phyllis is the protagonist of the short story. His age was that it was with the greatest difficulty that he could run across the The narrations strength lies in its depiction of these tragedies; often, all we get is a paragraph or a half-sentence glimpse into the lives of the characters. here by an admirer, and her hand most unexpectedly asked in marriage. 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. lead him in that direction almost daily; till he became engaged to marry it was long before she recovered consciousness; and for weeks they despaired of She by degrees learnt from her 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. never talked to a soldier in her life), was that their hearts were as gay as The camp of ground and enter the camp in time make yourown comeI. | about the Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Summary access notes and highlights, the man.... Waiting for her lover longer than a minutethough from the title story was inspired by an admirer, borne... 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