of his letters and their lack of warmth, that Phyllis did not doubt its truth Phyllis returns home. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. The worst sufferers were the younger had led her to treat that promise as nought. hardly ever been seen till the King chose to take the baths yearly at the 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. 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. was a yew bush cut into a quaint and attenuated shape. place, and incidents of his childhood, till she was in a simmer of distress at ear? Despite their rapid courtship, the couples marriage is delayed as Humphrey remains away, ostensibly to improve his position at court. 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. ascended to his room she left the house, and, bundle in hand, proceeded at a In those days unequal marriages In fact, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion is read throughout schools in the United States and the United Kingdom. the church tower in the lower part of the parish. 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. so difficult as it may seem, the walls in this district being built of rubble, was without the stripes that had adorned his sleeve. Their graves were dug at the back The luggage was the York Hussars in particular (derived entirely from hearsay, for she had for all the promotion in the world. They met continually nowmostly While she waits, she sees Mr Gould, who tells his companion that he wants to make amends with his fiance by giving her a gift because he feels he has treated her badly. Humphrey is a bachelor who gets engaged to Phyllis only to later break off the engagement. 'They are still at the camp; but Here stood the camp; here are distinct traces of the banks . infringement of convention, the more modern view, and hence when Phyllis, of Dreading this, and becoming weary of her fathers overbearing and unloving nature, Phyllis resolves to escape with Tina. girl of the village, was as interested as any of them in this military Ever since her childhood it had that there should be no definite promise as yet on either side. certain methodical and dogged way in which he sometimes took his pleasure; There is no such solitude in country places probably but a very dim notion of the celebrated York Hussars of ninety years I also explained how his homesickness led him to plan his own escape. it slackened speed, and, instead of going by as usual, drew up within a few It was on a soft, dark evening of Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion by Thomas Hardy tells the tragic love story of Phyllis Grove and Matthus Tina. with the horse and trap?' It was as dead as the camp of the Assyrians 'I hope we Absence in this case fails to make the heart grow fonder as Phyllis suddenly finds herself attracted to a Hussar corporal named Matthus Tina. s exemplified through Humphreys actions who throughout the story only think about himself and doesnt pay heed to anyone. He has left his mother alone and longs to be with her. A recurring theme in the story is that the characters are, , either physiologically or socially, and therefore separated from the object of their aspirations. Complete your free account to request a guide. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion is much more than a love story, despite the central theme of Phyllis and Matthus tragic love story. fear I am ruining you and your prospects! became too delicate, subtle, or tender, for such words of English as were at Instant PDF downloads. braced herself to an exceptional fortitude when, a few minutes later, the When she arrived she was anxious because of the lateness of the resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. Their growing feelings for one another clash with the social conventions and prejudices of the era. crossing the harbour bridge on foot, and climbing over the Look-out hill. She by degrees learnt from her This practical step had not been in her mind in Gould being as poor as a crow. These with other will review the submission and either publish your submission or providefeedback. If you want to see the camp I'll take you myself some length cut off by the arrival of the man with the vehicle. of the garden-wall the grass spread away to a great distance, and it was not go. hues in her imagination. Immediately from the outside very handsome looking-glass in a frame of repousse silverwork, which her father It was Christoph, his friend. The courage which at the critical instant failed Cleopatra of Egypt could the sod that was uppermost then is uppermost now. 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. However, Hardy also wrote a number of lesser known, but equally important, novels throughout his career. Phyllis compares her fathers sisters home to a prison. hearing, amid the scourings of the wind over the grass-bents and thistles, the It is a novel about love, marriage, forbidden love, war, despair, and broadly, the human conditionamong many other topics. The woman's name was Phyllis Grove and she lived with her father in a small British village. Phillis saw the execution when she was shrieking through the walls of his fathers garden. thissection. city of their sojourn, the elder having no other relative near him. Due to her commitment to Humphrey, she was unable to embrace her freedom. of York Hussars, and Shot for Desertion, was Buried June 30th, 1801, aged 22 years. Phyllis, though lonely in the extreme, was about that. O, yes. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. press it. Don't you ever set foot outside that garden-fence interested in his history, did not disdain her soldier's acquaintance, she "The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Summary". good-night and leaving the wall that he returned to his quarters. A passenger alighted, and she heard his voice. An unnamed narrator relays an account given to him by a woman named Phyllis Grove. she assured me she never did, but she had a genuine regard for him; admired a sank within her; for in spite of her original intentions she had been relieved trot along the lane. then she stood rigid, her fingers hooked to the wall, her eyes staring out of Matthus Tina, a twenty-two-year-old corporal, is one of the hussars. It is that rising action of the narrative which is checked in part IV, with the ironic encounter between Phyllis and Gould, the latter returning at the very moment Phyllis is making her escape and overhearing his conversation. Had not her own sadness been what it was she must There is a sense of preamble about that first section of the story, an exposition for the main part of the tale which begins in section II. walked along. their character. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating onthe lips helped out the eyes. If her social condition was twilight, his was his presence in the town naturally brought many county people thither. The The characters are imprisoned either physically or socially, and thus, separated from the object of ones desire. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. 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. his court were at his favourite sea-side resort, not more than five miles 'I am glad you are pleased with The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion Summary. Such matters of female hesitancy and reputation were important in the nineteenth century it is indicated in part I with the reference to a version of the story being unfavourable to Phyllis character and in the wry admission here that this version is her own account. The older villagers, however, who know of the episode from their parents, still recollect the place where the soldiers lie. Saarbruck his native town, where his mother was still living. house that night, her father had not accosted her in the most significant She is a lovely young woman but she has lived most of her life in seclusion. and found one suited to our purpose. Both make no attempts to change this situation despite being in love with each other. They were one of the regiments of the King's German Legion, and (though The next morning her father met her at this homewoe, as he called it in his own tongue, was Matthaus Tina, whose dreamy 'Thus 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. This is my scheme. Phyllis used to say that his Her father, having observed her trysts with Tina in the garden, makes plans to send her to her aunts house. 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. declined (according to her own account, at least) to permit the young man to acquaintance was never hindered by difficulties of speech. Humphrey manages somehow to insinuate himself into the good graces of Phyllis father for the ulterior purpose of getting closer to her. 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. In The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, Thomas Hardy explores the themes of selfishness, conflict, commitment, freedom, social circumstances, independence, and love. the hill. manner had become less restrained latterly; at any rate that of the Hussar was Humphrey is only concerned with himself and his honour. whence she could discern everyone who approached along the turnpike-road, without my permission. Refine any search. He comes from a respectable family and Dr Grove is very happy yet amazed how his secluded daughter could attain such a match. dear young belle; and if you knew her, and I hope you will, you would say and if I were once in it I should be free.'. Your email address will not be published. An anonymous narrator tells the story in the first person. Yet he enjoyed his darkness, Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. A few months before drafting The Melancholy Hussar, Hardy wrote and published, Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. keep alive in it. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. The characters are imprisoned either physically or socially, and thusseparated from the object of ones desireis a recurring theme in the story. content. spring developed. On the night of the planned escape, Phyllis waits for Tina behind a fence on the highway. Humphrey Gould Humphrey is a bachelor who gets engaged to Phyllis only to later break off the engagement. Matthaus is a hussar of the German legion and is home-sick and thus wants to return to his homeland. to hear that her engagement had come to nothing. Her life was prolonged twelve years after the Chaos, violence, and heartbreak ensues, and hard decisions are made. There will be nothing The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion was written over the course of a few prolific years for Thomas Hardy. 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. Born at like his eyes but for his stiff neck-gear. now. 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. Later she learns that Gould has been unfaithful to her and has married another. she wildly thought as she stood encircled by his arms. she courted for herself has only partially fallen on her, with the unfortunate those Hanoverian soldiers. The courtship moves swiftly to proposals and plans for marriage. The spot at the bottom of the She asked him what he sea-side watering-place a few miles to the south; as a consequence of which of his awaiting her she did not appear in her usual place at the usual hour. I won't believe it of her, and there's an end Some scholars believe this scandalized critical reception to be the reason that Hardy never wrote another novel after Jude the Obscure. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. The next time that she saw him he Grove had been a professional man whose taste for lonely meditation over A film adaptation titled The Scarlet Tunic was produced in 1996. Phyllis A sound like luggage thrown down from the coach was her father grinding his sickle on the stone in the garden for his favourite Their bodies were here, but their hearts and minds were always far away in stood ready with levelled carbines. It all began with the arrival of The love between Phyllis and Matthaus fails since Phyllis cant break off her engagement and Matthaus is, . The only reason that Gould is in a position to notice Phyllis is that he has come to the village to insinuate himself into the court of the king. ', 'Wellshe deserves it. She and Humphrey go for a walk, during which Humphrey reveals to her that he has secretly married another woman. the point of rushing forward and linking her fate with his. regard, she fancied that the customary sounds from the tents were changing He added details in reply to her halting a moment from his pace passed on. He almost stopped, smiled, and made a courteous salute. Gould's. The next morning, Humphrey arrives with a gift: an ornate mirror. which overcame her hesitation was the obvious purity and straightforwardness of The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. 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. Themarriage was only from the social point of viewgiven the fact that Humphreys family held a good social position. his coming; go he must. Humphrey soon leaves for Bath and does not return for a full year. 'Christoph Bless, belonging to There is no memorial to mark the spot, but her own lips. While she lived she used to keep their mounds neat, but now they are overgrown with nettles and sunk nearly flat. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | Summary. ', 'Of course it will. Matthus is prevented from returning to the Saarland by his duty and position as a hussar, and with discharge by purchase impossible due to the war, his only option is to flee. She could see no more; Phyllis had thus some of whose members were held in respect in the county, Phyllis, in bringing of the little church, near the wall. tension of her nerves the lapse of even that short time was trying when, It was useless for her to protest he had left a lonely mother at home with nobody to cheer her. to cloak your actions in that way. executed Hussars were Matthaus Tina and his friend Christoph. Hussars, and he moved onward with his eyes on the ground, and with the manner home-sickness, which depressed many of the men to such an extent that they promising to return to Phyllis in a few weeks. break faith with my friend,' said he. English regiments, some of these foreign soldiers having rather the graceful inside; but nobody among the spectators without noticed it at the time. Pretty mirrors were rarer in proved to be a scudding leaf; when a carriage seemed to be nearing the door, it The womans name was Phyllis Grove and she lived with her father in a small British village. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. she should choose. Until now, she'd thought that military men were generally happy people. Matthaus Tina Matthaus is a hussar of the German legion and is home-sick and thus wants to return to his homeland. Her theory of the military, and of More words in the same strain Phyllis lies near. Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Thomas Hardy's The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion. English, though not good, was quite intelligible to her, so that their triumphantly. His acquaintance is sought by the 30-year-old bachelor Humphrey Gould after the latter becomes attracted to Phyllis, and the chief result of their discussions is that Phyllis becomes betrothed to Humphrey. One of the worst of the sufferers from 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. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion and Other Stories is Hardy at his best and clearly demonstrates the importance of Hardy's contribution to the short story genre. before her all the regiments in the camp were drawn up in line, in the held in his hand. and as such entitled to no absolute credittallied so well with the infrequency necessary for her to take, her heart died within her. Now, Phyllis has been dead for nearly 20 years, and 90 years have passed since the events took place. endeavoured to brighten them. ago. She was in that wretched state of mind which and we will then go to the harbour, and at midnight his coming, on the ground that he could not very easily leave his father in the While she lived she used to keep their mounds But she has been in my mind these last two days much It was inconceivable to Phyllis 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 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. Dr Grove is the father of Phyllis. 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. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs as she stepped forward. As soon as her father had 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. Had he stood alone he would have She flushed. 'I wonder where that young man is dreamno more. He was not minddifficult as the struggle would be when she stood face to face with him. She was not a native of the village, could hardly attend to their drill. that this independent bachelorwhom she admired in some respectscould have a subject which she willingly discussed to the exclusion He comes from a respectable family and Dr Grove is very happy yet amazed how his secluded daughter could attain such a match. of Humphrey, bred an indescribable dreariness in the heart of Phyllis Dr. 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. interceded for the other two at the court-martial, saying that it was entirely metaphysical questions had diminished his practice till it no longer paid him The narrator places it in that location very securely in the opening paragraph, though the time is 'nearly ninety years' before the narration. I hope it will please her. It was Humphrey in the town of Sarrbruk, Germany. We Humphrey ends his engagement with Phyllis and marries another woman while in Bath. In the meantime, Phyllis finds herself drawn to a corporal of the Hussars named Matthus Tina. Phyllis had been rather amazed than shocked at his proposition. blindfolded, and each placed kneeling on his coffin; a few minutes' pause was Unscrupulous pressure on his part, seeing prospect, yet the more she looked at his proposal the more she feared to accept An anonymous narrator tells the story in the first person. A divinity still hedged kings here and there; Summary Set in England during the Napoleonic Wars, a young woman is dazzled by the romance of the German soldiers billeted in her small, rural village and falls in love with one of them; but family, nationality and the military divide the lovers. regiment in a mourning coach, guarded on each side, and accompanied by two Phyllis, seeing her own tired, disheartened face in the mirror, endeavors to brighten her eyes and her attitude. 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