The stories presented by Lawson are characterized by realistic illustrations of limited desires and needs of common domestic life and many hardships. Isolation is a very prolific theme in this the Drover’s Wife because the whole story explores the issues of loneliness, separation from mates and hard work by the women characters in the absence of their husbands. The woman is used to being left alone and it even states that she was once left alone for eighteen months. As a young lady, she desires to live like a princess and have a good life, and that is all she hopes from her husband. But her husband comes out as a careless and reckless person albeit being a loving man. So all her aspirations and hopes are dashed away, and they slowly fade into thin air when she realizes that all her hopes and dreams are not going to come true anytime soon. She knows that they may never be together for a long time, and she learns to keep up with staying apart from her husband for long periods.
The isolation and loneliness do not augur well with her but at least she is used to it, and she sees no need of fretting. Her unfulfilled dreams and aspirations bring out the theme of fear of pursuit in this particular piece and this stems from her entrapment and set up that may not allow her to conquer the world and explore the unknown. The illustrations of this pieces show how Gothic themes are brought to the fore through the writing style that is in reference to the ancient Australia. The narrative is a plain and realistic tale of a mother living the bush in seclusion trying to look after her family. Through words like “thunderstorm comes, and the wind threatens to blow out her candle” has a deeper meaning whereby her candle represents the grim hope that she holds onto in her state of solitude and loneliness.
Both the articles are firmly based on gender disparities and try to highlight their plight, predicaments and dilemmas that they face and how they overcome them. On the other hand in the Squeaker’s Mate the themes of isolation, entrapment, fear of pursuit and the fear of the unknown are very prominent. In these two narratives, it is clear that they are set in the Gothic periods of the past centuries because they tend to express and highlight the peculiarity of the fear exhibited by women in the nineteenth century not only Australia but also the Australian terror in the desolate bush and the hot, dry land. Both the characters in the Drover’s Wife are Australian, a land whose survival was not clear-cut and was often disputed and even was profane and dissenting for a time. The constant highlight of darkness in the narratives also brings out the Gothic nature of the articles because it was a form of standard reference in the bleak, harsh, isolated, unrelenting and uninviting setting which was the Bush. Gothic has been a persistent and dominant mode in Australian literature since the European settlement in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and it has continued to be a sensational and influential form which has significantly impacted Australian literature.
The female gender in both articles comes out as a weak and rather a feeble instrument when it comes to pursuing and further exploring their place in the society. They have been used to the hardships that are presented to them and try to overcome the surmountable challenges that they face. When the woman in Drover’s Wife stays up all night to hunt for a snake that threatened the safety of her children, she exhibits a strong will and character and the fact that she can offer protection and security to her family when her husband is away demonstrating her resilience and strength. The snake represents the difficult position of the drover’s wife and the fears that she has to overcome while living in the bush through symbolism. It is a symbol of fear, evil and a threat to the family because there is reference made to the Bible that denotes evil. The woman herself is a symbol of hope and determination for her family because she does not allow adversaries and isolation or loneliness overwhelm her, and this theme comes out strongly when she exhibits a substantial struggle against what nature has presented to her in the desolate, unforgiving and arid land. Her endurance and hardship in life in the bush with her children shows her determination and will to protect her family against any impending dangers. Her strong sense of responsibility is shown through her actions and behaviors while trying to deal with her fears. The piece also employs imagery and humor to exhibit the true nature of the ancient Australian landscape in a realistic and distinct manner.
The desolation that is presented by women in these tales is a clear manifestation of their loneliness and the strength they yield in overcoming the absence of their husbands and mates for extended periods of time. The Squeaker’s mate strong will also is seen when she encourages the man to tackle the gum tree after calculating the number of prospective posts and rails that it will yield. From this action, we can also learn about the strength and strong will that she produces despite the isolation and loneliness that she may have experienced. The man was visibly in fear of tackling or exploring the unknown because he showed his unwillingness to tackle that gum tree exclaiming that he had seen and bee, and he was going to tackle it as the woman continued sawing off the tree. Her tolerance as being put to the test here because she did not see any bee despite seeing some nest. She continued to weaken the inclining side of the tree as she spat on her hands and went on to cut it. The man was reluctant to use his strength and after a loose on the woman, he was even unable to free her from underneath the branch and also wanted to let it again fall on her.
The Drover’s wife, on the other hand, experienced desolation and isolation when she was expecting one of their last two children and her husband was not there to give her the necessary support and help that she needed. She was sick and alone at this time and “she prayed to God to send her assistance.” She would also feel the loneliness when she was hard hit by the death of her child, and she had to walk a treacherous nineteen miles to seek assistance. As her dog lies outside their home in the push as the fire is burning low pondering on the next move, the woman lies next to it and watches and thinks about her life because possibly there is nothing else to think about again. There is fear of pursuit in her for there is nothing that she can explore or put her mind to at this time because of her condition. At this point, it is unquestionably likely to argue that the universal qualities of the Gothic mode impart itself to expressing and articulating the colonial experience. The Gothic has also tried to explore the fears and themes of isolation, fear of the unknown and fear of pursuit by trying to highlight how the home can become unhomely and uncomely.
In the Squeaker’s Mate, we could identify that loyalty and companionship was a key component in the past centuries during colonial periods and the women were mainly seen as just people who should stay at home, be mothers and raise families. The woman in this narrative goes against this stereotyping and comes out as a strong-willed, independent, and hard working woman. Gender relations are explicitly highlighted, and the women are excluded and sidelined from the heroic and valiant roles. The lady who is referred to as the mate in this article transforms all through the reversal of the gender roles but when an accident leaves her paralyzed she has less control of her body. Throughout ages, women have always been held back and excluded from what is traditionally considered historical: battle, exploit, and conquest. In the Australian history, a similar occurrence was witnessed in the last quarter of the twentieth century when their role in the development of the society and conquering the land started to be recognized and given credit.
In spite, the fear of the unknown, the women from both tales exhibit courage and bravery because they overcome many challenges that they encounter. The drover’s wife is an independent and vigorous woman who takes care of her family when her husband goes out on his errands. Despite facing isolation, loneliness and sometimes lacks companionship, she keeps her family together and only wishes that life could be better. Despite her dreams of going to the city having faded, she continues to hope that her husband could take her to the city and live like a princess one day. She hopes that she can do more to provide for her family and keep it safe, but her fear of pursuit keeps her aback. During Australia’s postcolonial period, the natives of the land were very charismatic about claiming their land, and they wield substantial effects and impacts on many issues. Just like the drover’s wife who is independent and works hard. Their effects are felt far across the board and in as much as they may be viewed to have too little, they seem to have too much at the same time. The Aboriginal women have been known to be hard working and courageous in the affairs of their land and family.
The drover’s wife has a lot to things to think about and a lot of stuff to accomplish, but she is left to care for her family while the husband is away on his errands. She may wish to do more, but there is fear of the unknown, what she will achieve, what about her family and how they will survive. They were trapped in a very hostile environment, and uncertain lurking dangers consistently pursued them. Despite all these uncertainties of isolation, fear of the unknown, fear of pursuit and entrapment acted as a driving force for the hope of surviving the dislocation and has the possibility of transformation. Just as the Gothic history in Australia presents adaptation and change, the characters of drover’s wife and squeaker’s mate represent change and adaptation from the challenges that they have faced. The Gothic fiction as presented in the two stories has been adapted, and it has developed to accommodate the climate, fictional, literary and otherwise. For a long time, the landscape was Gothic in this particular area, and the narratives explore those forms that link the happenings to this fictional form.
These gendered narratives are set to bring out the Gothic element which was the predominant theme in the Australian colonial fiction. The style was commonplace and accessible in the late eighteenth century, and it was regarded as the symbol of the colony’s maturity particularly in the matters of literature. The two tales bring out the Gothic style in the themes that are explored in the stories of the two women who are the main protagonists of the narratives. They are mostly isolated from their husband and companions and are left to carry out most of the tasks in the society. Despite the challenges of entrapment, isolation and other problems like fear of pursuing further interests and better lives and hopes, they manage to overcome the trials and take up roles that are traditionally perceived to be masculine like taking care of the family, logging and enduring harsh natural conditions. All these themes give a clear view of what the colonial Australia was like, and the Gothic style helps in explaining and defining the various attributes of the literature of that period. To survive the harsh and unforgiving environment and the loneliness of the bush, the Australians developed a strong bond and link towards one another typically known as ‘mateship’ (Ward 99). We can see this sort of togetherness and bond in the two protagonists of these stories of how they developed strong relationships and links to the people who were around them, and the fact that they were surviving in harsh environmental conditions gave them solace. However, they struggled to overcome the loneliness and isolation and the fear they had of being resilient, hardworking and strong.
Work cited
Ward, R. The Australian Legend. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1966. Print.
