Love and Irony In Thomas Hardy’s "On the Western Circuit"

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is actually directed to Edith Harnham, the literate Anna, who assumed the servant's character when writing letters to Raye. Of course, the fact that Anna the servant is illiterate was unknown to Raye, and his decision to marry the young woman shows that indeed, he loved Anna, not only because she is beautiful and lovely, but most importantly, because she has intelligence and wit, which he found uncommon among women of his time (19th century). Thus, the ironic twist in "On the Western Circuit" is that Raye's intended love he had for the literate Anna was misdirected to the servant Anna, when in fact, the true identity of the literate Anna, and with whom Raye fell in love with, is actually Edith Harnham. These two important themes, love and irony, will be discussed and supported in this paper through evidence found in the story.
The theme of love in the story was illustrated and evident in the initial part of the story, wherein Raye determined that Anna was the most beautiful ...

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