“ An unprotected childhood in a cold world has beaten gentleness out of me. ”
Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd (1874). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Hardy |
|---|---|
| Source | Far from the Madding Crowd |
| Topic | kindness protection coldness |
| Date | 1874 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/107/107-h/107-h.htm |
Context
“Say, Bathsheba, that you only wrote that refusal to me in fun—come, say it to me!"
"It would be untrue, and painful to both of us. You overrate my capacity for love. I don't possess half the warmth of nature you believe me to have. An unprotected childhood in a cold world has beaten gentleness out of me."
He immediately said with more resentment: "That may be true, somewhat; but ah, Miss Everdene, it won't do as a reason! You are not the cold woman you would have me believe. No, no! It isn't because you have no feeling in you that you don't love me.” source
"It would be untrue, and painful to both of us. You overrate my capacity for love. I don't possess half the warmth of nature you believe me to have. An unprotected childhood in a cold world has beaten gentleness out of me."
He immediately said with more resentment: "That may be true, somewhat; but ah, Miss Everdene, it won't do as a reason! You are not the cold woman you would have me believe. No, no! It isn't because you have no feeling in you that you don't love me.” source
Meaning and analysis
