Melia Ruined

The poem is about a conversation between two women who have not seen each other in quite some time. Amelia is one of the women and they called her Melia for short the other woman is nameless throughout the whole poem. In the first stanza of the poem the nameless woman is astonished to see Melia back in town and dressed in lovely clothes that portray her prosperity. The nameless women last encounter with Melia was when she was a farm girl like herself. Amelia begins to tell her how she came upon her prosperity by saying “O didn’t you know I’d been ruined? “ (James) “Ruined” in this context means a girl or lady in society that has lost her moral values. I would like to discuss throughout the essay some of the values Melia had in her previous lifestyle verses her present one. …show more content…
During, this time men and women were treated differently. For example, women could not get some of the same jobs as men. Women had limited choices in what they could do for work either work on the farm, get married or become a prostitute/mistress to a wealthy man. To the British a ‘maid’ is a chaste woman, and if she is ‘ruined’ she is no longer a maid. A chaste woman is innocent of unlawful sexual intercourse. (chaste). In this instance, Melia choose to become a prostitute/mistress so she can have a better life. On the other hand, what she gave up in her previous lifestyle as a farm girl to gain her riches is far more precious than anything else she will ever gain. What Melia gave up was her virginity. Her good name and reputation in the big city is ruined. No respectable man will probably marry her. Her family and society may see her as an outcast, and she may never find a good job due to her lifestyle. Also, she loses her self-respect and she forgets about what she is worth.
If Melia is religious she has to worry about if God is disapproved with her behavior and will it enter fear with her in the