17.1.5

Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

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Key Quotes: Neutral Tones

Here are some examples of key quotes from Hardy's Neutral Tones:

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‘The deadest thing’

  • ‘The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing’.
    • The narrator uses juxtaposition (a smile being 'the deadest thing') to show the incompatibility of the lovers.
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‘Keen lessons...'

  • ‘Keen lessons that love deceives / And wring with wrong, have shaped to me / Your face’.
    • Alliteration in ‘wring with wrong’ and assonance in the line ‘keen lessons that love deceives’ creates a bitter sneering tone, reflecting the narrator’s bitterness towards his past relationship.

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16Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons

17Recap: Main Quotes

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