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The drover never appears in the story, but his existence shapes much of the action that does take place. The bushwoman is notably defined in the title of the story as the drover’s wife, reflecting the fact that her life consists mostly in waiting for him and raising his children in his absence. Despite these long absences, the bushwoman appreciates the drover, saying that “he is careless, but he is a good enough husband” who provides for his family: “if he has a good cheque when he comes back he will give most of it to her.” Before losing everything in a drought years before the story takes place, the drover spoiled his wife with trips into the city, featuring buggy rides and hotel stays. He has a brother who lives on the main road, neatly twenty miles from his home in the bush, and his brother brings the bushwoman provisions “about once a month.”
The Drover Quotes in The Drover’s Wife
The The Drover’s Wife quotes below are all either spoken by The Drover or refer to The Drover. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Drover’s Wife Quotes
No undergrowth. Nothing to relieve the eye save the darker green of a few she-oaks which are sighing above the narrow, almost waterless creek. Nineteen miles to the nearest sign of civilization—a shanty on the main road.
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The sight of his mother in trousers greatly amused Tommy, who worked like a little hero by her side, but the terrified baby howled lustily for his ‘mummy.’
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She stood for hours in the drenching downpour, and dug an overflow gutter to save the dam across the creek. But she could not save it. There are things that a bushwoman cannot do.
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The Drover Character Timeline in The Drover’s Wife
The timeline below shows where the character The Drover appears in The Drover’s Wife. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Drover’s Wife
...the kitchen, which forms a structure separate from the rest of the house. The bushwoman’s husband, a former squatter turned drover, is away with his sheep.
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The bushwoman hasn’t heard from her husband for six months, but after years living in the bush, she has grown used to...
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...fought a bush-fire that she was only able to effectively put out by wearing her husband’s pants, which amused Tommy but scared her baby, who wept. She was only able to...
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...flood, digging an overflow gutter in order to try to save a dam that her husband had built over the course of years. However, she was unable to save it and...
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The bushwoman is occasionally visited by drunk bushmen who ask if her husband is around, and in these instances she usually lies to them and tells them that...
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The bushwoman is “contented with her lot” and loves her husband, but does not show her love for her husband or children outwardly, which leads her...
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