The Drover’s Wife

"The Dover's Wife" contains a frame story for the narration of the Bushwoman's past: the current situation in which she is in is used to frame the narrative of her personal development. By interspersing episodes from the bushwoman's past into the story's present, the reader gets a sense of the challenges she's faced over time, which makes the harsh reality of her current circumstances even more poignant:

She has few pleasures to think of as she sits here alone by the fire, on guard against a snake. All days are much the same for her; but on Sunday afternoon she dresses herself, tidies the children, smartens up baby, and goes for a lonely walk along the bush-track, pushing an old perambulator in front of her.

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