The Drover’s Wife

by

Henry Lawson

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The Young Ladies’ Journal Symbol Analysis

The Young Ladies’ Journal Symbol Icon

The bushwoman enjoys reading the Young Ladies’ Journal, which contains fashion illustrations that she likes to look at, and, the reader must assume, depicts life in Australian cities and towns far from where the bushwoman is actually living. This magazine symbolizes the outside world in general, and specifically the social norms of that world, which still hold a strong appeal for the bushwoman despite being irrelevant to the life that the she is living. It is also significant that the bushwoman brings the magazine with her to read while staying up to keep watch for the snake, as it shows that she is consistently maintaining her connection with the human social world and not allowing her struggle against nature—even in the middle of an episode where she is being concretely threatened by it—to cause her to lose what makes her human.

The Young Ladies’ Journal Quotes in The Drover’s Wife

The The Drover’s Wife quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Young Ladies’ Journal. 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:
Humankind vs. Nature Theme Icon
).
The Drover’s Wife Quotes

As a girl she built the usual castles in the air; but all her girlish hopes and aspirations have been long dead. She finds all the excitement and recreation she needs in the Young Ladies’ Journal, and Heaven help her! Takes a pleasure in the fashion plates.

Related Characters: The Bushwoman
Related Symbols: The Young Ladies’ Journal
Page Number: 46-47
Explanation and Analysis:

On Sunday afternoon she dresses herself, tidies up the children, smartens up baby, and goes for a lonely walk along the bush-track, pushing an old perambulator in front of her.

Related Characters: The Bushwoman
Related Symbols: The Young Ladies’ Journal
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Young Ladies’ Journal Symbol Timeline in The Drover’s Wife

The timeline below shows where the symbol The Young Ladies’ Journal appears in The Drover’s Wife. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Drover’s Wife
Isolation and Vulnerability Theme Icon
...of the children finally fall asleep. The bushwoman sits and waits, sewing and reading the Young Ladies’ Journal . (full context)