The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter Isolation Quotes

It seems like the speaker was hanging out by the front gate in the hopes that someone would come by, just like she's now sitting in the garden hoping her husband comes back.

The notion of a "village," suggests a rural, isolated upbringing for our speaker.

The wife's shyness is a form of self-isolation, because she's preventing others from seeing what she enjoys (what would make her laugh) and understanding what she feels.

This is a strange detail about the speaker's strategy of self-isolation, but it speaks to a history of separating herself, even before her husband left.

If she's shy and ignoring her husband, it may be because she got married to him at the age of fourteen and wasn't ready for it. She could also be asserting her independence within the marriage. In this case, isolation may be a conscious choice.

Wherever the merchant went, it must have been very far away. This loneliness seems to be a constant theme for the wife, but the husband's departure has created a different kind of loneliness. This is a new form of loneliness for her, since she finally let someone in, then he went away.

This image reminds the wife of the absence of her lover. The pairing of the two butterflies is like the bond of marriage between the merchant and the speaker, which is why the sight of them causes her pain.

The isolation has made the wife willing to travel what must have been weeks in order to see her husband once again, which shouldn't surprise us now that we know her lonely and isolated history.