Society as a Barrier to Love in "At an Inn" Anonymous 12th Grade

"At an Inn" is a poem written by Thomas Hardy, a composition showcasing Hardy’s longing for another woman who is not his wife, Florence. In this work, Hardy focuses on the misinterpretations of the nature of the two’s relationship from strangers at an inn. He questions the idea of fate, but also alludes to the idea of morals and societal expectations, and their impact on love.

Hardy asserts that love is very much constricted and controlled by societal norms. The most obvious allusion to this is the quotation ‘O laws of men’, which refers to the idea of the unwritten rules of mankind, working as a silent reminder of what is deemed right and wrong. Whereas love is so often portrayed as purely feelings and passion, this quotation seems to suggest that there is some form of ‘law’ or moral code that everyone is expected to follow when it comes to love. This is the law that asserts that Hardy and Florence cannot be together and the use of ‘O’ creates a sense of desperation from his perspective, in the way he seems woeful that there is nothing he can do. Due to this, we can infer that interpretations of morality play more of a part in romantic love than would have been originally thought.

Hardy also articulates this theme by use of...