Themes

The main themes of the short story “The Woman of Letters” by Angela Readman are knowledge as power, hopes, and dreams. The story shows readers how being educated in a poor community gives one power over others but also draws attention to the limited options women have in poor countries (marry a foreigner or become a prostitute). Additionally, the story explores how dreams and hopes of a better future often require compromises and have nothing to do with happi…

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Knowledge as power

The plot and the character-narrator illustrate how knowledge can be a powerful tool in poor countries, and how having no education makes people vulnerable to those who can use it against them.

In the story, the narrator is the only woman in a poor village area who can read and write English. Her knowledge puts her in an advantageous position, as all the poor girls in the village come to her and pay good money to get help in finding a foreign man to marry them. Being the only one who can speak English enables the narrator to charge a lot of money for her services but also gives her power over the girls. As the girls do not understand English, the nar…

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Hopes and dreams

The theme of hopes and dreams is explored through all the characters in the story. All the characters in the story dream of a better future. May and Lilly dream of finding foreign men who will deliver them from the poverty they live in. Robin, the narrator’s son, is believed to be dreaming of finding love, although he never had luck with girls. Fina…