“The Highwayman” Essay

Introduction

Responding effectively to any essay question in English Literature takes a tremendous amount of skill and effort because it is not always easy to explain your ideas in detail and then justify those opinions with direct references to the text. However, it is a very rewarding challenge, especially when your teacher gives you the top mark!

Using Alfred Noyes’ wonderfully dramatic poem, “The Highwayman”, this guide will consider different approaches to understanding the characters and setting, explain how to use quotations to support your arguments, and help you develop the precision of your analysis.

Essay Question

Characterisation is the technique a writer uses to create characters and it is the most important part of storytelling.

How does Alfred Noyes present the highwayman, Bess and Tim the ostler in his poem “The Highwayman”? You should consider how Noyes describes:

• the Highwayman;
• Bess;
• Tim the Ostler;
• the setting and atmosphere;
• and anything else you think is relevant

Understanding the Question

Although this essay might seem scary, do not be daunted. Instead, try to “unpack” the different details. For example, many questions begin with a statement or an opinion which is supposed to help you focus on a key aspect of the text. This question on “The Highwayman” wants you to ignore plot and structure, and concentrate only on the methods Noyes used to create the various characters in the story.

The actual question is straightforward –  you need to analyse the three main characters.

Finally, the bullet points provide a possible structure to your response. Most students will follow the advice and explore the characters in this order. That is absolutely fine, particularly in a junior poetry assignment.

The Highwayman

The first thing you need to do is read through the poem and write down a list of images the writer uses to describe the main character. By piecing together these words and phrases, you will get a fuller picture of the highwayman and you can begin to appreciate the author’s intentions.

Our first impression of the highwayman comes from the vivid details of the character’s clothes. Try to find connections between each image. For example, what do the “bunch of lace” and “breeches of fine doe-skin” have in common? What links his “French cocked hat” and the fact his “breeches” never have a “wrinkle”?

Hopefully, you will recognise Noyes is trying to present the highwayman as a confident and attractive character who likes to look his best by spending money on good clothes.

Task One

Write a complete list of words and phrases which help the reader create the picture of the main character.

Developing Your Answer

When you are responding to an essay question, you must refer directly to text to support any ideas or opinions you have of the story. These quotations should be relevant to the question, but they also need to be properly integrated into your answer.

Consider the following statement a pupil wrote for this essay:

We realise early in the poem that the highwayman is wealthy: “He’d a coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of fine doe-skin”.

In this example, the pupil has tried to use the quotation to support a point. She has chosen interesting images but the words from the text are just added to the end of her sentence without any attempt to comment on their importance or meaning. She needed to explain how the highwayman’s “claret-velvet” coat suggested he was wealthy.

The quotation in the next example has been used more effectively because it supports the point the student is making, and she integrates the words into his sentence, giving us a sense of why they are important.

The highwayman tries to present himself as a wealthy and fashionable man who wears a “claret velvet” coat and can afford “breeches of fine doe-skin”.

This third response goes a step further:

The highwayman tries to present himself as a wealthy and fashionable man who wears a “claret velvet” coat and can afford “breeches of fine doe-skin”. Both “velvet” and “doe-skin” are expensive fabrics to purchase.

This student has explained how the quotation reinforced her argument by referring to context and the price of his clothes. Don’t always assume your teacher or the examiner know the background to your ideas. Sometimes, you have to state the obvious.

Task Two

Read through the answer to the next question and explain why you think the response is effective.

Question: How did the highwayman react when he learnt that it was Bess who died?

Answer: The highwayman reacted with total rage when he learnt that it was Bess who had died. He “spurred like a madman” back to the inn to avenge her death, travelling so fast that the road was “smoking” behind his horse. His “rapier” was “brandished high”, ready to strike at the redcoats he held responsible for her death.

Quotations

In the same way a lawyer will try to convince a jury that they are telling the truth, you need to present evidence that will persuade your teacher your arguments about the poem are appropriate. Your understanding of the story might be very good, but you need to prove your ideas with references to the writer’s use of language and imagery.

Therefore, when you are writing about the highwayman, Bess, Tim or the atmosphere in the poem, you must use quotations in your answer.

Task Three

Using the examples in the previous section, explain what quotation marks represent and how you know where to place them in a sentence.

Short-answer Revision

In an examination, some pupils will simply write down the relevant quotation without actually trying to demonstrate their understanding of the reference. Your answer should include the key words of the question, the relevant quotation from the text and, of course, some sort of comment on the image. For example:

Question: Where was the highwayman going after he left Bess at the inn?

Answer: After the highwayman left Bess at the inn, he was going “after a prize”. This means he was going to rob another innocent person on the highway.

This is a confident and persuasive response.

Task Four

Using the previous response as a guide, try developing a full answer to the following three questions:

1. When the highwayman arrives at the inn, how does he try to get Bess’ attention?
2. Why does the highwayman worry he might not be able to return in the morning?
3. Explain why the highwayman returns to the inn and tries to kill the red coats.

Further Reading

If you want to revise aspects of the plot, try our comprehension questions for “The Highwayman”. You should also explore our guides to essay writing where you will find advice on how to analyse writers’ methods more effectively.