a composite character
Lucy in William Wordsworth’s poem She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways was most likely a composite character whose life represents any of the women in his community or a combination of women characters who have made an impression on him as a child or as a man. He wrote it when he was 28 years old. Lucy cannot be Wordsworth wife because she is depicted as a “maid” or an unmarried woman, who lived unnoticed and died known only by a few. She could not be the poet’s daughter also because he was referring to an adult woman in his poem.
Lucy could therefore be a representation of any of the single, lonely women who have lived quiet and simple lives. She symbolizes women whose beauty was not appreciated and whose life has ended unfulfilled, without a son or daughter to continue her bloodline.
