Abstract
THE DIFFICULTY in reading Thomas Hardy is that everyone knows exactly what to think. If we ask any reasonably well-read student of literature about Hardy, we will learn that he was “a gloomy philosopher … who wrote depressing but profound and technically admirable realistic novels.” 1 From an acquaintance with The Return of the Native and Tess of the D’Urbervilles—bolstered by some opinions gleaned from such critics as David Cecil, Samuel Chew, and Carl Weber, whose volumes are to be found in every library—it is easy to conclude that statements like the above are not only accurate, but cover nearly all the important issues. Hardy is suitably enshrined as a great writer, albeit no longer a very popular one; as a masterful reporter of the rural scene; as a skillful creator of a host of interesting characters; and, above all, as a deep thinker who shows us a pessimistic view of the universe.
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Notes and References
Albert J. Guerard, Jr., Thomas Hardy: The Novels and Stories (Cambridge, Mass., 1949), p. 1. Hereafter cited as “Guerard” in the text.
Dorothy Van Ghent, The English Novel: Form and Function (New York, 1953), p. 201. Hereafter cited as “Van Ghent” in the text.
R. P. Blackmur, Language as Gesture (New York, 1952 ), p. 79.
Samuel Hynes, The Pattern of Hardy’s Poetry (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1961), p. 7. Hereafter cited as “Hynes” in the text.
Florence Emily Hardy, The Early Life of Thomas Hardy (New York, 1928), p. 37. Subsequent references to this first volume of Hardy’s “autobiography” are cited in the text as Early Life. The second volume, The Later Years of Thomas Hardy (New York, 1930) is cited as Later Years.
Carl J. Weber, Hardy of Wessex: His Life and Literary Career (New York, 1940), pp. 127, 61–62. Hereafter cited in text as “Weber.”
John Paterson, The Making of The Return of the Native (Berkeley, Calif., 1960) , p. 3.
Mark Schorer, William Blake: The Politics of Vision (New York, 1948), p. 27.
Douglas Bush, “Mrs. Bennett and the Dark Gods: The Truth About Jane Austen,” Sewanee Review LXIV (Autumn, 1956), 59196.
Ruth Firor, Folkways in Thomas Hardy (Philadelphia, 1931), p. 308. Hereafter cited as “Firor” in the text.
John Paterson, “The ‘Poetics’ of The Return of the Native,” Modern Fiction Studies, VI (Autumn, 1960 ), 215.
Leslie Fiedler, “Archetype and Signature: A Study of the Relationship between Biography and Poetry,” Sewanee Review LX (1952), 253–73, reprinted in Mailles K. Danziger and W. Stacy Johnson, An Introduction to Literary Criticism (Boston, 1961), p. 269.
Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton, 1957), p. 147. Hereafter cited as “Frye” in the text.
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© 1964 Twayne Publishers, Inc.
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Carpenter, R. (1964). Thomas Hardy Revisited. In: Thomas Hardy. The Griffin Authors Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-02947-1_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-02947-1_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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