HARDY THE WRITER
By the same author *ONE RARE FAIR WOMAN Thomas Hardy's letters to Florence Henniker, 1893-1922 (edited with Evelyn Hardy) *A COMMENTARY ON THE POEMS OF THOMAS HARDY *THOMAS HARDY: ART AND THOUGHT Edited for the New Wessex Edition *THOMAS HARDY: TWO ON A TOWER *THE STORIES OF THOMAS HARDY (3 vols) Edited for the Thomas Hardy Society THOMAS HARDY AND THE MODERN WORLD BUDMOUTH ESSAYS ON THOMAS HARDY THE THOMAS HARDY SOCIETY REVIEW (1975--84) *A HARDY COMPANION *A JANE AUSTEN COMPANION *A BRONTE COMPANION *A GEORGE ELIOT COMPANION *A GEORGE ELIOT MISCELLANY *A D. H. LAWRENCE COMPANION *A WORDSWORTH COMPANION *A TENNYSON COMPANION *AT. S. ELIOT COMPANION *A WORDSWORTH CHRONOLOGY *THE COLLECTED SONNETS OF CHARLES (TENNYSON) TURNER (edited with M. Pinion) *A TENNYSON CHRONOLOGY *A THOMAS HARDY DICTIONARY *Also published by Palgrave Macmillan
Hardy the Writer Surveys and Assessments F. B. PINION M MACMILLAN
F. B. Pinion 1990 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990 978-0-333-47362-7 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended), or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Ag~ncy, 33-4 Alfred Place, London WClE 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1990 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Typeset by Wessex Typesetters (Division of The Eastern Press Ltd) Frome, Somerset British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Pinion. F. B. (Francis Bertram), 1908- Hardy the writer. 1. Fiction in English. Hardy, Thomas, 184~192~ Critical studies L Title 823'.8 ISBN 978-1-349-38876-9 ISBN 978-0-230-38945-8 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230389458
To the Wightman family for their long and dedicated service to the Thomas Hardy Society
Contents Preface ix 1 The Ranging Vision 1 2 Hardy and George Eliot 15 3 Psychological Pictorialism 24 4 Two on a Tower 41 5 Mephistophelian and Satanic 56 6 The Uniqueness of The Woodlanders 63 7 Philosophy in Fiction 80 8 Tess of the d'urbervilles 94 (a) and Desperate Remedies 94 (b) and Clarissa 97 (c) A Pure Woman 102 9 Hebraism and Hellenism 112 10 Hardy and Mrs Henniker 127 11 Jude the Obscure: Origins in Life and Literature 152 12 The Well-Beloved 169 13 Fictional Autobiography 187 14 Hardy's Novel-Endings 211 15 Symbolism 237 16 Hardy as a Thinker 250 17 Literary Allusion and Indebtedness 264 18 The Hero of The Dynasts 282 19 Reflections on Hardy's Poetry 293 20 At the Year's End 307 Supplement 334 (a) Hardy and Heredity 334 (b) Hardy's Titles 336 (c) The Mayor of Casterbridge and Les Miserables 338 Notes 341 Index 352 Vll
Preface Most of these essays were written in the winter of 1987-8 in order to create a volume which would present the major aspects of Hardy's work as a whole, in a progressive, anticipative manner, with introductory and concluding surveys, and with illustrative material drawn from his poetry and prose at all appropriate stages. In this way numerous links have been established between Hardy's fiction and his poems, some of which receive close critical analysis. None of his novels is neglected, though special attention is given to the last four he wrote. Important references are made throughout to his Life and Collected Letters. The principal aim has been to reflect Hardy's intentions and assess his achievements. The essays suggest that his formative thought, the product of a period of conflict between new scientific philosophy and humanism on the one hand, and traditional Christian theology combined with Victorian restraints on the other, developed when England was not nearly as intellectually provincial as Matthew Arnold had affirmed. Above all, they illustrate the extent to which the creative imagination and the style of Hardy the writer were stimulated and strengthened by literary influences, particularly from the Bible, a wide range of poetry, and great works from classical times to his own. In their first versions, four of the essays have been published separately: 'The Ranging Vision' in Thomas Hardy After Fifty Years (ed. Lance StJohn Butler), London and Basingstoke, 1977; 'Hardy and George Eliot' in the author's A George Eliot Companion, London and Totowa, New Jersey, 1981; 'Two on a Tower' as the introduction to the New Wessex Edition, London, 1975; and 'Jude the Obscure: Origins in Life and Literature' in Thomas Hardy Annual No. 4 (ed. Norman Page), London and Basingstoke, 1986. Part of the essay on Mrs Henniker is drawn from my introduction to One Rare Fair Woman (London and Basingstoke, 1972, now out of print), an edition of Hardy's letters to her which was prepared in collaboration with Evelyn Hardy. Certain topics which appeared in my Thomas Hardy: Art and Thought (London and Basingstoke, now out of print) have been included in revised and abridged forms. Brief notes on resemblances between The Mayor of Casterbridge and Les Miserables ix
X Preface have been extracted from the same publication, and the study of 'Neutral Tones' is based on part of an article which I contributed to Cahiers Victoriens & Edouardiens, no. 12, October 1980. Four of the essays were given in their original form as lectures: 'The Uniqueness of The Woodlanders' at a meeting of the Hardy Society in 1987, to mark the centenary of the novel's first publication; 'Philosophy in Fiction' at Western Washington University, Bellingham, 1980; 'Hebraism and Hellenism' as 'Hardy and "Hellenic Paganism'" at the Hardy Society School, 1982; and 'Hardy's Novel-Endings' at the Hardy Society Conference, 1988. All twenty essays have been revised, some considerably, to ensure, first, that repetition of substance is reduced to a minimum consonant with clarity and completeness of individual subjects, and, secondly, that references and illustrations are as varied as possible. Grateful acknowledgments are made to my wife for helpful recommendations on the final text, and for welcome assistance in proof-reading; to Simon Gatrell, Professor of English at the University of Georgia, for confirming a manuscript item on which I made a note at the New York Public Library in 1969; and to Sarah Roberts-West and Mrs Valery Rose for their ready assistance on behalf of the publishers.