Thomas Hardy as a Novelist || Hardy's Contribution to English Literature || Wessex Novels of Hardy

 

THOMAS HARDY AS A NOVELIST

 INTRODUCTION:

Extolling the genius of Thomas Hardy, Abercrombie rightly remarks:

 

“It would be claimed for the Wessex novels of Thomas Hardy that in them, fiction has achieved both style and substance that enable it to fulfill the greatest functions of art."

 

Thomas Hardy, a 19^th century novelist, poet and short-story writer is one of the gems of English fiction. The last great novelist of the Victorian age, Hardy was an extraordinary genius who believed that the novel as a whole is a living organism in which all important elements - plot, dialogue, character, setting etc. join together to make a harmonious composition. Hardy actually wanted to carve a niche for himself in the annals of poetry writing; but it was because of his wife Emma's insistence that he tried his pen at novel writing and won the hearts of the scholars and critics.

 

MAJOR NOVELS OF HARDY:

Hardy wrote fourteen novels and a few short stories. But he has been remembered as a master artist of fiction for his following popular novels.

 

1.   Far from The Madding Crowd (1874)

2.   Return of the Native (1878)

3.   The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)

4.   Tess of The D’Ubervilles (1891)

5.   Jude The Obscure (1895)

 

HARDY – A REGIONAL NOVELIST:

Just as R. K. Narayan is termed as a regional novelist of Indian Writing in English, Thomas Hardy is known as a regional novelist who has represented the region consisting of a part of southwest England, to which he gave its old name 'Wessex'. That is the reason why his novels are called Wessex novels. He has depicted the life of the peasantry and advocated their beliefs and values. When he tries to talk about the life out of his chosen region, when he tries to deal with the civilized and sophisticated life of cities, his writing looses its natural delight, and becomes artificial and labored. David Lindley points out in this regard:

 

"Hardy was the first English novelist to write about the countryside and its inhabitants in a serious fashion, and obviously he drew constantly on the inspiration offered him by the people of the country in which he was born and spent most of his life."

 

S. Diana Neill also observes:

 

"No other novelist can render the sights and smells of the countryside with such evocative sensuousness."

 

HARDY'S RANGE:

The range of hardy's novels is very wide. His novels represent the problems of marriage and divorce in our society. His novels discuss the problems of marriage, divorces, love affairs etc. The helplessness of man under the strong influence of destiny is also presented by him. Mostly his novels revolve around the rustic life and there is no inclusion of urban manners and sophisticated society of modern times.

 

HARDY'S PLOT CONSTRUCTION:

Hardy was a lover of stories from his childhood days. He knew the importance of story-telling. In his novels, he gave too much attention on the plots. His plots are well neat and complex. All incidents are logically connected with one another. He presents his plots with the conflict between the old rural civilization and the new urban civilization. Tragedy in his novels arises from the influence of modernization over the domestic life of the rustics. The plots of 'Far from the Madding Crowd', 'The Return of the Native', 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' etc. are the finest examples of successful plot construction.

 

HARDY'S CHARACTERS:

Hardy is, indeed, a master in the art of characterization. He has drawn all his characters from the Wessex region. He has chosen peasant heroes and heroine, farmers, laborers, shepherds and singers. His characters are more emotional than intellectual. His immortal characters like Bathsheba and Tess, Henchard and Oak have left indelible imprint on the mind and heart of the readers. He has created both good as well as evil characters. He has praised the gentle hearted characters like Tess, Elizabeth, Oak, Reddlemen etc. and has condemned the evil characters like Sergeant Troy, Dr. Fitzpiers, Wildeve etc.

 

HARDY'S PESSIMISM:

Hardy's personal life full of obstacles and grief has made his mind-set pessimistic which is visible in all his novels. His physical ill-health, morbidity of his temper and his inclination towards funeral side of life made him pessimistic by nature. It is because of this that we come across tragedy and this despair and loss of hope in his novels like 'Tess', 'Mayor of Casterbridge', 'Jude the Obscure' etc. In one of his novels, he writes: 

 

“As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods.

They kill us for their spot."

 

One of Hardy's characters expresses his philosophy of life and his pessimism: 

 

"God's not in the heaven 

All's wrong with the world."

 

HARDY'S TREATMENT OF NATURE:

Hardy's attitude towards nature is quite opposite to Wordsworth. He doesn't regard nature as a kind and generous mother. For him, nature is the agent of cruelty and destruction. He has no faith in nature. In his novel 'Tess', he writes:

 

"Darkness and silence ruled everywhere around ... Where was Tess' guardian angel? Where was the providence of her simple faith?"

 

David Cecil writes about Hardy's attitude to nature:

 

"He did not believe that nature has any holy plans or healing power. Being influenced by the theory of evolution, he found much in nature that was cruel and antagonist to man."

 

CONCLUSION:

Thus, one may claim that the merits of Hardy's art as a novelist lie in his art of story-telling, plot construction and characterization. Like R. K. Narayan, Hardy is a realist who has painted the scenes and situations of the Wessex region. Hardy is known for his pessimistic novels and his treatment of human life and the genuineness of his concern for the tragic destiny of Man, are beyond dispute.

Click to watch a video lecture.