Thomas Hardy

Hardy, Thomas 

Born June 2, 1840, in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset; died Jan. 11, 1928, at Max Gate, near Dorchester. English novelist and poet.

Hardy was the son of a provincial contractor and builder, a descendant of the impoverished knightly family of Le Hardy. He studied architecture and worked in architectural studios. His first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady (1868), was rejected by publishers for its destructive intentions. On the advice of G. Meredith, Hardy wrote a novel with an intricate, polished plot—Desperate Remedies (published anonymously, 1871). From 1871 to 1897, Hardy published 14 novels. The best of them made up the cycle of novels of character and milieu: Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), Far From the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1896). Seven other novels formed two more cycles, the inventive and experimental novels—Desperate Remedies, The Hand of Ethelberta (1876), and The Laodicean (1881)—and the historical romances and fantasies—A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873), The Trumpet-Major (1880), Two on a Tower (1882), and The Well-Beloved (1892).

The novels of character and milieu are an original expression of the democratization of English literature. Hardy’s heroes and heroines come from the people and have a moral certainty and a natural feeling for beauty and harmony. The village woman Tess is created with rare charm, and her characterization is one of the most poetic in English literature. Hardy’s strength and innovation are revealed in his ability to demonstrate the detailed connection between character and environment.

Hardy published four collections of short stories, including Wessex Tales (1888), and eight collections of poetry, including Wessex Poems (1898). He is one of the greatest lyric poets of the modern age. Hardy expressed his philosophy of history in the epic drama The Dynasts (parts 1–3, 1903–08), which depicts Europe during the Napoleonic Wars; the drama includes 12 scenes devoted to Russia. In many ways Hardy seems to echo L. N. Tolstoy (for example, in his characterization of Kutuzov); he highly valued the patriotism of the Russian people. Attempting to explain the intertwining of chance and the natural order of things, Hardy, influenced by A. Schopenhauer, proposed that a fateful and cruel necessity rules over humanity.

Hardy’s literary manner looks old-fashioned in comparison with that of his contemporaries; his style was practically untouched by the new devices of psychological analysis.

As the initiator of a new period of literary development in England, Hardy shared with his contemporary writers a passion for strong social convictions and a firm democratism. In 1920 he signed the Clarté manifesto and was part of the organization’s international leadership committee. Hardy’s work was highly regarded by M. Gorky and by British Marxist literary critics.

WORKS

Works, vols. 1–24. London, 1912–31.
Thomas Hardy’s Personal Writings. Lawrence, 1966.
In Russian translation:
[Soch., vols. 1–8.] Moscow, 1969–73.

REFERENCES

Lunacharskii, A. V. “Tomas Gardi.” In T. Gardi, Tess iz roda d’Erbervill’. Moscow, 1937.
Istoriia angliiskoi literatury, vol. 3. Moscow, 1958.
Urnov, M. Tomas Gardi: Ocherk tvorchestva. Moscow, 1969.
Hardy, F. E. The Life of Thomas Hardy. New York-London, 1962.
Purdy, R. L. Thomas Hardy: A Bibliographical Study. London, 1954.
Thomas Hardy: The Critical Heritage. London-New York [1970].

M. V. URNOV