A Mournful Elegy To Life

Thomas Hardy is an internationally eminent novelist and poet. As one of the outstanding realists and the last of the great Victorians, he directly influences 20th century English novels, and his artistic style as well as his view of life enter into the permanent tradition of English literature. His immense fame establishes him the stable position in the history of English literature. He was born and brought up in an agricultural district in the south of England. It is his home and the surrounding districts that play an important role in his literary career. His novels not only have had a considerably strong appeal for general readers, but also draw increasingly provocative attention from academic readers. His poetry recently has come to acclaim as among the most influential of the 20th century. Hardy presents the extraordinary case of a master in two genres whose career spanned major parts of the two literary eras. He published nearly all of his fiction during the reign of Victoria, nearly all of his poetry during the 20th century.Throughout his life he wrote fourteen novels, four collections of short stories, eight volumes of poems and two dramas. Of all his works, the following are usually considered as the greatest: Under the Greenwood Tree; Far From the Madding Crowd; The Return of the Native; The Mayor of Casterbridge"; Tess of the D 'Urbervilles; Jude the Obscure.Most of his books are about the countryside and the country people of Dorset, where he lived most of his life. They reflect the changes the region was undergoing as well as the ideological contradictions of the late 19th century. In these books, he shows his deep understanding of the spiritual world of the laboring people. The psychological analysis of the characters is very accurately and sympathetically given, and Hardy shows not the slightest shade of condescending attitude toward these simple, poor people portrayed by him. This comes of course from his intimate knowledge of these laboring people, from his great sympathy for them that comes of this knowledge.The characters in his novels have their aspirations and desires and hopes, but in most cases their lives end in tragedy. He usually portrays human beings as hopeless and points out the social forces play an essential part in deciding human tragic fate. In writing about the part of England he is actually recording the declineand the destruction of the English farmers' patriarchal mode of life in the countryside as the remnants of feudal practices were gradually replaced by the spread of capitalism in rural regions. Their living conditions are worsening, and the contradictions are becoming fierce. Hardy can always succeed in presenting the men and women so fully and truthfully and it is realism which carries sharp social criticism that earns him a prominent place in literary history.The 1890s is the greatest decade of Hardy's novelistic creativity. With the publication of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, his novelistic art approaches its greatest height. This decade is also the transition decade for Hardy as he moves toward the realization of his early dream, to become a full-time poet.Jude the Obscure is the last and the most controversial novel. The publication of this book evokes great repercussions throughout the world. Hardy is severely attacked by many critics, and even by his friends. The novel is about the tension of being caught between two historical worlds, and it reflects Hardy's ambivalence about the dilemmas of his time. It affronts accepted moral standards chiefly because it sympathetically portrays Jude and Sue who live together and have children without getting married. Hardy has daring to declare that marriage is usually unhappy, and furthermore he blames society for the tragic consequences of Jude and Sue's love. In a society unwilling to accept their rejection of convention, they are ostracized. Their tragedy is a form of oppression and they are victims of the society.Jude is exceptional in the special fineness of his ideals. Through...