An Existentialistic Analysis Of Clym And Eustacia In Hardy's The Return Of The Native

As a transitional writer of the period between English traditional literature and modern literature, Thomas Hardy is anxious about the moral and spiritual confusion of his age like the existential writers though he is not directly related to the existential movement. Existentialism is a philosophical movement developed from the end of the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. It explores the existence of the human being, emphasizing the lack of meaning and purpose of life, and the solitude of human existence. Some of Hardy's philosophies and major novels reveal his existential tendency. He feels angry about the advanced urban life in which man suffers from a feeling of estrangement caused by the complications of advanced civilized life. With his strong sense of anxiety, boredom and man's alienation in a hostile universe, Hardy attempts to build up a new morality, particularly similar to that of Sartre's, to demonstrate man's tragedy in his unique way.This paper tries to do some research in this area through the study of Hardy and his The Return of the Native. On the basis of a general study of Hardy's important philosophies and his existential ideas, it proceeds to analyze the main characters and their situations, and explore the existential themes such as man's experience of absurdity, alienation and subsequent search for self. At last, this paper draws attention to Hardy's special tragic style of existentialism. To look at Hardy's fiction from a new perspective of Existentialism can certainly help to get a more comprehensive and profound understanding of The Return of the Native and Hardy's status in British literary history.