Death In The Endings Of Thomas Hardy's Major Novels

Hardy, as the last great writer of 19^th century, is famous for the tragedies in his novels which not only reflect the writer's own tragic sense, but also reveal a real image of the human existence. This thesis mainly focuses on the main characters'death in the endings of Thomas Hardy's four major novels, so as to find out its symbolic meanings and the aesthetic values. These four novels are the representative works of the different periods in Hardy's life, and they are: The Return of The Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. The death in the endings of the four novels will be analyzed respectively to know its special meanings to the plot and the structure.This thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter one is an introduction to Hardy and his tragic novels, the subject of the research on the death in the ending of Hardy's major novels and its value. Chapter two discusses the death in the ending of The Return of the Native. Through the death of Eustaci and Wildeve in the storm, the writer indicates that no one can escape the punishment of Egdon Heath, which shows the restriction of the overwhelming natural power on human. Chapter three focuses on the meaning of death in the ending of The Mayor of Casterbridge. Due to his own flaw in character, Henchard has to accept the fatal consequence of his past mistake. His tragic story reveals the destructive power of the immanent will on human efforts. Chapter four analyzes the death in the ending of Tess of the D'Urbervilles. As a sacrifice in a man-made world, Tess gives us more thoughts to the female existence at the cost of life. Chapter five talks about the death in the ending of Jude the Obscure. Jude, a man with modern thought, experiences a lot of pains and troubles in his fight with the traditional institutions, but his death in the end marks a dead end of this revolutionary road. Chapter six is a summary of the previous contents and a conclusion of the view about death as the ending of the novels. It explains the meanings of death in the ending, and also lists some of its limitations.