Thomas Hardy's Philosophy Of Life As Expressed In His Major Novels

Thomas Hardy, one of the greatest writers of nineteenth-century, played a decisive role in the history of British literature. Hardy's high status in English literature was attributed to his reflection on philosophy of life in analyzing the Character's Destiny in his novels.This thesis lays its emphasis on the analysis of how the process of changes about Hardy's philosophy of life by his six major novels, i.e Under the Greenwood Tree, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of D'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure. The author of this thesis divides Hardy's philosophy of life into three phases: idealism in first phase, realism in second phase and pessimism in third phase.Based on the above analysis of Hardy's six novels, this thesis concludes that Hardy has a comprehensive and different understanding about philosophy of life from the beginning of his novel-writing to totally abandoning it, of which the keytone is not permanent, but a process changes from idealism to pessimism.