An Archetypal Study Of Alec, Farfrae And Jude In Hardy's Three Major Tragic Novels

Through the analyses of the three characters—Farfrae, Alec and Jude in the three tragic novels—The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure of Hardy, the author of this thesis tries to study why Hardy uses many allusions, especially allusions to some archetypal figures in the Bible, which contains the Christian doctrines and myths. One may wonder why Hardy alludes frequently to these biblical archetypes. An archetypal study of the novel will clarify the matter. By applying Northrop Frye's theory of archetype and the concept of displacement and transposed/inverted parallelism, this thesis is intended to identify the biblical archetypes that are related to the three characters, and analyze the displacements and transposed/inverted parallelisms in the relevant biblical myths. By doing so, the author of this thesis makes an attempt to reveal Hardy's intention of using allusions to the biblical archetypes and to provide an insight to the archetypal structure of the characterization and the significance of the novels.Hardy uses archetypes in the above-mentioned three novels for different reasons. When these archetypes are interpreted in terms of their sources or through the context of the novel itself, they become an integral part of Hardy's artistic vision, and effectively convey his intention. Through the use of archetypes, Hardy reveals his scathing criticism, even condemnation of traditional morality and Christian culture in the Victorian era, and manifests his tragic views of society and the universe; at the same time, these archetypes greatly add to the readability and profundity of the novel, and further enrich its connotations. It is exactly the readability, profundity and rich connotations that immensely contribute to the eternal artistic brilliance and greatness of the three tragic novels.Part One is an introduction in which I will briefly introduce Hardy's life and his literary achievements, give a critical overview of Hardy's use of allusions and present my research questions and methodology of this thesis. Chapter One is a survey of Northrop Frye's theory of archetype and the concept of displacement and transposed/inverted parallelism, which will be employed in the analysis of the three characters. Chapter Two is devoted to the analysis of The Mayor of Caster bridge, the biblical archetype connected with Farfrae, and the transposed/inverted parallelism in the story of Farfrae. Chapter Three discusses Tess of the D'Urbervilles, the biblical archetype attached to Alec and the displacements in the description of Alec. Chapter Four talks about Jude the Obscure, the three biblical archetypes—SamSon, Job and Jesus related to Jude and the displacements in the depiction of Jude. The last part is the conclusion, which summarizes the findings in the archetypal analysis of the biblical allusions associated with the three characters and reveals Hardy's intention of using these biblical allusions.