AO3

Childhood - social class and religion

• exposed to the harshness of rural poverty

• several relatives were illiterate

• Hardy’s mother was determined that he would rise in social class

• His family was instrumentalists in the Church choir

• Hardy lost his faith in his 20s

Dorset and Nature

• created fictional “dream county” Wessex

• Dorset was the basis of much of his work - providing him with living evidence for the view that nothing is static or certain

Victorian Literature vs Hardy

• Victorian literature was characterised through its realisms

• Hardy felt constrained by realism

• and saw and criticised the repression of the Victorian era

What did the Early 20th Century bring to Britain

• old absolutes were crumbling - people’s sense of certainty was disappearing e.g. religious uncertainty - due to WW1

• new divorce laws, wider educational opportunities, votes for women

• anti-nationalism, anti-empire, anti-war

Geology; Darwin & the Origin of Species effect on Hardy

• shook his belief in the accuracy of creation

• beliefs shattered

• kept up with modern ideas

Potential reasoning for unhappy marriage

• Emma had a strong sense of her class superiority

• a critic commented “Emma looks down on him, and is utterly discounted”

Hardy second wife

• Florence Dugdale

• school teacher and writer of children’s books

• met in 1905 when Hardy was 65 and she was mid -twenties

• often alone in London together where possible sexual exchanges could have occurred

• became Mrs Hardy in 1914

How many poems did Hardy write about Emma

• over 100

quote on what Emma’s death did to Hardy

“made the old brain vocal”

Hardy’s loss of faith

• poetry as a substitute for his loss of faith

• Abandoned his wish to work in the Church vs Emma clung to her religion

• relfected perhaps his horror and dispair at the sight of human suffering and animal suffering

• instead believed in Immanent Will

Immanent Will

• a blind, unconscious, and indifferent force that governs the universe and determines human fate.

• operates without conscious purpose, causing unintended suffering, rather than a benevolent, divine plan

What metaphor from Darwin’s theory fascinated Hardy

The evolutionary branching tree metaphor

How does Hardy's view of Christianity manifest in his writings?

He shows a deep attachment to Christian tradition but is unable to accept it as faith.

What does Hardy's reading of the Bible signify in his work?

It permeates his writings through allusions and verbal echoes.

What is the relationship between Hardy's poetry and the concept of time?

He often reflects on the fleeting nature of human life against the backdrop of deep time.

Womens views on marriage in the 19th century

• most women regarded marriage as a fixed fact of nature

• it was a fundamental part of their life plan, as was childbearing

• In the mid 19th century reproduction was considered a woman ‘s only correct occupation

quote to described social code of the time

“Hardy lived his life in the midst of this strict social code”

Hardy’s opinion on marriage in general

• progressive for his time

• felt that the institution of marriage was damaged through “overregulation”

• Hardy was not so much against marriage as he was against the idea that it was an irrevocable contract

Hardy quote on women’s suffrage

“I have long been in favour of women’s suffrage”