Affiliates
| Works by
Thomas Hardy
(Poet, Writer)
[June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928] |
Profile created February 25, 2008
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Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited
(2004) by Michael Millgate
Michael Millgate's classic biography of Thomas
Hardy, great novelist and poet, was first published in 1982. Much new
information about Hardy has since become available, often in volumes
edited or co-edited by Millgate himself, and many established assumptions
have been challenged and revolutionized by scholarly research. In this
extensively revised, fully reconsidered, and considerably-expanded new
edition Millgate, the world's leading Hardy scholar, draws not only upon
these new materials but upon an exceptional understanding of Hardy gained
from long immersion in the study of his life and work. Many large and
small aspects of Hardy's life are here freshly illuminated, including his
family background, his fumbling self-education as a poet, his difficult
relations with his first wife and hers with his family, his sexual
infatuations, his secret collaborations with aspiring women writers, his
clandestine composition of his own official biography, and the
memory-invoking techniques by which he sustained his remarkable creativity
into extreme old age. Thorough, authoritative and eminently readable,
Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited will become the standard life of
Hardy for a new generation. Also known as
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The Life and Work of
Thomas Hardy (1982), Michael Millgate, ed.
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The Early Life of Thomas
Hardy, 1840-1891
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The Later Years of Thomas Hardy,
1892-1928
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The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy, 1840-1928 (1985, 1989)
Jude the Obscure (1895)
Hardy's masterpiece traces a poor stonemason's
ill-fated romance with his free-spirited cousin. No Victorian institution
is spared — marriage, religion, education — and the outrage following
publication led the embittered author to renounce fiction. Modern critics
hail this novel as a pioneering work of feminism and socialist thought.
Life's Little Ironies (1894)
94 short story collection, by the English novelist,
short story writer, and poet who was awarded the Order of Merit in 1910.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891)
Wessex Tales (1888)
Short stories.
The Woodlanders (1887)
Giles Winterbourne and Grace Melbury were virtually
promised to one another; now her father has other plans, forcing her
marriage to Edred Fitzpiers. His philandering and poverty sour their
marriage, and the woodman remains sunk in dogged devotion. The events that
follow are echoed in the bewitching but pitiless cycle of the seasons, as
the village of Little Hintock is caught up inextricably in the natural
world.
The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
A cruel joke at a country fair goes too far when a
drunken laborer auctions off his wife and child to the highest bidder. So
begins The Mayor of Casterbridge. Rich in descriptive powers and
steeped in irony, this timeless tale offers a spellbinding portrayal of
ambition, rivalry, revenge, and repentance.
The Return of the Native (1878)
One of Thomas Hardy's most powerful works, The
Return of the Native centers famously on Egdon Heath, the wild, haunted
Wessex moor that D. H. Lawrence called "the real stuff of tragedy." The
heath's changing face mirrors the fortunes of the farmers, inn-keepers,
sons, mothers, and lovers who populate the novel. The "native" is Clym
Yeobright, who comes home from a cosmopolitan life in Paris. He; his
cousin Thomasin; her fiancé, Damon Wildeve; and the willful Eustacia Vye
are the protagonists in a tale of doomed love, passion, alienation, and
melancholy as Hardy brilliantly explores that theme so familiar throughout
his fiction: the diabolical role of chance in determining the course of a
life.
Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)
Far from the Madding Crowd, Hardy’s
passionate tale of the beautiful, headstrong farmer Bathsheba Everdene and
her three suitors, firmly established the thirty-four-year-old writer as a
popular novelist. According to Virginia Woolf, “The subject was right; the
method was right; the poet and the countryman, the sensual man, the sombre
reflective man, the man of learning, all enlisted to produce a book which
. . . must hold its place among the great English novels.” Introducing the
fictional name of “Wessex” to describe Hardy’s legendary countryside, this
early masterpiece draws a vivid picture of rural life in southwest
England.
Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) The Poor Man and the Lady (1867,
unpublished and lost)
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A Laodicean (1881)
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The Hand of Ethelberta (1876)
Ethelberta Petherwin is a glamorous young widow; her
passionate poetry, beauty and wealth make her the star of every salon, and
her faint air of mystery merely increases her allure. But if her hand is
London's most valued prize, it is because no one has yet noticed her
lineage of laborers recently risen to the doubtful heights of domestic
servitude. Hardy scrutinizes Ethelberta as the strain of deception takes
its toll, and her precarious hold on her coveted social status begins to
slip.
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Desperate Remedies (1871)
Hardy launched his writing career with this 1871
novel, which actually was published anonymously. Its sexuality, including
lesbianism, was apparently too much of a Victorian eyebrow-raiser for him
to attach his name.
Romances and Fantasies
As the last of Hardy's novels to be published,
The Well-Beloved has generated great scholarly interest recently.
Partly autobiographical, it tells the story of the sculptor Jocelyn
Pierston, whose search for the ideal woman in both Portland and London
leads him into courtships with a Portland woman, her daughter and her
grand-daughter. This novel was first published as a serial starting
in 1892.
A Group of Noble Dames (1891)
1891 short story collection, by the English novelist, short story writer,
and poet who was awarded the Order of Merit in 1910.
Two on a Tower (1882)
All night the astronomer's mind was on the stretch with curiosity as to
what the Bishop could wish to say to him. A dozen conjectures entered his
brain, to be abandoned in turn as unlikely. That which finally seemed the
most plausible was that the Bishop, having become interested in his
pursuits, and entertaining friendly recollections of his father, was going
to ask if he could do anything to help him on in the profession he had
chosen.
The Trumpet Major (1880)
The Trumpet Major is set in Wessex during the Napoleonic Wars.
Hardy skilfully immerses us in the life of the day, making us feel the
impact of historical events on the immemorial local way of life - the
glamour of the coming of George III and his soldiery, fears of the
press-gang and invasion, and the effect of distant but momentous events
like the Battle of Trafalgar. He interweaves a compelling, bitter-sweet
romantic love story of the rivalry of two brothers for the hand of the
heroine Anne Garland, played out against the loves of a lively gallery of
other characters. While there are elements of sadness and even tragedy,
The Trumpet-Major shows Hardy's skills of story-telling, characterisation
and description in a novel of vitality, comedy and warmth.
A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873)
'Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay
very near the surface.' Elfride is the daughter of the Rector of Endelstow,
a remote sea-swept parish in Cornwall based on St Juliot, where Hardy
began the book during the first days of his courtship of his first wife
Emma. Blue-eyed and high-spirited, Elfride has little experience of the
world beyond, and becomes entangled with two men: the boyish architect,
Stephen Smith, and the older literary man, Henry Knight. The former
friends become rivals, and Elfride faces an agonizing choice. Written at a
crucial time in Hardy's life, A Pair of Blue Eyes expresses more
directly than any of his novels the events and social forces that made him
the writer he was. Elfride's dilemma mirrors the difficult decision Hardy
himself had to make with this novel: to pursue the profession of
architecture, where he was established, or literature, where he had yet to
make his name?
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Thomas Hardy: The Complete Poems
(2002), James Gibson, ed.
Thomas Hardy's first love was poetry. It was not
until 1898, when he was 58, that his first book of poetry, Wessex Poems
was published. For the final years of his life he abandoned fiction and
devoted himself entirely to poetry; he is now not only regarded as one of
the most important English novelists but is also a poet of major stature
and increasing popularity. The Complete Poems includes Hardy's more
than 900 poems, complemented by detailed notes. Collected here are his
eight books of verse, all the uncollected poems, Domicilium, and the songs
from The Dynasts.
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Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy
(1998)
Thomas Hardy started composing poetry in the heyday
of Tennyson and Browning. He was still writing with unimpaired power sixty
years later, when Eliot and Yeats were the leading names in the field. His
extraordinary stamina and a consistent individuality of style and vision
made him a survivor, immune to literary fashion. At the start of the
twenty-first century his reputation stands higher than it ever did, even
in his own lifetime. He is now recognised not only as a great poet, but as
one who is widely loved. He speaks with directness, humanity and humour to
scholarly or ordinary readers alike.
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Selected Poems (1998), Robert
Mezey, ed.
Only after Hardy's death did his poetry begin to receive
the acclaim it demands. Experimenting vigorously with rhythm, stress and
verse forms, Hardy colors the depths of his thematic efforts with
technical vibrancy. Whether dwelling on personal grief or tender domestic
dramas, his genius for rhetorical ambiguity continues to challenge
critical expertise.
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Hardy: Poems (1995)
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Winter Words; in Various Moods and Metres (1928)
Published after his death.
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Human Shows, Far Phantasies, Songs, and Trifles (1925)
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Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses (1922)
A massive compilation of poems penned by Hardy is
presented here. Each brilliant piece showcases the originality of his
verse. The abundant range of tone and attitude and the wide spectrum of
themes make this collection a sure treat for poetry lovers. A
scintillating treasure trove!
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Collected Poems (1919, part of the
Mellstock Edition of his novels and poems)
See
Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy.
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Moments of Vision (1919)
An excellent collection that includes some of
Hardy's most beautiful poems on war and patriotism. Hardys poems are a
classic example of employing lyrical language and melodious phrases to the
best effect. His poetry confirms his status as a poet of great stature. A
mesmerizing piece of art!
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Satires of Circumstances: Lyrics and Reveries with Miscellaneous Pieces (1914)
At the age of 55 Hardy returned to writing poetry, a
form he had previously abandoned. Satires of Circumstances is a
collection of Hardy's short poems, both lyric and visionary.
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Time's Laughingstocks: And Other Verses (1909)
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The Dynasts
The Dynasts is "an epic-drama of the war with
Napoleon, in three parts, nineteen acts and one hundred and thirty scenes"
by Thomas Hardy, whose parts were published in 1904, 1906 and 1908
respectively. The action is impossible to present on stage due to its
elaborate battle-scenes and it is therefore usually counted as a closet
drama. By the English novelist, short story writer, and poet who was
awarded the Order of Merit in 1910.
1.
The Dynasts, Part 1 (1904)
2.
The Dynasts, Part 2 (1906)
3.
The Dynasts. Part 3 (1908)
Dickens to Hardy 1837-1884: The Novel, the Past and Cultural Memory in the Nineteenth Century
(2007) by Julian Wolfreys
Dickens to Hardy, 1837-1884
charts the transitions of particular Victorian literary and cultural
concerns across nearly fifty years of the Nineteenth century. With each
chapter focusing on readings of particular novels, Julian Wolfreys
questions how the Victorian middle classes identified themselves in their
modernity and discusses how literature mediated the construction of
identities through notions of cultural memory. Additionally, two chapters
focus on particular genres, the gothic and the political, in the novel
tradition of the Nineteenth century.
Thomas Hardy (2007) by Claire
Tomalin
Today Thomas Hardy is
best known for creating the great Wessex landscape as the backdrop to his
rural stories, starting with Far from the Madding Crowd, and making them
classics. But his true legacy is that of a progressive thinker. When he
published Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure late in his
career, Hardy explored a very different world than that of his rural
tales, one in which the plight of lower classes and women take center
stage while the higher classes are damned. Ironically, though, Hardy
remained cloaked in the arms of this very upper class during the
publication of these books, acting at all times in complete convention
with the rules of society. Was he using his books to express himself in a
way he felt unable to do in the company he kept, or did he know
sensationalism would sell? Award-winning author Claire Tomalin expertly
reconstructs the life that led Hardy to maintain conventionality and write
revolution.
Born in Dorset in 1840, Hardy came of age in rather meager circumstances.
At sixteen, he left home for London and slowly worked his way through many
rejections to become a published writer. Despite his mother's admonitions
to never marry, he wed Emma Lavinia Gifford in 1874 and, even though he
fell easily in love, stayed true to her till her death in 1912. He
frequently toured London society, but few felt they knew the true Hardy,
and it is this very core of self that Tomalin elegantly brings us to know
so completely.
Hardy's work consistently challenged sexual and religious conventions in a
way that few other books of his time did. Though his personal modesty and
kindness allowed some to underestimate him or even to pity him, they did
not prevent him from taking on the central themes of human
experience-time, memory, loss, love, fear, grief, anger, uncertainty,
death. And it was exactly his quiet life, full of the small, personal
dramas of family quarrels, rivalries, and at times, despair, that infuses
his works with the rich detail that sets them apart as masterpieces. In
this engrossing biography, Tomalin skillfully identifies the inner demons
and the outer mores that drove Hardy and presents a rich and complex
portrait of one of the greatest figures in English literature.
Thomas Hardy Remembered (2007) by
Martin Ray
Thomas Hardy's Novel Universe: Astronomy, Cosmology, and
Gender in the Post-Darwinian World (2007)
by Pamela Gossin
So You Think You Know Thomas Hardy?
(2005) by John Sutherland
How well do you really know your favourite author? Ace
literary detective turned quizmaster John Sutherland challenges the reader
to find out. Starting with easy, factual questions that test how well you
remember a novel and its characters, the quiz progresses to a level of
greater difficulty, demanding close reading and interpretative deduction.
What really motivates the characters, and what is going on beneath the
surface of the story? From Bathsheba's valentine to Tess's favourite cows,
the subjects range across six of Hardy's most popular novels. Designed to
amuse and divert, the questions and answers take the reader on an
imaginative journey into the world of Thomas Hardy, where hypothesis and
speculation produce fascinating and unexpected insights. Whether you are
an expert or enthusiast, So You Think You Know Thomas Hardy? guarantees
you will know him much better after reading it.
Seeing Hardy: Film and Television Adaptations of the Fiction of Thomas Hardy (2003) by Paul J. Niemeyer
This book is the first book-length study in what has
become a growing field of interest in film adaptations of Hardy's novels.
Part One of this book analyzes the popular image of Hardy and his work,
the reproduction of this image in film adaptations, and critical
stereotypes about him and his fiction. Part Two juxtaposes Hardy's Far
from the Madding Crowd and Schlesinger's adaptation, Hardy's Tess
of the d'Urbervilles and Polanski's adaptation, and Hardy's Jude
the Obscure and Winterbottom's adaptation. Each discussion of the
novel and adaptation in question considers the novel itself, the critical
history of the novel, how it has been adapted to film, and how the
individual filmmakers have struggled with problems inherent in Hardy's
novels. Part Three analyzes adaptations of The Woodlanders, The Scarlet
Tunic, and The Claim, all of which have scarcely been seen in
the United States or which were not distributed in the United States, and
four television movies and miniseries that were based on Hardy's work.
Thomas Hardy A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work (2002) by Sarah Bird Wright
Thomas Hardy: His Life and Work
(2001) by F. E. Halliday
Hardy's belief that 'The ultimate aim of the poet should be
to touch our hearts by showing his own,' is endorsed in his own works -
whether poetry or prose, his compassion is what lends it greatness. The
full appreciation of his work depends on an understanding of his life:
they are so inextricably intertwined that they must be treated together.
With the refined estimation of an expert, Halliday gives us a remarkable
introduction to Hardy's anguished soul and brilliant work.
Thomas Hardy: The Novels (2001)
by Norman Page
This book provides models for close analysis of
Hardy, with particular focus on Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor
of Casterbridge, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure.
Part one focuses on major themes and key passages, while part two includes
background information on Hardy's life and career, a guide to leading
critics, and to further reading.
The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy
(1999) by Dale Kramer
The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy
is an essential introduction to this most enigmatic of writers. These
newly commissioned essays from an international team of contributors
comprise a general overview of all of Thomas Hardy's work and specific
demonstrations of his ideas and literary skills. Individual essays explore
Hardy's biography, aesthetics, his famous attachment to Wessex, and the
impact on his work of developments in science, religion and philosophy in
the late-nineteenth century. The volume also contains a detailed
chronology of Hardy's life, and a guide to further reading.
Thomas Hardy's World: The Life, Times and Works of the Great Novelist and Poet (1997) by Molly Lefebure
Cancelled Words: Rediscovering Thomas Hardy (1992) by Rosemari Morgan
The manuscript of Hardy's first great novel, Far
From the Madding Crowd, vanished shortly after its first publication.
Rediscovered in 1918 and sold into private hands, it was eventually
bequeathed to the Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale University and
studied here in depth, for the first time, by Rosemarie Morgan. This lost
manuscript sheds remarkable new light not only on this novel but on the
whole of Hardy's work.
The manuscript pages, facsimiles of which are reproduced here, reveal
Hardy's original composition in the novel and the reluctantly "cancelled
words" which were the result of a long struggle with Sir Leslie Stephen,
Hardy's editor. The book was originally commissioned as a rural piece, yet
Hardy had other ideas, and author and editor battled over the novel's
development. Professor Morgan reveals that Hardy's chief concerns--the
development of artistic balance, the role and position of women, his
critical view of class distinction--are all articulated much more clearly
in the first version than in the printed text. She demonstrates that these
pages, with words scored through, sentences overwritten and paragraphs
revised, show his progressive development as a twentieth-century
"modernist" in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He was
1"father" of the modern novel's valorization of the "low-life" hero and
heroine.
Cancelled Words reveals a manner in which Hardy worked: his
resistance to censorship, his scrupulous attention to detail and
precision, and the often concealed processes underlying his authorship.
Ultimately, it serves to shape our understanding of the development of the
modern novel.
Thomas Hardy (1989, 2003) by
Patricia Ingham
Thomas Hardy and Women: Sexual Ideology and Narrative Form (1982) by Penny Boumelha
Illustration and the Novels of Thomas Hardy
(1981) by Arlene M. Jackson
Thomas Hardy: Distance and Desire
(1970) by J. Hillis Miller
Sound and Form in Modern Poetry: A Study of Prosody from Thomas Hardy to Robert Lowell
(1964) by Harvey Gross
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