Q: PASSIONS IN HARDY’S NOVELS BECOME AGENTS TO BARBARIC

FATE, EUSTACIA VYE HAS TO FACE THE TRAGEDY DUE TO HER

LOVE FOR CLYME, COMMENT?
Q: EUSTACIA VYE PRESENTS HARDY’S CONCEPT OF TRAGIC
HEROINE. DO YOU AGREE THAT SHE LACKS REAL SENSE OF A
TRAGIC PROTAGONIST?
Q: DISCUSS ROLE AND CHARACTER OF EUSTACIA VYE? Ans:
For Hardy, romantic passion can be dangerous. Another kind of passion,
uncontrolled anger, can also have unfortunate consequences. The only feelings,
which can be trusted, are moderate, like Thomasin’s kindness and desire for
people to be at peace with each other. Relationships between people are best not
when they are violent and sudden, but when they have a long history and have
endured much, like the love between Diggory and Thomasin. Love at first sight, as
Eustacia and Clym find out, is likely to be a mistake. Hot-tempered reactions are
generally a mistake, as well. Hardy understands that passion is fundamental to
human nature- and he portrays passion so well that we cannot help but respond
to it in characters like Eustacia. But he stresses that we must try to act in the light
of reason. We may fail- as Clym does- but we must try. Moderation is the goal.
Is Eustacia really a superior being, or does she merely thinks she is? Are her
passions deeper than other people's, or is she simply greedy? Is she doomed by fate or
by her own selfishness? Few readers have ever been able to decide for certain. That is
the genius of Hardy's portrayal. If you are like most readers, you will find this
beautiful young woman fascinating one moment, exasperating the next. Even the
other characters of the novel find her unpredictable, and their reactions to her vary
widely. Is she a goddess or a witch?
Hardy skillfully avoids simple answers by showing us many sides of this
complex character. At times, he seems sympathetic to her frustrations with her
narrow life, yet he does not shrink from showing her at her worst. She is capable of
deception, and she has a killing temper. She can be disloyal, she can wound with a
perfectly aimed insult, and she can exploit other people’s good nature. Why, then,
does the reader simply not turn away from her? Perhaps because almost everyone
can feel pity for her at moments, such as before her death when she cries out,

“How I have tried and tried to be a splendid woman, and how destiny has
been against me... I do not deserve my lot!”

If she had been able to live in a great city, perhaps she would have been
splendid. If she had found a society that appreciated her rare qualities, rather than
fearing or scorning them as the people of Egdon do, she might have achieved great
things.

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 Hardy’s point, of course, is that those possibilities are not available. Like
all of us, Eustacia must make do with the situation that faces her: she must either
accept or change her fate. Her tragedy is that she refuses to accept it but fails to
change it.
Usually, Hardy describes Eustacia in contrasts, to stress the divided nature of
her soul, the conflicts that torture her. Early in the novel, he writes,
“As far as social ethics were concerned Eustacia approached the savage
state, though in emotion she was all the while an epicure. She had advanced to
the secret recesses of sensuousness, yet had hardly crossed the threshold of
conventionality.”
He is saying that, on the positive side she is a nonconformist, an independent
spirit; but on the negative side, emotion, passion, the heart's needs have become an
obsession with her. She lives solely for romance.
“To be loved to madness- such was her great desire.”
One side of her nature, however, all too poignantly recognizes that love itself is
evanescent: she is terrified of time. Think of her first appearance in the novel,
eagerly searching with her telescope for Damon. She is the very picture of a
desperate woman searching for experience. She carries with her an hourglass, even
though, as Hardy takes pains to point out, she does have a modern watch. It is as if
she actually wants to see time, her dreaded enemy, as it dribbles away. At the
moment which should be her most blissful, when she and Clym decide to marry, she
gazes toward the eclipsed moon and warns,
“See how our time is slipping, slipping, slipping!”
She confides to her lover the deep (and perceptive) fear that their love will not
last.
Though she lives by certain illusions, another side of Eustacia is ruthlessly
realistic. Perhaps her most attractive quality is this inability to lie to herself about
herself. Basically, she knows her own faults; she’s intelligent, perceptive, and
honest. When she first meets Clym, she explains to him that she is depressed by life.
It’s a simple statement, but it may well sum up all her difficulties. Life itself is
somehow too much for her unusually sensitive and demanding nature. Life doesn't
give her what she wants. Life, as she experiences it, is a prison.

Not surprisingly, readers disagree on many aspects of this puzzling, ambiguous

character. Her actions can be seen from many different perspectives. For example,
some say that she sincerely loves Clym; yet surely she also has a selfish
motive in agreeing to marry him: in her mind, the marriage is associated with an
escape to Paris. Throughout the book, her mixed motives often lead to troubling
actions.

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 No matter how many times you read this novel, you will probably never be
certain just how you feel about Eustacia Vye. She is too contradictory; she is too
special and rare. Hardy himself is most eloquent when he describes her in
symbolic terms, as when he writes that she and Damon, walking together under the
full moon, “appeared amid the expanse like two pearls on a table of ebony.” Equally
doomed, these two passionate beings shine brightly in a dark world only to be
extinguished.

Q: DISCUSS THE ROLE AND NECESSITY OF MINOR CHARACTERS,

ESPESICIALLY THOMASIN YEOBRIGHT AND DAMON WILDEVE.
WHAT PURPOSE THEY SERVE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLOT?
Ans:
Countrified and inexperienced, Thomasin seems to be less complex and
Interesting than the other major characters. So far as we can tell, she is not as
passionate as Eustacia, as intellectually profound as Clym, as sophisticated as
Wildeve, or as intuitively insightful as Mrs. Yeobright. Hardy likens her
to a bird, and she often flits through a scene, scattering good cheer but not pausing to
alight. And yet, it is Thomasin who gets (and perhaps deserves, in Hardy's view) a
happy life, in conventional terms.
As the novel comes to a close, Thomasin feels fulfilled, as a loving mother and
beloved wife. The more ambitious characters have exposed themselves too openly to
fate; she is content with her lot, rooted to the heath where she has grown up,
comfortable with the simple life of the Egdon area, she belongs. There is no conflict
between what she is and where she is.
Perhaps, in that sense, she is the most fortunate character in the novel.
Unhappiness does come to her, but only when some element intrudes that rubs
against the grain of ordinary Egdon life- Wildeve's attraction, Eustacia’s rivalry,
even Clym’s return from Paris. Although she is drawn to Wildeve, he does not
belong on Egdon Heath, and ultimately she cannot be happy with someone who is so
foreign to (and contemptuous of) the ideas, people, and land that her life is tied to.
Diggory, on the other hand, who actually lives on the open heath, is a good match for
her.
Uncomplicated as she may be, however, Thomasin is no fool. She marries
Wildeve with her eyes open; she has a pretty good idea of his faults. Without being
told or shown, she recognizes when his passion for Eustacia comes back to life.
Eventually, when she is free, she comes to appreciate Diggory’s deep, slow, and
silent commitment to her.
Perhaps more important than what she sees, however, is what she wants to see.
For example, when Clym and his mother are not speaking, she tries to act the role of
peacemaker. When Clym is estranged from Eustacia, again Thomasin urges
reconciliation. She does not like conflict. Perhaps Hardy, who doesn't support
traditional Christian ideas in this novel, nonetheless believes somewhat in the New
Testament idea, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Thomasin is good because she is

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concerned for the good of others. She is in harmony with her world; she wants to
share that harmony.
Alone among the major characters, Thomasin represents the continuity of
human life. Clym cannot bring himself to marry again, but she can. Motherhood is
important to her; she won't even let the hired nurse carry her child. Why she is
finally attracted to Diggory? He is a dairy farmer and has been a reddleman- in both
cases, working with the basics of sustaining life. These two are meant for each other;
for example, on the stormy night when Wildeve and Eustacia drown, Thomasin lets
Diggory carry her child. She shows no one else this basic form of trust.
Oddly, Thomasin has little personal history on the page before us- no parents,
no siblings, and no close personal friends. Who is she? Who or what has influenced
her most? In some ways, she resembles Mrs. Yeobright; also, she is clearly affected
by Clym's opinions. Finally, though, it may be best to see her, as Hardy does, as a
birdlike creature that finds Egdon Heath her native habitat. She flourishes there. To
understand her, we would have to understand the mysterious heath itself.
Romantic Wildeve is a striking contrast to Hardy's plain, honest country folk.
His past is shady. He has failed at his career as an engineer, perhaps because of
laziness; he seems never to have failed with women, however. More than anyone
else in the novel, he cares about money and is usually strangely lucky in getting it.
This man has never had to work hard for anything.
Thoughtless, handsome, eager for what he cannot have, Damon Wildeve is not a
strong or a likeable character. He seems to have no friends and no family
connections, although he is sexually irresistible to many young women. He seems
unusually sophisticated for the wilds of Egdon- much like Eustacia. The crucial
difference between them is his overriding weakness. He does not have her high
standards or her depth of feeling. In fact, Hardy
often shows Wildeve taking rash steps almost frivolously, like someone gambling
with life. He just can't take other people's needs too seriously. He isn't evil, but he is
so self- centred that other people suffer.
What Wildeve wants most is comfort and pleasure, a life of ease. Even Eustacia,
who partly shares these desires, knows that he is really not very substantial; she's
quickly diverted from him when Clym arrives, and only returns to Wildeve when
Clym disappoints her. When Wildeve dies, he is not mourned long. His only
legacy, a daughter, is ironically the product of a marriage to Thomasin that he really
wanted to avoid.
Yet perhaps we can feel sorry for Wildeve, caught up in the tragic web of
circumstances, too weak to resist the fate that sweeps him along. Is Wildeve a
villain- a liar, gambler, and seducer? Or is he simply a shallow man who has
blundered into a more tumultuous world than he was meant for? Consider both
possibilities as you read the novel.
Clym's mother has definite limitations. She is snobbish, even though her own
social position would not be very high outside Egdon. She is stubborn and likes to
get her own way; she interferes, with disastrous consequences. On the other hand,

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her judgments about people turn out to be remarkably accurate. Also, her deep love
for Clym and for Thomasin always wins out over her temper, and she is willing to
forgive. She has a strong sense of fairness; for example, she does her best to be
polite to Wildeve.
Like her son and niece, Mrs. Yeobright feels at home in Egdon. Her life there is
simple and unpretentious, in tune with the community. She is part of an older
generation, so perhaps we can forgive her for trying to manipulate the young people.
What chiefly motivates her is love for Clym. She wants him to be successful
financially, married to someone who will be devoted to him. And yet, without
knowing it consciously, she also probably wants to keep him for herself.
In addition to being a strong central character, Mrs. Yeobright is also a kind of
symbol. She is the last representative of her generation. Even at Egdon, change is on
the way. For Hardy, she may well embody both the faults and virtues of a particular
time and place that's rapidly passing away.
Strong and silent, Diggory Venn is not what he seems to be. At night, he looks
like a demon, but he has the morals of an angel. People think he is low on the social
scale, but he can at any time return to being a successful farmer. He is also
“artful,” able to disguise his true feelings, when he is courting the one love of his
life, Thomasin.

Diggory is, of course, almost too good to be true. To many readers, he almost
appears to be a supernatural being. He arrives in the nick of time, whenever
Thomasin seems to be in danger. He can move swiftly across the heath at night; he
can beat the lucky gambler Wildeve, even with Wildeve's own dice. It seems
Diggory can almost read men's minds. Capable, insightful, loyal, he performs the
role of a guardian angel.
It is easy to see why Hardy originally thought that Diggory should simply
disappear at the end of the novel, instead of settling down with Thomasin. Diggory
is too fantastic a creation to fit easily into an ordinary home life. However, he says
he has entered this strange life as a reddleman only because Thomasin rejected
him; to marry her, then, he returns to normal society.
Though his actions seem magical, Diggory's heart is totally human. It is part of
his appeal that Diggory steadfastly loves Thomasin. She is not clever or
sophisticated, and she has been foolish. She is generous, however, and her heart is in
the right place. Diggory unlike Clym and Wildeve, falls in love for reasons that
may cause love to last. He combines Clym's sense of justice with a practical
understanding of how men and women actually live their lives.

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HARDY AS A REGIONAL NOVELIST
THE WESSEX OF THOMAS HARDY

The Location of Wessex:

An understanding of Hardy’s Wessex is necessary for a proper understanding of his
works. This region forms the background to all that he has written. In some of his
novels, as in “The Return of the Native” it is dominant influencing both character
and action.
Wessex was the name of the ancient kingdom of the legendary king Alfred.
Hardy used this name for the six odd countries in the south-west part of England.
His Wessex stretches from the English Channel in the south, to Cornwall in the
west, and as far as Oxford to the north. This limited region forms the scenic
background to each of his eighteen “Wessex Novels” and to his poems and epic
drama. The same physical features—hills and dales, rivers, pastures, meadows,
woodlands and heaths appear and re-appear in all his works. This gives his work a
scenic continuity and a touch of realism. Every event in his novels takes place in this
locality. He never goes out of this. That is why; he is called a regional novelist.

Wessex: Its realism

The centre of Hardy’s Wessex is the country of Dorestshire. Here he was born and
bred up and it was here that he settled in after life. Here he produced the best of his
works. He had a thorough knowledge of this region. He had absorbed its sweet scent
and substances .He has de- scribed the physical features of Wessex with such
accuracy that these places become real. He has expressed the very spirit of this
locality in his works. He has given immortality to the land of Wessex that is why
many a Hardy lovers and topographer has taken the imaginary for the real and has
gone in search of various landmarks described in the Wessex Novels.

Wessex: Its Historical Associations

The countries of the Southwestern part of England are rich in historical

associations. The Romans ruled there for a number of years and have left their
monuments behind. Race by race and tribe by tribe as they came and went, they have
left the traces of their arrival, which time has failed to wipe out. Hardy is fully
aware of the historic character of the region that he has chosen as a background to
his works. He invokes history, even pre-history and geology, to cast over the land of
Wessex a romantic glow. In “Tess”, we get the temple of Stonehenge, which the

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 ancients had built to pacify the powers. Then there are the palaces of ancient Wessex
families like that of the D’Urbervilles, now in ruins but still important landmarks
in Hardy’s landscapes

Life and Customs of Wessex

Hardy is closely familiar with the life and customs of the Wessex rustics. He knows
every detail of the business of the farmer, the woodcutter, the hay-trusser, the cider
maker, the shepherd and the dairy man. This knowledge is not that of a person who
has studied their life from apart, with a sense of superiority, but of one who has
lived with them and mixed with them on a equal footing as one of them. Characters
in Wessex novels are drawn not from the upper class of society but from the lowest
and the humblest rank of life. Henchard in “The Mayor of Caster- bridge” is a hay-
trusser. Clym also turns a hay-trusser and furze-cutter, Tess in the “Tess of the
D’Urbervilles” is a dairy maid. He reveals to us the intimate details of their respective
professions, their skills and the hardships of their lives. He tells us about the
inherent nobility of their souls, their persistence and their struggle against heavy
odds. They have to get their humble livelihood from Nature and depend upon her
unexpected changes for their life.

Wessex Rustics: Their Recreations

No aspect of Wessex life escapes from Hardy’s eyes. Dancing, singing and drinking
are their favourite recreations. In the evening, or whenever they have leisure, they
assemble in some inn and pass their time in drinking and singing or in idle gossip.
For example, in “The Mayor of Casterbridge” the rustics gather at the Three
Mariners, drink as they gossip, and pass comments on the events of the day. They
heartily enjoy the song of Farfare, and press him to repeat his performance. Village
fares are also a good source of entertainment for them. We also get an account of
such a fair in “The return of The Native”, at which Eustacia dances with Wildieve.

Wessex: Orthodoxy and Fatalism

The Wessex of Hardy is an isolated country. Railways and modern
industrialization have not yet reached it. The Wessex rustics live their own life
untouched by modernism. Many quaint customs and superstitions persist. They are
still fatalistic. In “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, we get the “Skimmity Ride”. The
residents of Mixen Lane take out on an ass the effigies of Hen- chard and Lucetta in
close embrace, symbolizing their immoral relations. Elizabeth-Jane passively accepts
her sorry fate because what is looted cannot be blotted. Tess when confronted with

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misfortunes passively exclaims, “It was to be”, and goes on as usual about the daily
business of her life.

Wessex Superstitions
The Wessex rustics are very superstitious. Education has not yet cleared the darkness
of ignorance from the land. In every town, there are spirit callers and fortunetellers.
In “The Return of the Native”, Susan Nunsuch burns a wax effigy of Eustacia whom
she regards as a witch. There is also the superstition, ‘no moon, and no man’. In “Tess
of the D’Urbervilles”, we find that an evening crow is considered an ill omen as it
signifies premarital sex experience on the part of the bride. In this very novel, the
cattle are supposed to withhold their yield on the arrival of a new hand and soften
only when music is played to them.

Modernism and its Tragic Consequences

Hardy is suspicious of the advance of modern civilization. Wessex is so far
unaffected by it, but sophisticated people from the town arrive to disturb the even
culture of the simple Wessex folk. The rustics are happy and contended in spite of
their backwardness, their poverty and their dull and monotonous ways. The impact
of the modernism leads to tragedy. In “Tess”, it is the sophisticated and self-centered
Angel Clare and Alec who are responsible for the tragedy of Tess, a pure woman
more sinned against than sinning. It is the same in all other prose works of Hardy.

The universal Element

Such is Hardy’s Wessex. He has immortalized it and put it on the world map. Hardy
is a great regional novelist because he has imparted universal interest to a particular
region. The scenes of his entire novel are laid in one particular region. He treats only
of its life, its history and its geography. Still his novels are of great interest even to
those who have nothing to do with Wes- sex. This is so because he has succeeded in
universalizing the regional and the topical. He concentrates on passions and
emotions that are universal; they are real themes of his novels.

HARDY’S PLOT CONSTRUCTION:

Definition of plot:
The plot usually refers to the sequence of events and happenings that make up a story.
There is usually a pattern, unintended or intentional, that threads the plot together.
The plot basically refers to the main outcome and order of the story. There is another
kind of plot in literature as well; it refers to the conflict or clash occurring as a part of

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the story. The conflict usually follows 3 regular formats: a) characters in conflict with
one another b) characters in conflict with their surroundings and c) characters in
conflict with themselves.

Whereas Encyclopedia Britannica explains plot in the following lines:

Plot, in fiction, the structure of interrelated actions, consciously selected and arranged
by the author. Plot involves a considerably higher level of narrative organization than
normally occurs in a story or fable. According to E.M. Forster in Aspects of the
Novel (1927), a story is a “narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence,” whereas
a plot organizes the events according to a “sense of causality.”
In the history of literary criticism, plot has undergone a variety of interpretations. In
the Poetics, Aristotle assigned primary importance to plot (mythos) and considered it
the very “soul” of a tragedy. Later critics tended to reduce plot to a more mechanical
function, until, in the Romantic era, the term was theoretically degraded to an outline
on which the content of fiction was hung. Such outlines were popularly thought to
exist apart from any particular work and to be reusable and interchangeable. They
might be endowed with life by a particular author through his development of
character, dialogue, or some other element. The publication of books of “basic plots”
brought plot to its lowest esteem.
In the 20th century there have been many attempts to redefine plot as movement, and
some critics have even reverted to the position of Aristotle in giving it primary
importance in fiction. These neo-Aristotelians (or Chicago school of critics), following
the leadership of the critic Ronald S. Crane, have described plot as the author’s control
of the reader’s emotional responses—his arousal of the reader’s interest and anxiety
and the careful control of that anxiety over a duration of time. This approach is only
one of many attempts to restore plot to its former place of priority in fiction.

Hardy’s plots have a definite structure, design and plan, like Fielding have.
Framework is tight and definite too. Dramatic in quality, these plots have nothing
extra and unnecessary. His plots are much exciting, overdramatic and genuine.

Architectural Design

An architect by his early training, Hardy gives to his novels an architectural design.
He is a superb master on the constructive side of his plots. He builds it as mason or
an architect builds a house. As a building raises brick by brick, so Hardy’s plots rise
scene by scene. They are constructed in scenes that are the bricks of his plots of
which philosophy is the cement. The setting of every part is calculated, every stone
has its place, and every bit of mortar bears its part. The creative work of Hardy is

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 ruled by a dominant common sense; the logic of events is clear and never moves by
appointed sequences.

Suspense and Surprise

Hardy has matchless gift of a storyteller, that of making his stories interesting. The
interest of his stories is remarkably maintained from the beginning to the end.
Effective use is made of suspense and surprise, of hope and hopelessness, of chance
and incident.
“Return of The Native” Plot from Beginning to End
Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation,
conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers
sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Initial Situation
From the beginning until the end of Book 1.
The end of Book 1, of course, when Eustacia learns that Clym is coming home from
Paris, which basically sets everything else into motion.
Conflict
Book 2 – Eustacia and Clym meet and get married.
In the midst of falling in love, these two crazy kids manage to seriously anger Mrs.
Yeobright (hence the conflict). This love affair is far from calm, and we have the
ongoing conflict with Damon as well.
Complication
From Eustacia and Clym's marriage until Mrs. Yeobright decides to pay a visit.
Eustacia and Clym's marriage gets hurt by one problem after another, so the two grow
distant. Damon and Thomasin aren't having a great time either. Mrs. Yeobright tries
to give her relatives their inheritance, which of course goes badly.
Climax
Mrs. Yeobright tries to visit her son and ends up dying that night without ever
reconciling with him.
Oh, the drama. This is the major turning point of the novel and Mrs. Yeobright's
death sets the stage for all that follows.
Suspense
Immediately following Mrs. Yeobright's death until Eustacia leaves Clym's house after
their fight.
The suspense is out of control here, given Eustacia's crushing guilty secret and Clym's
obsessive need to find out about his mother's death.
Denouement
From Eustacia's return to her grandfather's house until her and Damon's deaths.

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It's all downhill in this section, though not in terms of action – everyone is pretty
much just doomed. The requisite tragic deaths occur here.
Conclusion
Book 6.
Everything wraps up here and the (surviving) characters get their endings, though not
all are particularly happy.

His Demerits
Following are the demerits of Hardy:
1. His plots are melodramatic, sensational and superficial. J.W. Beach points
out, there is too much of piling up of stage tricks, a series of circumstances,
violent and surprising, all obvious and striking arrangements for providing
excitement. Chance, coincidences, surprises, accidents, over-heard
conversations, old people turning suddenly etc., are certainly artificial devices,
and this criticism of Hardy’s plots is almost true. Hardy’s plots turn too much
upon chance and so appear forced and unnatural. Chance events in his stories
are numerous. However, it can be added to Hardy’s credit that these elements
keep up the interest of the story.
2. The Love element is obvious. The plots are so solidly built round a love-
situation, generally of a complicated nature. “The Mayor of Casterbridge”
seems to be the only exception. Duffin says , “Hardy’s plot take its rise from
the fact of two or more men loving one woman or two or more women loving
one man, or from a combination of two varieties of complications.” The
typical Hardy plot is a love story and it is marked simple. It concerns it- self
with the lives of a few persons alone. The action proceeds in a few great
movements, and in clean direct lines.
3. Hardy’s plots lack of variety. As has been shown above, they are all love
tales. Hardy’s plots are under influence of his philosophy. They are all based
on a conflict between Man and his destiny. In this conflict, Man is always
broken, despite the heroic struggle that he might put up. Thus, all the plots
have sameness, a sort of family likeness. They are repetitive. This sameness
and lack of variety also results from the fact that the scene of action is always
placed in Hardy’s Wessex. The same physical features, the same hills, dales,
heath and the same rustics, speaking the same dialect appear and re-appear
successively in one novel after another.

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HARDY: ART OF CHARACTERISATION
Hardy is the creator of large number of important figures of literature. He has
created larger number of characters than any other writer except Shakespeare. His
command over human personality is extensive. Angle Clare, Clym Yeobright, Gabriel
Oak, Henchard, Tess, Eustacia, Bathsheba are only a few out of the many immortal
characters of Hardy. It is a gallery of ever- lasting delight.
Almost in all the novels and all the drama, the central action is the expression of the
central character. Hardy develops the character as the other novelists, through the
stress of circumstances. Hardy has drawn his characters by using vivid descriptive
phrases, metaphors and comparisons. The very movements and gestures of his
characters often reveal their characters. For example the indifference of Henchard
is revealed in the very turn and plant of each foot. His character is further developed
using a wealth of metaphors scattered all over the novel.
Hardy uses the method of set description in characterization. It has been used with
the rare success in the case of Eustacia in “The Return of The Native”. A complete
chapter is devoted to portray her personality. First, there is a succession of light
touches in the usual manner of Hardy, then follows the complete chapter of
description. Thomas Hardy does not give us the descriptions as an inferior artist
would have done. Instead, a catalogue of Eustacia’s charms, Hardy tells us what
she suggests and what she stands for. Thus, her hair is not said to be black, but that a
whole winter does not contain darkness enough to form its shadows. Similarly, her
motion suggests the ebb and flow of the sea, and her voice the viola. Clym Yeobright,
too, in this very novel, has been given a lengthy and set treatment. Hardy rarely
describe a character as a photographer, but like one who rises above the physical and
tries to understand the mind and soul of the person under study.
Thomas Hardy’s characters are real and life like. They are like ordinary human
beings subject to ordinary joys and sorrows of life and common human passions. He
does not have either an- gels or gods. His characters are gems but they are flawed.
They are all of the earth.
As David Cecil says, “The fact is he cannot simply paint at full length odious people.
Odious implies meanness. And mean people neither feel deeply nor are aware of
any issue larger than those involved in the gratification of their own selfish
desires”. Hardy simply cannot get into the heart of such people. It does not mean
that all his successful creatures are virtuous. Hen- chard and Eustacia commit sins
but they do so in the grand manner. This grand manner is the expression of an over
mastering passion, not the calculated consequence of selfish lust. More over they
know they are doing wrong – they are torn with conscience. Therefore we do not

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 dislike them. Thus Hardy’s characters are life-like, realistic; they are compound of
good and evil like real human beings. They are without grossness and vulgarity.
That is why they are idealized.
Some of Hardy’s characters are mere types such as Clare and Jocelyn Pierston; and
that is why their appeal is limited. But Hardy’s greatest characters are neither
types nor individuals, they are universals. Each of them comprehends within itself
the whole of human nature, and that is why they appeal to all.

Limitations of Hardy’s art of characterization may now be noted. As David Cecil

points out, his imaginative range is extremely limited. Almost all his successful
characters belong to Wessex and to the lower class of society. In the lower ranks of
society, conduct or action is the real expression of character. He wanted to
understand human nature, and so he goes to the simplest specimen of it.
Just as Thomas Hardy cannot portray men and women from the upper class, so also
he is not successful in the portrayal of intellectuals. His intellectuals are selfish,
hard-hearted and contemptible. There is no generous impulse in them; they show the
evil effects of cold reason. Clym’s treatment of his wife and mother is strong and
unhesitant in his hardness. Clare fails Tess at the greatest crisis of her life because
of his hard logical deposit.
Another limitation of Hardy results from the impact of his philosophy on his novels.
His theme is “man’s predicament in the universe”. In each one of his novels, he shows
man ranged against a cruel destiny. Therefore his characters come to have a family
likeness. Thus the same type of characters is repeated over and over again.
It has also been said that Thomas Hardy is successful only in painting simple
natures. We do not get from him any complex characters. He is incapable of that
subtle psychoanalysis, that analysis of human motives.
To conclude, we can say that his characterization is not only external, but internal
also. Hardy goes down to the lowest ranks of society for his heroes and heroines
and shows that they, too, have souls as beautiful, as mysteriously interesting and as
spiritually adventurous, as those of kings and queens. Tess has a beautiful soul, and
the tragedy arises from the fact that her pure soul is crushed into impurity. The
probing of the hidden depths of the souls of ordinary people gives Hardy a quite
extraordinary position among the great creators of character.

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HARDY’S PHILOSOPHY
Hardy was an artist and not a philosopher. He repeatedly argued that the views
expressed in his novels were not his beliefs; they were simply impressions of the
moment. His writings were all mood dictated. Therefore, it was wrong to expect any
philosophy of life. However, when the reader finds certain impressions constantly and
repeatedly in his works, diaries and letters, he can easily take them as his ideas and
philosophy.

Suffering: A Universal
In Hardy’s considered views, all life is suffering. Man suffers from the moment of
his birth up to his death. Happiness is only occasional; it is not the general rule. He
says in “The Mayor of Casterbridge” that happiness is but an occasional episode in a
general drama of pain. There is no one who gets more than he deserves but there are
many who get much less than what they de- serve.

Imperfection of the First Cause:

Hardy says that the real cause of the suffering of the humanity is the imperfection of
the force on high; the power that caused or created this sorry scheme of things. He
rejects the convention- al belief of Christianity. He regards this power as blind and
indifferent. This power has no sense of right or wrong.

Nature as Instrument of the First Cause

According to Hardy, this power shows itself in a number of ways. Sometimes, it
manifests itself as force of Nature. Nature generally remains indifferent from the
characters of Hardy. For ex- ample, sufferings of Tess go unattended by Nature.
Sometimes the forces of Nature seem to act against Hardy’s characters. “The Return of
The Native” is a tragedy of character and environment. Egdon Heath plays a
prominent part in the novel and is largely responsible for the tragedy.

The irony of Circumstances

The ruling power of Nature sometimes expresses itself as irony of circumstances.
Hardy says that in this ill-conceived scheme of things the contrary always happens.
We expect one thing and the opposite occurs. Right things never happen at the right
time. They happen either not at all, or too late. It brings nothing but misery and
suffering. The heroines of Hardy, like Tess and Eustacia and some of the male
characters, like Clym, Henchard, Angel and Alec are all the victims of irony of
circumstances. The wrong man comes first, and when the right man comes, it is too
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 late. Thus, Tess remained a vague impression to Angel Clare, until Alec had
violated her, and it was too late for them to live together happily.

In fact, Hardy’s characters in general are the victims of this irony. Their intentions and
hopes are constantly frustrated, as if some hostile power were working against them.

The Role of Chance and Fate

There is a great difference between the chance and irony of circumstances. Chance is
entirely unexpected and has no relation either to character or to the course of action,
while the essence of irony of circumstances or fate is its opposition to the wishes of a
character. Chance may some- time work in favour of a particular character, but in
Hardy’s, it always operated against them. Chance plays an important role in life and so
in Hardy’s novels. The undesired and the unexpected always happen. Thus, Tess
suffers because the letter she had written to Angel on the eve of their marriage never
reaches him. By chance, it slips beneath the carpet and Angel never finds it.

Love: A Potent cause of suffering

Love is another cause of the suffering of the characters in Hardy’s novels. The women
are specially its chosen victims. In “Tess”, the cruel cause of things has hardened them
with the powerful sex-instinct that they have never desired, and because of which they
have to twist with pain and pass sleepless nights.

Human Freedom of Action: Its Limitations

Character may be destiny in Shakespeare, but it is certainly not in Hardy’s world. In
Hardy’s view, character is responsible for suffering only to a limited extent. Inborn
instincts determine the actions of a person largely. Even if he wishes, he cannot act
against them. Hardy believes in Schopenhauer’s view, “A person can do what he wills,
but he cannot will what he wills”. He has only a very limited freedom of action.

The Role of Chance in "The Return of the Native"

Chance plays an important role, even an exaggerated role, in the novels of Thomas
Hardy. Many things which are mysterious and sudden, which cannot be accounted for
in any natural way, take place. The unexpected often happens and always it is the
undesirable unexpected. Such chance events are heavy blows aimed at the head
of Hardy's protagonists and they send them to their doom.
Hardy's plots are dominated by chance events. This is also true of the Return of the
Native. In this novel also there are many things which happen at the wrong moment,

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 when they are least expected to happen, and the result is sorrow, suffering, and tragedy
for all concerned. For example,
(1) Clym's coming across Eustacia by chance as he returns home with his mother and
Thomasin, leads to their sad and tragic love.
(2) It is just a matter of chance that Diggory is a few minutes late in coming to propose
for Thomasin's hand. Wildeve reaches before him and is accepted. Had Diggory
reached earlier, he would have married Thomasin and Wildeve would have married
Eustacia. Much sorrow and suffering would have been avoided in this way.
(3) It is by chance that Christian meets some friends and goes with them to the Quiet
Woman. It is by chance that he wins at the game of dice. The result is that Wildeve
comes to know that he has Thomasin's guineas on him, and he wins all of them from
him.
(4) It is just a chance that Wildeve comes to Eustacia's house exactly at the
moment that Mrs. Yeobright also reaches there.
(5) It is just a chance that Clym moves, and mutters "mother", in his sleep, just at the
moment Mrs. Yeobright knocks at the door. The result is that Eustacia supposes that her
husband is awake, and so she does not herself open the door. This leads to the death of
Mrs. Yeobright, and the separation of Clym and Eustacia after a violent quarrel.
(6) It is just a chance that Johnny Nunsuch repeats the dying words of Mrs. Yeobright,
exactly at the moment that Clym reaches the cottage of Susan Nunsuch.
(7) The chance meeting of Wildeve and Eustacia in the fair leads to their dancing
together, and the renewal of their love.
(8) It is just a chance that Clym's letter of reconciliation does not reach Eustacia in
time.
Thus it becomes clear that the plot of the novel is heavily overloaded with chance
events. Too much depends on chance. This introduces an element of artificiality into
the novel. Indeed, this is one of the pieces of criticism leveled against the novel as a
work of art.

Style
Point of View
The novel is told from the third person’s point of view. He refers the characters, as “he”
or “she” However, the narrative, does not know everything. This means that he looks at
the story unfolding from different points of view. But when it is settled on a particular
point of view it stays consistent.

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For example, when Wildeve first appears, readers are not told who he is. His character
becomes clear by what he says. Clym is a mystery for Eustacia. When they talk to each
other, the narrator shifts from one to the other and thus they are introduced to each
other.
By limiting the flow of information to the reader, Hardy is able to create a sense of
mystery in the story. This is because the intentions of the characters are not clear.
When Hardy wants to convey an idea or opinion, he creates a scene where many people
gather and talk to one another. This occurs in the bonfire scene where people gather
and discuss the best way to deal with the snakebite.

Structure
This book was structured for the magazine serial. Thus each episode covers a complete
event leaving a point for completion in the next episode so that the further development
of the story is foreshadowed by the reader.
A good example of this technique is clear when Thomasin returns unmarried from
Angelbury. The chapter ends with her aunt asking, “Now Thomasin…..what’s the
meaning of this disgraceful performance?” The readers know that the explanation will
follow in the next episode.
Critics have also contended that this book is structured like a Shakespearean drama.
Most of the plays of Shakespeare were organized in five acts with a climatic conclusion
in the last act. “The Return of the Native” is presented in six books; most critics say that
the artistic structure re- quires five books. The sixth book is added to please the readers
who want to see everything turn out in the end.

Pictorial Quality
A remarkable and distinctive feature of Thomas Hardy’s style in his fiction is its
pictorial quality. A number of critics have commented upon the pictorial quality
of Hardy’s descriptive passages and the profound influence that the visual arts
exercised upon his writing and style. Norman Page remarks that “Hardy’s wide
knowledge of, and lifelong interest in, the visual arts left their mark on his fiction at
both superficial and deeper levels, and in the conception and presentation of whole
episodes as well as in individual details of style” Hardy’s novels, he adds, “contain a
strong element of literary picture-making Passages which show Hardy’s pictorial power
are found in abundance in many of his novels and short stories. In Far from the
Madding Crowd, for example, the description of Farmer Oak’s smile has the vividness
of a painting: “When Farmer Oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they
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 were within an unimportant distance of his ears, his eyes were reduced to chinks, and
diverging wrinkles appeared round them, extending upon his countenance like the rays
in a rudimentary sketch of the rising sun”. It is difficult to imagine a more vivid
description of the smile of a human being than that given here by Hardy.
Another fine example of Hardy’s pictorial quality can be observed in his description of
Edgon Heath. The famous description of Egdon in the opening chapter of The Return of
the Native is indeed a central text for anyone who would understand Hardy's mind and
his vision of the world. Much the same brooding darkness provides the setting of his best-
known lyric, 'The Darkling Thrush', composed on the brink of the new century; and it is
in fact possible to trace the stark imagery of this poem in several earlier passages of
prose. In such passages we discover what we may think of as the typically Hardyesque
landscape- ominous, desolate, and essentially inimical to man. Dwarfed by the vast
wastes surrounding him, man is presented as an insignificant creature pathetically
uncertain of his existence and of his fate; again and again the frailty of his estate is
likened to the helplessness of birds, a comparison which emphasizes the littleness of
man, placed in the limitless spaces of the grim landscape of which Egdon is the epitome,
and which Hardy describes in The Return of the Native as a place which had slipped out
of its century generations ago to intrude as an uncouth object into this', just as in 'The
Darkling' Thrush'
The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant.
This Hardyesque landscape may perhaps call to mind the landscapes of Ruisdael and
Rembrandt, and there can be no doubt that its development in Hardy's hands was
intimately bound up with his views on the art of landscape-painting. Hardy, indeed, had
the eye of a painter; drawing the outlines of his forms as consciously as he filled them
with substance and with colour; giving them their proper texture and lighting; fixing
them firmly in a definite space; and relating them in scale to their surroundings.
Symbolism
The names of the Hardy’s characters are almost symbolic of their function in the
novel. The title is also no exception. “Wildeve” suggests something on the edge of
wildness. “Eustacia” is de- rived from ecstasy, which means a change in the level
of the sea indicating the immense changes that she is set to bring in the lives of the
other people.
Clym’s last name, “Yeobright”, combines the word “Yeoman” which indicates a servant
with the indication of his natural intelligence.

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CHARACTER OF MRS. YEOBRIGHT:
A woman of Character
Mrs. Yeobright, the mother of Clym, is a woman of firm and determined character. She
is also a tragic character and dies broken hearted in the end. She is middle aged, and it
is said that Hardy drew her after his own mother. She is the daughter of a Curate, and
regards herself as superior to the Egdon folk among whom she is obliged to live because
of her marriage with a native of Egdon. The isolation, solitude and melancholy of the
Heath are concentrated on her face.

Her Superiority Complex

Mrs. Yeobright possesses strongly marked qualities of character. Hardy compares her
to the planets, which carry their atmosphere along with them in their orbits. She
influenced everywhere she went. As a daughter of Curate she wanted to do something
in life, but fate obliged her to marry a farmer. She has the feeling of her own
superiority and the reason is obvious. The consciousness of her social superiority has
given to Mrs. Yeobright an air of reserve and a feeling of pride in her family. She is
not very communicative. It was her sense of superiority that she rejected the proposal
of Venn to marry Thomasin.

Her Firmness and Determination

She is very firm and determined woman. It is true that life did not give her the
opportunity to cultivate these inborn qualities of character. Circumstances are the
obstacle against her development. Her strength becomes the source of her weakness.
The circumstances shatter her. She herself suffers and makes other suffer only because
she is determined and firm.

Loving Mother
The tragic weakness of Mrs. Yeobright is her boundless love for hr son. She regards
Clym as a part of her own self. She has sacrificed all for his sake, placing all her
hopes of happiness on him alone. She is very anxious when she comes to know that
her son has fallen into the snares of Eustacia. She is worried not because she is
jealous of Eustacia but because she realizes that Clym would never be happy with such
a proud, willful and impulsive woman. Clym marries Eustacia against the wishes of
his mother. Such is her love for her son that even this disobedience on his part is
forgiven and forgotten by her.

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 Her Tragic Grandeur
The tragedy of Mrs. Yeobright is the tragedy of well meaning intentions frustrated by
cruel chance. In her death, it is the mother’s heart throbbing within her, which lends
her a tragic grandeur. All that was good in her becomes instrumental in causing her a
tragic death. The tragedy of so noble, so wise a character arouses the tragic emotions of
pity and fear in ample means.

CHARACTER OF WILDEVE
The Villain

Wildeve has the most attractive personality. He is the character of low sensuality. He
is the villain of the novel. He is the cause of unhappiness of Thomasin and is
responsible for Eustacia’s ruin. In the beginning of the novel, he is an engineer but he
has reduced himself to an innkeeper.

Fascinating Personality
Wildeve has an attractive outward form. He possesses well-polished tastes. He is fond
of fine dress. He has a gift of the gab. He is a sort of a lady-killer. Thomasin loves him
and he likes Eustacia.

Some Compensating Traits

Though Wildeve seems a villain at first sight, he has many compensating traits in his
character. He has a spirit of adventure and love of independence. He is a hard working
person. He was brought up to do better things than keeping an inn. His qualities of
character, his graceful personality, polished manners, and love of adventure impress
the mind of the readers, even when they condemn him for his various faults.

The Touch of Romance

Wildeve may be sensual but he has an adventurous and romantic sensuality. Whenever
Wildeve faces obstacles in the way of his love, he makes great efforts to get the object of
his desire. He first turns from Eustacia to Thomasin, but when the license
complication in the way of marriage arises, he again directs his interests to Eustacia
His Character: The Cause of Tragedy
The evil in Wildeve’s nature is revealed fully, when he leaves Thomasin, even after
marriage and returns to Eustacia, who is now married to Clym. There is, no doubt,
the chance plays its own part in Wildeve’s life to make its tragedy. The sudden arrival
of Clym as his rival, the chance meeting with Eustacia at the dance, the chance
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 fortune inherited by him, all contribute to his ultimate tragedy. However, in his case,
character is also destiny. His own evil contributes a great deal to his tragic end.

CHARACTER OF THOMASIN YEOBRIGHT

A Good Contrast to Eustacia

Thomasin is young and pretty girl. She is the niece of Mrs. Yeobright. She is one of the
characters of Hardy who suffer long and silently. She is a contrast to Eustacia. Her
beauty is without pride and rebelliousness. Eustacia’s beauty, on the other hand is
impulsive, capricious, wayward and rebellious. Thomasin’s character is a counterpart
of Venn. She is faithful, honest, practical and rational in her approach to life’s
problem.

Delicate and artistic

She has inherited sweetness and humility from her father, a musician who died in the
prime of his life. She has something sweet and artistic. All similes and allegories
concerning her began and ended with birds. There is as much variety in her motions as
in their flight.

Patient and Prudent

Thomasin has sweet, honest and pretty face suggestive of hopefulness, but clouded at
times with anxiety and grief. Hardy remarks, “The groundwork of the face was
hopefulness, but over it lay a foreign substance… anxiety and grief. Hardy suggests the
possibilities of making better, that men can make the best of the worst by adapting
themselves to their circumstances through their prudence.

Gentleness
The most distinctive feature of her character is her gentle and humble nature. She is
soft and yielding. Clym and Venn as well as Wildeve can easily influence her. Her
mildness is both her strength and her weakness. She shows remarkable patience and
calm in her love with Wildeve. When Mrs. Yeobright is angry with Wildeve, she
requests her not to be angry and harsh with him and to let her tackle him.
A Commonplace Character
Thomasin certainly does not attain the grandeur, which Eustacia has. Eustacia’s life
ends with tragedy but she attains the tragic grandeur, which makes her unforgettable.
Thomasin has no such tragic height. She is a commonplace and mediocre character.
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She is a weak character and lacks the power and ambition with her heart’s desire. One
man and the other continually rejected her. She is of compromising attitude. She
always adjusts herself to the atmosphere.

THE ROLE OF DIGGORY VENN — THE

REDDLEMAN AND HIS SIGNIFICANCE
The Wisest Character in the Novel
Diggory Venn is the representative of the old profession and so the representative
of the old world existence. He was once a prosperous dairy farmer. He is still young
with blue eyes and beautiful figure. Mrs. Yeobright rejected her as the suitor of
Thomasin. Thus, he became a reddleman because rejected suitors like to roam about.
He is faithful in love, generous and kind. He is the wisest character in the novel that
sees through all others.

His Helpful Nature

Diggory Venn is apparently a minor character but he has the pivotal role in the
novel. The whole plot revolves around him. The actions and the movements of the plot
become possible through his plan. He appears at the unexpected places. He helps
Thomasin through what he calls the “Silent System”. Venn brings Thomasin and
Wildeve together and compels Wildeve to marry her. He gambles to help Thomasin to
bring her money back. But, unknowingly he become the cause of quarrel and
misunderstanding. He is thus, the victim of irony of life.

His Sincere and Faithful Love

Venn is the cleverest character in the novel. He is superior to all the other characters
in morality also. He loves Thomasin from the core of his heart. He has the highest
conception of love and helps his beloved to make her happy even at the risk of ruining
his own happiness.

His Honesty and Nobility

As Clym says that, he is an honest man. His personality is of rare combination. He has
a lot of experience of the world. He is clever in the worldly sense of the term, yet he does
not use his cleverness. He uses his cleverness not for his own good, but for the good of
others.

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 His Ultimate Happiness
He has a calm temperament, presence of mind and clever thinking, although he has no
education. He is also considerate. In the end, he is shown happy, contended, dancing,
enjoying and drinking. In this way, he provides an element of betterment in the world
of this grim and terrible tragedy.

Q: CLYM YEOBRIGHT IS NOT CENTRAL CHARACTER. HE JUST

PERFORMS THE ROLE OF A FOIL TO ENHANCE THE EFFECTS OF
TRAGEDY IN THE NOVEL. DO YOU AGREE?
Ans:

Well denotation, if sometimes mistaken, Clym is Hardy's central character, the

returning native of the novel's title. He does not find happiness, but he does find a
kind of wisdom through his suffering. In the beginning, he is stubborn and proud. When
he discovers that he can cause tragedy for others, he learns humility. Hardy wants the
reader to learn what Clym learns. We cannot always get what we want in life, but neither
can anyone else. Human beings should love one another and try not to cause each other
pain.
Well-meaning, intelligent in certain ways, Clym Yeobright is not suited to life in the real
world of his day. He dislikes city life as “effeminate,” but when he returns to Egdon, no
one understands his ambition to teach school. His ideas come from books rather than
from direct experience with people. Unfortunately, he does not really know himself,
either. He thinks he is rational and controlled; but love for Eustacia causes him to act
rashly. He thinks he is morally right; but this leads him to be cruel to others, whom he
believes to be in the wrong.
Like his cousin Thomasin, Clym loves Egdon Heath, and the people there love him for
his pure nature. The most important influence in his life is his home, especially his
mother, Mrs. Yeobright. Temporarily, he leaves her to marry Eustacia, but in the end,
even after her death, her influence on him remains strong.
Hardy suggests that Clym is too sensitive. His constant thinking almost seems to weaken
him physically; his studying literally makes him an invalid for a while. His high ideas
are not very practical. In day-to-day experiences with other people, he often has little or
no idea what they want, or what they are thinking. Yet this does not make him
ridiculous. We have to respect him because he is struggling to find the truth of life.
Though he is sometimes obtuse, he is never thoughtless. Perhaps he lacks the sense of
self that is necessary to survive. If Wildeve is too selfish, then Clym in contrast is too
unselfish.
In the end, Clym dedicates himself to others, hoping to spread truth and comfort and to
teach all men to love each other. Ironically, he himself has failed with his mother and

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with Eustacia, the two people he loved most. He is more successful at loving all
mankind than at being a son or husband.

Q: DISCUSS HARDY’S CONCEPT OF TRAGEDY.

Q: HARDY IS KNOWN AS A GREAT TRAGIC WRITER HIS
“THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE” PRESENTS AN
ILLUSTRIOUS PICTURE OF TRAGEDY, COMMENT.
Q: HARDY IS KNOWN AS A PESSIMIST. DO YOU AGREE?
Q: DISCUSS HARDY’S FATALISM?
Ans:
Expressions like pessimism and fatalism have unreservedly been used by
critics and readers to describe Hardy’s philosophy of life, and there is no doubt these
labels do largely convey his outlook and his stance. He is deemed pessimist
because he considers that man is born to suffer and he is called fatalist because he
thinks that destiny is antagonistic to man and that it governs human life, allowing
very little free will to human creatures and often inflicting undeserved sufferings
upon them.
Hardy, however, is not a cynic because he does not regard man as essentially mean
and wicked. There, certainly, are villains in his novels but he believes on the whole
that there is more goodness and nobleness in human nature than evil, and that man
is capable of a heroic endurance of misfortune. Further wise, it is possible to call
Hardy a determinist instead of fatalist, because, while fatalism implies a blind and
arbitrary working of some supernatural power, determinism implies the logic of cause
and effect. In Hardy’s novels the logic of cause and effect is as much at work as an
arbitrary supernatural power.
Hardy’s conception of life is essentially tragic. As Austin never wrote a tragedy,
Hardy never attempted a comedy. He holds an opinion:
“Happiness is an occasional episode in the general drama of pain”.
Hardy feels that “man is born to suffer” and the glory of man lies in his power of
bearing his catastrophe. It appears that his mind is trained in the Greek literature,
which was the first attempt to project a mighty clash between man’s dreams and
realization. Hardy also portrays this conflict, but with a slight difference. In Greek
tragedy, Fate is some of supernatural power holds responsible of the catastrophe,
while in Shakespearean tragedy, man is solely responsible for his actions their
consequent disaster. Hardy combines both these concepts to carve his own view
of tragedy. In his stories, destiny is as much responsible for the disaster, as a
character himself. “The Return of the Native” fully illustrates Hardy’s conception of
tragedy.
Aristotle defines ‘a tragedy is a story of a conspicuous man, who falls from
prosperity to adversity, because of his error of judgment i.e. his hamartia and his
sufferings, downfall arouses a feeling of pity and fear in us, thus becomes a source of
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catharsis’. As it is clear from the statement as well as from the historical facts, that
Greek tragedy was the story of a conspicuous man, related to country life, and
almost same is the case with Shakespearean tragedy. But Hardy sets his tragedy in the
rural background. His story brings forth the downfall of a common man, yet noble. As
Clym is a noble man, his innate kind and loving nature, residing at the Egdon Heath.
He is surrounded by the intense figures of common life, rustics. His mind is a
kingdom, filled with his noble aims of educating the rustics, in the true sense of the
word, as author comments:
“He had a conviction that the want of most men was knowledge of a sort
which brings wisdom rather than affluence”.
But striving after high thinking, he still likes his plain living. He struggles selflessly to
achieve his high aims, but he is somewhat unpractical rather, too simple to plan
properly for his goals. And his flaw lies in the fact he goes too far, selflessly but
unplanned, for his aims, and thus injures himself, both physically and spiritually,
causing poor eye sight in the first case and tension through disharmony with his
mother and wife, in the second case.
His unpractical nature also comes out when he ‘decides to marry Eustacia’ though
she warns him that she would not make “a good home spun wife” and his mother
pronounces her as “an idle voluptuous woman”. Clym thinks that Eustacia would help
in his educational prospects, but she proves to be exactly the opposite. It’s said, that
Eustacia holds the “greatest responsibility” for the tragedy in “The Return of the
Native”, then it would no be wrong.
Hardy also shows the weak power of decision of Clym that he fails to strike a
balance between his duties (to his mother), his ambition (for teaching) and his
love (for Eustacia). As the author states:
“Three antagonistic growths had to be kept alive: his mother’s trust in him, his
plan for becoming a teacher, and Eustacia’s happiness”.
And he fails to maintain them, at a time, first inclining totally towards Eustacia
and then towards his mother, and in adjusting his educational plans between them.
According to Hardy, Fate and destiny have always an essential part to play in
bringing a catastrophic end. In the novel under discussion, destiny is disguised in the
cloak of “nature” and “co-incidences”. Chances and Coincidences occur, in Hardy’s
novels, too frequently that they become almost unrealistic. In this novel, the story
leads to ultimate tragedy, with the death of Mrs. Yeobright, which is caused by a
number of ironic accidents and co-incidences. It is also the role of chance that the
letter of Clym fails to reach Eustacia, which becomes the cause of her fatal ending
death. Thus, Hardy feels:
“Human will is not free but fettered”.
Nature is always considered as a “living agent”, by Hardy, which is always so strong
and influential, that his human characters can never escape from its clutches. “Egdon
Heath” also depicts such qualities. It contrasts with the human existence. Eustacia
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 feels the heath, as her “cross”, her “shame”, and eventually it becomes a potential
cause and the place of her death. Nature is also hostile to Mrs. Yeobright, as Heath
kills her by a venomous creature from its own bosom. Nature also appears as the
“foreteller” of coming events, when the Heath becomes furious before the death of
Wildeve and Eustacia.
The thick-skinned rustics are also an essential part of Hardy’s writings. They perform
the “role of chorus” of the Greek tragedies and provide “Comic relief”, like
Shakespeare’s characters. In “The Return of the Native” much of the useful
information, also, about the main characters is provided by these rustics.
The most important aspect of a tragedy, according to Aristotle, is the feelings of
catharsis. Undoubtedly, the tragedies of Hardy also provide a source of catharsis. One
certainly experiences the feelings of pity and fear, when one observes Clym’s paralysis
of will. He appears in the story as a devoted, sympathetic, energetic fellow but he
ends up as a miserable, pitiable, half-blinded figure, with the end of the story. Truly,
the description of the author is very true, when he says:
“Everywhere he (Clym) was kindly received, for the story of his life had
become generally known”.
It can be noted through the treatment of Clym, that Hardy’s general view
about the human nature is essentially noble and sublime, but tragic. His main
characters portray the higher values of human traits of tolerance and bearing of misery,
the eyes of the reader.
In short, it can be said that Hardy’s concept of tragedy is of a higher level.
Though he does not reach the height of Shakespeare, but comes quite near to him.
Thus, it can be said that his art of tragedy is perfect internal blindness that afflicts all
the main characters in the novel: they do not recognize the truth about each other.
Eustacia and Clym misunderstand each other’s motives and true ambitions; Venn
remains a mystery; Wildeve deceives Thomasin, Eustacia and Clym. The characters
remain obscure for the reader, too. When The Return of the Native was first published,
contemporary critics criticized the novel for its lack of sympathetic characters.
All of the novel's characters prove themselves deeply flawed, or at the very least
of ambiguous motivation. Clym Yeobright, the novel's intelligent, urbane,
generous protagonist, is also, through his impatience and single-minded jealousy, the
cause of the novel's great tragedy. Diggory Venn can either be seen as a helpful, kind-
hearted guardian or as an underhanded schemer. Similarly, even the antagonistic characters
in the novel are not without their redeeming qualities.

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Q: DISCUSS THE ROLE OF EGDEN HEATH IN THE RETURN OF THE
NATIVE?
Q: EGDON H E A T H I S A PLACE BUT IT PERFORMS LIKE
HUMAN CHARACTERS IN THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE?
Ans:
Huge, forbidding, strange- the wasteland of Egdon Heath is like a stage set for the
action of this novel. It offers wide spaces for movement, but it also has hiding-
places for intimate scenes. Its many different faces reflect or heighten the many
different moods of the story. One can believe that the Heath has many secrets, and has
witnessed all possible varieties of human experience. It is a place of long life and of
sudden death, of fertile spring and short, vivid summer. No matter what feeling Hardy
wants to express at any particular point, the heath can offer it up.
Something about Egdon Heath depresses the restless, adventure-seeking characters of
the novel, Eustacia and Wildeve. But it is a comforting presence to unselfish
people like Clym and Thomasin. As you read, notice each character's reaction to the
heath; it may say something about his or her inner nature. The less intellectual country
folk simply take the place for granted, just as they take their own souls for granted.
Does Egdon Heath represent life? Time? The supernatural? Destiny? Readers have
suggested these and other possibilities. Perhaps it is not a symbol for anything, but
merely a background, a small universe, having no meaning, offering no answers. Part
of the mysterious appeal of this novel is that Hardy makes the heath seem so
significant, but then never specifically explains his purposes. We must use our own
imaginations to try to understand and feel what the heath finally means.
Egdon Heath is the first ‘character’ introduced into the book. The heath proves
physically and psychologically important throughout the novel: their relation to the
heath defines characters, and the weather patterns of the heath even reflect the inner
dramas of the characters. Indeed, it almost seems as if the characters are formed by
the heath itself: Diggory Venn, red from head to toe, is an actual embodiment of the
muddy earth; Eustacia Vye seems to spring directly from the heath, a part of
Rainbarrow itself, when she is first introduced; Wildeve’s name might just as well
refer to the wind-whipped heath itself. But, importantly, the heath manages to defy
definition. It is, in chapter one,
“A place perfectly accordant with man’s nature.”
The narrator’s descriptions of the heath vary widely throughout the novel,
ranging from the sublime to the gothic. There is no possible objectivity about the
heath. No reliable statement can be made about it.
For Clym, the heath is beautiful; for Eustacia, it is hateful. The plot of the novel
hinges around just this kind of difference in perception. Most of the key plot
elements in the novel depend upon misconceptions--most notably, Eustacia’s failure to
open the door to Mrs. Yeobright, a mistake that leads to the older woman’s death and
mistaken perceptions. Clym’s eventual near- blindness reflects a kind of deeper

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internal blindness that afflicts all the main characters in the novel: they do not
recognize the truth about each other. Eustacia and Clym misunderstand each other’s
motives and true ambitions; Venn remains a mystery; Wildeve deceives Thomasin,
Eustacia and Clym. The characters remain obscure for the reader, too. When The
Return of the Native was first published, contemporary critics criticized the novel for
its lack of sympathetic characters.
All of the novel's characters prove themselves deeply flawed, or--at the very
least--of ambiguous motivation. Clym Yeobright, the novel's intelligent,
urbane, generous protagonist, is also, through his impatience and single-minded
jealousy, the cause of the novel's great tragedy. Diggory Venn can either be seen as a
helpful, kind-hearted guardian or as an underhanded schemer. Similarly, even the
antagonistic characters in the novel are not without their redeeming qualities.

Compiled and Modified by : Prof. Waqas Ahmed Mughal

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