Today we explain the biography of the most famous poet, novelist and short story writer of Victorian age. His name is Thomas Hardy. Hardy is known as the greatest English novelist of 19th century.

Thomas Hardy


Thomas Hardy

Hardy is one of the most outstanding novelists of the World. He has now come to be universally recognized as the greatest novelist of his age. He is highly pessimist. He is also called the novelist of Wessex. Some critics have called him “The Shakespeare of the English Novel”. In the board sense of realism, in the deep love of humanity and in the sensitive approach to life, Hardy has very few Equals.

Early life and Education of Thomas Hardy: -

Thomas Hardy was born on 2nd June 1840 in Higher Bockhampton, Dorchester. Hardy was a fragile child by birth. He was so funny at the time of birth that he was declared dead by the attending doctor. But the child survived only by the commonsense of the nurse, who slapped the child till he cried and was restored to life.

His father, also called Thomas, was a master stonemason and his mother Jemima, had been a domestic woman. Hardy had three siblings and had developed his love of reading from his mother, while his interest in music, which led to him playing the violin at the age of 9, he inherited from his father. At the age of twelve he read Shakespeare, Scott and Bunyan, which made the background for many of his later works. In 1849, he was sent to a private school in Dorchester. and in 1856, he become apprentice to James Hicks, a local architect; studied Latin and Greek; began writing poetry. Hardy was introduced to modern thought by his friend Horace Moule. In 1862 he moved to London to take up more advanced architectural work with Arthur Bloomfield.  In 1863, he was awarded a medal for his essay "The application of coloured Bricks and Terra Cotta to Modern architecture”.

Hardy has written all types of novels- Comedies, Romances, Tragic-comedies, and tragedies. But he is primarily remembered for his highly pessimistic and soul-stirring tragic novels, Hardy was honoured with the order of merit and honorary fellowship of Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Death

 He died on 11th January 1928 (He was mourned as “The last of the great Victorian.” He was buried in Westminster Abbey. As he wished, his heart was removed and buried in his parish churchyard at Stinsford in the grave of his first wife Emma.)

Some Important points about Thomas Hardy

  • Thomas Hardy is a Regional Novelist.
  • His region ‘Wessex’ appears in his 13 novels and 47 short stories.
  • Hardy produced a novel, The spectre of the Real (1894) co-written with Florence Henniker.
  • His largely self –written biography appears under his 2nd wife's name in two volumes 1928-1930.

What is ‘Wessex’?

Thomas Hardy is famous for his novel of 19th century rural life. Rich in description and dialect, they are written museums of a vanished culture, Hardy set them in Wessex, as imaginary region towards south, West England. His Wessex stretches from the English Channel in the South to Cornwall in the West and as for as Oxford to the North. It is this limited region which forms the scenic background to each of his ‘Wessex novel’. He depicts in his novels the Wessex people with all their moods and impulses. Every event in his novels takes place within this locality. It is for this reason that he is called a regional novelist.

Classification of Hardy’s novels: -

Pro. L. Abercromble has divided Hardy’s novels into two groups: -

  1. The Dramatic
  2. The Epic

The dramatic novels are those in which our interest is divided among a group of characters. Their actions and interests clash with each other. Such, conflict from the main point of the novel. “The Return of the Native” and “For from the Madding Crowd” are Dramatic novels.

In the Epic novels the interest of the novel centres round the life of a single character. The background is vast and there is no sub plot. “Tess of the D’ Urbervilles” belongs to the second class. “The Mayor of the Casterbridge” shares the Qualities of both these kinds.


The creator of Philosophical novel: -

Till now the English novel was the vehicle of social criticism. Man in society had been its theme so far but Thomas Hardy uses the novel to enquire into the cause of things. His novels question about life, man’s predicament in the universe, is the theme of his novels. Man suffers not owing to any fault of his own but owing to the imperfections of the power on high. The main character in “The Mayor of Casterbridge” feel that they are subjected to the evil design of some sinister (terrible).

Plot construction of Hardy

Hardy’s novels are masterpieces from the point of plot construction. They have architectural finish and symmetry. All the incidents and events are skilfully co- ordinate together. There are no loose patches to hang about. The structure of every great novel is built bricks by bricks and stone by stone. But after all his plots, are old fashioned. They are all love stories. The wrong man meets the wrong woman and vice-versa. The eternal triangle is always there. The novel” For from the Madding Crowd” is a pastoral romance. The romance takes place primarily between Bathsheba and Gabriel.

Hardy’s Art of Characterization: -

Hardy possessed unique powers of Characterization. Some of his characters remind us of the immortal characters of Shakespeare. Hardy chooses his characters from the lower state of society. His female characters are better and more forceful than the male characters. Tess, Elizabeth, Jane and Bathsheba are the characters round whom the whole story of the novels found.

Hardy’s Literary Work: -

Between 1871 and 1898 Hardy wrote fourteen novels three volumes of short stories.

  • Novels and Short stories
  • Desperate Remedies
  • Under the Greenwood Tree
  • For from the Madding Crowd
  • The Hand of Ethelberta
  • A Pair of Blue eyes
  • For from the Madding Crowd
  • The Return of the Native
  • The Trumpet Major
  • A Laodicean
  • Two on a Tower
  • The Mayor of Casterbridge
  • The Woodlanders
  • Wessex Tales
  • A Group of Noble Dames
  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles
  • Life’s little Ironies (Tales)
  • Jude the Obscure
  • The Well- Beloved

Dramas

  • The Dynasts in three parts
  • The Famous Tragedy of the queen of Cornwall

Poems

  • Wessex Poems
  • Poems of the Past and Present
  • Time’s laughing stocks
  • Satire of circumstances
  • Moment of vision
  • Late Lyrics and Earlier
  • Human Shows, Far Phantasies
  • Winter Words