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EarlyLife
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Childhood
Thomas Hardy was born in HigherBockhampton, Dorset on June 2,1840.
Eldest child of builder, Thomas Hardy II and his
wife, Jemima Hand. He was homeschooled until the age of 8.
He was encouraged to develop a love for botheducation and stories by his mother, Jemima.
The young Hardy was deeply influenced by thenatural world around him.
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Education and Profession Hardy attended local school (where he learned latin,
french and germany) until he was apprenticed to aDorchester architect James Hicks at 15.
After six years apprenticeship, Hardy went to
London in 1861. to work with the architect Arthur
Blomfield.
Hardy read widely in London and became interested
in fiction and poetry while practicing architecture.
1874 Far from the Madding Crowd serialized inCornhill Magazine and published in two volumes by
Smith, Elder. It is Hardy's first substantial literary
success.
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Return to Dorset
Hardy returned to Dorset
as an architect and
builder.
He continued to write,
and by 1871 had
published his first novel.
He married EmmaGifford in 1874.
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Emma Gifford
At first, the Hardysseemed to have a happymarriage, but they drifted
seriously apart. She died in 1912, and
Hardy mourned herforever, it seems.
The Emma poems areamong his finest.
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Thomas Hardy and Florence
Dugdale In 1914, Hardy marriedFlorence Dugdale, his
long-time secretary.
(1879-1937)
He is 39 years older than
her.
Hardy dies in 1928.
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Writing Style
His writings usually reflect rural ways andtraditions.
He writes very dark and sinister books.
His work reflects his sense of tragedy in humanlife.
Characters in his work normally come to aterrible fate in the end.
He uses irony.
His writing is rich in symbolism.
He uses metaphor, simile and personification.
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How his writing changed over time
Although his style of writing really didnt
change much his type of writing did.
He started out writing poetry.
After he couldnt get publicity for his poetry
he wrote novels.
Then he wrote short stories and dramas. Finally he went back to writing poetry the last
few years of his life.
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Why did he stop writing novels?
The subject matter of Hardys novels, which tomodern eyes seems pretty tame, outraged manyVictorians.
Jude the Obscurewas deemed Jude theObscene and was publicly burned by the Bishop
of Wakefield. Public perception about Hardys view of
marriage and religion caused a huge outcry andwidened rifts between Hardy and his wife,Emma.
He was widely condemned in the papers and incritical writing.
After Jude, Hardy writes only poetry and somedrama.
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Hardys philosophy of life came from his
reading of Darwin and readings in Biologyand astronomy. He was 19 when The Origin
of Species was published, and from the
theory of evolution he drew the inference thatthe universe is ruled by blind chance rather
than by any conscious power. He was
particularly aware of the ruthless struggle for
survival, as exemplified among plants andanimals, so that nature for him was a
malignant force of destruction.
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The scientific theories of his time made Hardy
recognize the incalculable size and age of the
universe. Against this background, all humanefforts seem so futile, so insignificant, ambition
and agonies become so ludicrously trivial. Mankind
is just helpless victim of cosmic design. Thereforehe saw the persons in his novels as embodiments
of the elemental life force, struggling futilely
against the forces of heredity and environment. InHardyswork, nature is a living, destructive force.
He introduced superstition and coincidences to
strengthen his sense of fatalism.
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Major Themes
Mans impotence against greater forces ofnature, of society, of his own impulses.
A shaken, if not completely fractured view of
the relationship between humans and God. The difficulty of being alive.
Polemic attitude to religion: Christianity is no
longer capable of fulfilling the needs of modernman.
Naturalism.
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