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Riassunto Thomas Hardy
Lingua Inglese (Scientifico) - Tradizionale
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THOMAS HARDY (1840-1928)
Hardy’s view of men Hardy, who had read and believed in the theories of Darwin’s On the Origin of the species, had a deterministic view of life: man was deprived of the consolation of the Divine Order: no intelligent plan or direction could be seen in the universe; his life was a tragic process, upon which he had no power, because it had already been decided by a hostile ‘Fate’ or ‘insensible chance’( influenced only by environment and a set of circumstances) which controlled everything. Hardy’s description of life was based on local history, his knowledge of the Bible and on the depiction of natural landscapes which are put in contrast with a cosmic background, showing the smallness of man in spite of his tragic experiences. Themes In all his novels, one of the main themes is Nature which is indifferent to man’s destiny: it is co- protagonist with the human characters, because its process of growth and decay mirrors the phases of human life; its cycle of seasons, on one side, implies the hope of regeneration, on the other, it represents the background to the main events in the life of characters, who share the same vital force of any other natural creature and are described objectively through their experiences and reactions. Another important theme is Hardy’s polemic attitude towards the most moralistic, conventional, hypocritical aspects of Victorian society and towards religion. The setting of his stories Most of Hardy’s stories are set in a fictional area (partly real and partly symbolical) he called Wessex,(from the name of the Old Saxon Kingdom of Alfred the Great) which included the south- western corner of England and his native Dorset. Hardy’s language His language is detailed, controlled and rich in symbolism. It was based on sense impression (sight , sound, smell and touch) by which characters and things are described through the way the others see them. There’s a strong use of colour which is linked to emotions and experience. Characters speak naturally, often using their social register and dialect. Narrative techniques As regards narrative techniques, Hardy continued to employ the Victorian omniscient narrator, who is always present, with his comments and opinions. Sometimes there is a shift in the point of view: every now and then, action is presented by a hypothetical observer. Tess of the D’Urbervilles Tess belongs to a family of poor farmers. Her father finds out to be the descendant of a rich aristocratic family, but this will never change their bad chance. Themes The main themes of this novel are: i)women’s condition according distorted Victorian morality,ii)ethics, iii)religious believe. i) Hardy has a very modern opinion about women’s sexuality. He criticizes Victorian indignation towards Tess, who was raped and seduced by her master Alec and, after being abandoned by her beloved man, Angel Clare, for a while, she underwent hardships and accepted to become Alec’s mistress. She refused to behave like a ‘fallen woman’, who had committed a moral and social guilt. On the contrary, she is presented as a victim underlining her qualities of innocence, trust, vulnerability, affection, beauty and the power of going on living, notwithstanding the heavy sufferings endured; ii)the issue of ethics is dealt with in two ways:-one shows the relativity of moral values, which vary according to time and place; -the other consists in the opposition between Nature laws and man-made laws which, for example, condemned Tess to death because she had killed Alec, the man who had spoilt all her life; iii)Christianity is constantly questioned, because it is considered only a worthless modern degradation of primitive spiritual ideals, such as the sun worship, which can’t meet the needs of modern man and doesn’t show any sign of justice or pity towards man’s destiny. One more theme of this novel is the destruction of English peasantry, due to the extension of capitalist farming.
Riassunto Thomas Hardy
Materia: Lingua Inglese (Scientifico) - Tradizionale
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