Thomas Hardy

Nikki Fanelli

Background

• Born June 2nd, 1840 in Dorchester, England

• Father was a mason

• Mother was a house wife

Childhood

• Frail Child

• Did not start school till the age of 8

• Very close knit family, Grandmother sparked his passion for literature

• At the age of 16, apprenticed to work and live as a mason in a town outside of Dorset

Life

• Married his first wife, Emma in 1868

• “Pushed him to become someone better, someone who he deserved to be known as.”

• Encouraged Hardy to sell his works to a publishing company

• In 1871, he submitted his first piece of literature

Career

• Started as a poet• “Ah, Are You Digging My Grave?”• After good response from the public, continued his

career as a novelist, releasing his first novel, “The Poor Man and the Lady”

• Book was denied by publishers• Next book was a success, “Far from the Madding

Crowd.”

Works

Poems• “During Wind and

Rain”

• “Neutral Tones”

• “The Man He Killed”

Novels• “The Return of the

Native”

• “The Mayor of Caster Bridge”

• “Desperate Remedies”

Victorian Age

• Began in 1837• Time of great advancements and solving

of problems left by the previous era• More equality between classes was a

major goal• Expansion of the mind• Pushed the limit on what was considered

socially acceptable among society• Hardy’s works were considered to have

“explicit context” for the time period

Thesis

• Thomas Hardy’s writings during the Victorian Age were heavily influenced by a mixture of personal experience and the cultural events of the time period.

• Main Characters: Clym Yeobright, Thomasin, Eustacia Vye, Damon Wildeve • Eustacia is marring Damon, but it is delayed by an error with the marriage

certificate and it is rushed because a women who was not married was looked down upon

• Thomasin tries to persuade Eustacia into marring Damon, to make him jealous

• Clym returns home and falls in love with Eustacia• The love between them was disapproved, but they end up getting married• Wildeve wants to reconcile with Eustacia, despite both their marriages• Eustacia invites Wildeve to their home while Clym was sleeping, Mrs.

Yeobright shows up and is denied entrance into the house• Clym and Eustacia’s marriage ends• Eustacia and Wildeve run off together, only to end up both drowning during

their escape

Movie Clip

• The Return of the Native

• Died January 11th, 1928 in his home in Dorchester

• His wish was to have his hear buried with his first love, Emma, and his body in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbie