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Thomas HardyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Hardy’s later novels—the ones now considered his greatest work—were part of a mid-to-late 19th-century genre known as Naturalism, a movement that believed that Realist fiction should portray the darker elements of life without obfuscation or euphemism. Hardy’s Naturalist works were bleak in tone, questioning Victorian sexual morality, criticizing the unjustness of the upper class, and doubting the benevolence of God. This pessimism honesty scandalized Victorian sensibilities, making these latter novels deeply unpopular on publication.
Scholars believe Hardy turned to poetry in the 1890s because of the growing negative reception of his fiction. However, while his poems also tackled themes of regret and pain, the irrevocable passage of time, and the fragility of humanity, they were positively received and widely liked. These themes are present in “The Convergence of the Twain” (1914), his commemorative poem on the sinking of the Titanic.
Hardy’s take on Realism, and resistance to sentimentally, drew many younger writers to emulate him, especially as they faced horrors of their own, including World War I. Hardy’s skill as a poet was lauded by such writers as William Butler Yeats, Virginia Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon, Ezra Pound, D.
By Thomas Hardy
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave
Thomas Hardy
At an Inn
At an Inn
Thomas Hardy
Channel Firing
Channel Firing
Thomas Hardy
Far From The Madding Crowd
Far From The Madding Crowd
Thomas Hardy
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Thomas Hardy
Neutral Tones
Neutral Tones
Thomas Hardy
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy
The Darkling Thrush
The Darkling Thrush
Thomas Hardy
The Man He Killed
The Man He Killed
Thomas Hardy
The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Thomas Hardy
The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native
Thomas Hardy
The Withered Arm and Other Stories
The Withered Arm and Other Stories
Thomas Hardy
The Woodlanders
The Woodlanders
Thomas Hardy