[Hardy-l] sentence sense

[Bill Morgan]

Hi, Jack--

I agree that the sentence in question is a bit lame in the narrative
circumstances in which it appears, but it makes more sense when one
recognizes that it's an allusion to *As You Like It*, IV, I, 1932-4
(Rosalind speaking): "Make the doors upon a woman's wit, and it will out at
the casement; shut that, and 'twill out at the key-hole; stop that, 'twill
fly with the smoke out at the chimney."

Hardy liked the passage enough to use it at least one more time, in *Life
and Work*, p. 298.  Jeannette Gilder, who reviewed *Jude* harshly in *The
New York World* later wrote to ask to meet Hardy; he declined courteously
and thought the matter at an end.  "But make the doors upon a woman's wit,
and it will out at the casement.  The amusing sequel to the episode was that
the unsuspecting Hardy was invited to an evening party a few days later by
an American lady resident in London, and though he knew her but slightly he
went, having nothing better to do.  While he was talking to his hostess on
the sofa a strange lady drew up her chair rather near them, and listened to
the conversation, but did not join in it.  It was not till afterwards that
he discovered that this silent person had been his reviewer, who was an
acquaintance of his entertainer, and that the whole thing had been carefully
schemed."  

So yes, I think you have the correct sense of the sentence in PBE; but you
may not have been making the connection Hardy is asking for with his learned
allusion.  

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Bill Morgan

-----Original Message-----
From: John Farrell [mailto:jackfar at mail.utexas.edu] 
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 4:12 PM
To: HARDY-L at csusm.edu
Subject: [Hardy-l] sentence sense

I've always been puzzled by a sentence in PBE and would like to see  
what others make of it.

Elfride has just rigged Knight's climb back to terra firma.  She's  
soaked.  He offers his coat.  She declines. The text continues:


Elfride had absolutely nothing between her and the weather but her
exterior robe or 'costume.' <The door had been made upon a woman's
wit, and it had found its way out.>  Behind the bank, whilst Knight
reclined upon the dizzy slope waiting for death, she had taken off
her whole clothing, and replaced only her outer bodice and skirt.
Every thread of the remainder lay upon the ground in the form of a
woollen and cotton rope.

The sentence in brackets means, I guess, that the rescue has been  
accomplished by Elfride's quick, cunning idea, and that this idea-- 
this ingenious reach of wit--had been enacted (<found its way out.).

  I don't really understand the image here: the rescue is an exit (a  
door?); and the wit to conceive of the exit emerges, as through a  
maze, into action?

If the meaning I am trying to state is actually the meaning of the  
sentence, I'd be inclined to think that Hardy as narrator is doing,  
as is his custom, a sort of dance in the space between the literal  
and the imagistic and constructing the space by deliberately roughing  
up his language .  But if that's what is going on, I'm even more  
flummoxed since the sentence seems a kind of wet noodle to me.  All I  
can see is that the sentence sort of tosses a little syntactical dust  
in our eyes so as to decorously blur what is coming next.   Maybe  
there's just a simpler meaning and some kind soul can point it out to  
me.

with thanks,
Jack Farrell,
UT_Austin

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