[Hardy-l] Woodlands in "The Woodlanders"

[Rosemarie Morgan]

Hi Pat,

  Although film-makers chose the New Forest as their location for *The 
Woodlanders* the internal setting of the novel is north Dorset --- what 
Hardy terms "South Wessex" - on the outskirts of Blackmoor Vale . The best 
topographical source is Hermann Lea who toured "Wessex" with Hardy and 
followed up with publishing his accounts (I can't recall his exact title -- 
something like Guide to the West Country, or Hardy Guides). Lea's 
observations are essential to this kind of study.

G Stevens Cox has recently brought Lea back into print (Penguin Books, 
Harmondsworth, England, 1986).

The *Woodlanders* region of north Dorset is secluded and approached by a 
network of tiny lanes (overlaid ancient cattle paths) -- the climate is 
heavy and the soil likewise (clay I think)  not fresh, light and airy as in 
the Vale itself.  This would make for phlegmatic temperaments  (in common 
lore).

I think if any community in Hardy's Wessex were to be regarded as "closed" 
and backwoods-ish it would be Little Hintock, where superstitions flourish, 
ancient lore abounds and few visitors from the outside world enter in. Some 
contemporary impressions would be helpful here if you are looking for a 
city/country paradigm  -- say Kegan Paul and other "city" writers venturing 
into "Wessex." Also, Hardy's "Dorsetshire Labourer" inadvertently reveals, 
by tone and focus, how "the forest people would have been regarded by the 
townspeople." At any rate how Hardy *felt* they were regarded.

I'm not sure what you mean by "historical context" -- Victorian 
culture?  If so, that's another story (I do have an early essay (Toucan 
Press), entitled "'Pernicious Conventions'" in *The Woodlanders,*" which 
takes a Marxist perspective on motifs such as women-and-property, divorce 
laws, patriarchal attitudes etc).

I'm sure others will be able to fill in my gaps!

All best wishes,

Rosemarie
PS You might take a look at TTHA's Novels Page at 
http://www.yale.edu/hardysoc/Novels/Novels.htm
and Gender page at
http://web.uvic.ca/~mitchell/
and of course, the MAPS page.


>? I'm trying to find out how the forest people would have beenregarded by 
>the townspeople.
>
>Thank you,
>Pat Louw