[Hardy-l] The grotesque in Hardy

[Jackie Wilkinson]

     You are right, Rosemarie, the grotesque is a slippery creature for it
is the 'other' of the norm, of the classical, accepted social and cultural
beliefs present at the time, and as these are not constants but are
persistently changing so must the grotesque adapt to present circumstances.
Certainly the Victorian architects, poets, painters and novelists were
frequently obsessed by it, but in Victorian literature it is more often
associated with Dickens and Browning than with Hardy, nevertheless it is
certainly present throughout his works. My intention is to examine what I
could perhaps term 'the Victorian grotesque' in relation to Hardy's novels,
thus the novels will be examined in the light of the  grotesque as
manifested in the work of Carlyle, Ruskin, Browning, Bagehot, Darwin, Hugo,
and, to a certain extent Freud. Application of these theories to Hardy's
work will be supplemented and enhanced  by reference to such phenomenon as
the gothic grotesque in relation to both  gothic literature in the form of
character depiction and atmosphere and Ruskinian gothic grotesque in
architecture; Browning's grotesque and Bagehot's reaction to it (Browning
being a great influence on Hardy); the two faces of grotesque, laughter and
terror, either in combination or alone with reference to Hugo's theories;
Darwin and the 'entangled bank'; Lyell and Paley and the grotesque in
geological terms; and the uncanny with reference to Freud's theories on
this.  More specifically, reference will be made to such phenomenon as
Hardy's use of water as a grotesque tool, the pig as a grotesque presence in
his work, and machines and the railways as grotesque. Finally, I shall look
at Hardy's move towards a more modernist, stark view of the grotesque in
'Jude the Obscure', particularly in the character of Little Father Time. 
          To summate, I am examining the grotesque thread as observed in
selected incidents throughout Hardy's novels from 'Desperate Remedies',
where Hardy looks back over his shoulder to the gothic grotesque, to 'Jude'
where he looks forward to the grotesque as observed in Woolf and beyond,
even finding resonances in Pirandello and the 'Theatre of he Grotesque'. 
          I have already identified several of the extracts which I will
refer to in my deliberations and these should be relatively easy to guess at
given the parameters above. By the way, you may have noticed that there is
no mention of the bodily grotesque a-la- Bakhtin, but this was dealt with in
a previous chapter. Further, there is no mention of masking and masquerade
as this is to be examined in the following chapter. I hope this clarifies
things somewhat, and I really would appreciate any help on filling in
loopholes I may have missed.
          I realise that a whole book could be devoted to Hardy's employment
of the grotesque mode and that there is much encapsulation to be done - but
therein lies the charm!!
          All the best,
          Jacky Wilkinson