[hardy-l] Hardy's endings (was Tess's ending)

[TonyAshling at swtrains.co.uk]

Well argued, Richard. 

I think there is a change between the endings in the earlier novels and 
those in the later ones. This difference being that, generally,  (A Pair 
of Blue Eyes excepted, as you quite rightly say, and what an ending that 
was)  there was at least some attempt, however ambiguous, to provide what 
might be seen by some as a ''happy'' ending in the earlier novels, whereas 
in the later ones this approach was not generally evident. 

Last night I re-read some of Rosemarie's introduction to the Penguin 
Classic edition of FFTMC, and she provides a compelling argument that the 
''happy'' ending was literally shrouded in mist  (the last chapter is 
entitled ''A foggy night and morning : Conclusion.'')  and disappeared 
under the ''incongruity of utterances'' from the likes of Joseph 
Poorgrass. However, it is still on some level a happier ending than most 
of the later novels. 

All this is further complicated by the introduction to the Penguin Classic 
edition of ROTN.  Penny Boumelha, talking about Thomasin and Diggory, says 
''Their marriage provides the novel with the more or less happy ending 
with which Hardy later claimed to have felt so ill at ease......''. 

Indeed, the final chapter of ROTN is entitled  ''Cheerfulness again 
asserts itself at Blooms-End, and Clym finds his vocation.''  This title 
does seem to be Hardy being, for want of a better word, playful. 

Why would Hardy, in FFTMC, go to such lengths to disguise the purported 
''happy'' ending, and yet two books later appear to produce a ''happy'' 
ending that he was allegedly uncomfortable with? 

Best wishes,
Tony


Richard Nemesvari wrote...

>>>I might argue that there's a world of latitude in the idea that Hardy 
provides "what could be termed a happy ending" in nearly half his novels,

>>>Hardy is simply not willing to leave his audience with the comforting 
sense of resolution provided by unproblematic happy endings, and it seems 
to me that that >>>aesthetic is in place from start to finish.










































 

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