[hardy-l] Hardy's intent

[Niemeyer, Paul J.]

I think the evidence is very clear that Hardy OFTEN wrote to make social commentary.  Most famously, his first, never-published novel, THE POOR MAN AND THE LADY, was an attack on the upper classes; and Hardy withdrew the manuscript based on George Meredith's charge that the young novelist "meant mischief" in his societal critique.  Hardy's "intent" can also be seen in the subsequent, published novels: THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA was Hardy's conscious attempt to write a novel of society (and his class critique is very strong in this novel) to show that he could do more than write about "sheep and shepherds;" in 1881 he made clear his desire to dismantle "the doll of English fiction," and his subsequent heroines, primarily Tess, can be seen as attacks on that literary and societal "type;" and JUDE, in addition to attacking class and educational inequities, parodies the conventional novel form, with an ending that wraps things up in a grotesque manner.  Nope--I think our man TH pretty much always knew what he was up to!
 
Best,
 
Paul Niemeyer  

 
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