The Return of the Native" a tragedy of character and environment Hardy, Shakespeare of the English Novel
Hardy has been called the Shakespeare of the English novel and the four great Hardian tragedies, Tess of the D'ubervilles, Jude the Obscure, The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Return of the Native have been likened to the four great Shakespearean tragedies. But Hardy's conception of tragedy is radically different from that of Shakespeare.

Hardy's Tragic Hero
In a Shakespearean tragedy, as Bradley has pointed out, the tragic hero is a man of high rank and position. He may belong to the royal family or he may be some great general and warrior indispensable for the state. He is not only exalted socially but he has also some uncommon qualities of head and heart. He is in short a rare individual. When such a person falls from greatness and his high position is reversed, the result is "Kathartic'. His fall exciates the tragic emotion of terror and the readers are purged of the motion of self-pity.
This was the traditional concept of Tragedy upto Hardy. But Hardy has how own concept, he is the innovator of a new form of tragedy, His tragic hero and heroines are no exalted personages. They are neither kings nor queens. They belong to the lowest ranks of society. Thus in the present novel, Clym is humble by birth, and he takes to furze-cutting as his profession, and Mrs. Yeobrighl is the wife of an humble farmer. But these humble people have exceptional qualities of head and heart which raise them above the common run of mankind. Thus Clym is the idealist, and Mrs. Yeobright is prudent, strong and loving.
Hardian Tragedy: Apotheosis of the Human Spirit
When these humble heroes and heroines of Hardy suffer and fall from grace the effect is as "Kalhurtic' as that of a Shakespearean tragedy. A Hardian tragedy is an apotheosis of the human spirit. It reveals to us the