...in English: American Poetry Hardy’s Poetry Presents the World as Terrible According to one of the Thomas Hardy’s autobiography, he presents a picture of himself as a sensitive young man who attended church regularly and believed in a personal God who ruled the universe. Then when Hardy went to London in his early twenties and discovered such intellectual ferment as caused by Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species by Means and Natural Selection” (1859), Hardy then lost his faith and never recovered it. Hardy then began to see the world without any ruler or God. He started to think this is why the world is so wretched and terrible because there is no sovereign ruler that could prevent bad episodes from occurring and causing the people of the world to suffer. Thomas Hardy as a poem writer then presented the world as terrible, with the messages that he entailed. After a read into each of his poems during that era, it does appear that the verses expressed the world to be very depressing and utterly unsettling; these poems include “Hap”, “To an Unborn Pauper Child”, “The Man He Killed” and “God’s Education”. The poem “Hap” is a negative poem in tone where Hardy examines how easily joy is taken from his life and the randomness of its elimination, this is suggesting a chaos of pain and suffering. The pessimist tone begins from the start of the poem where Hardy mentions “if but some vengeful god would call to me,”(V-L1) notice the lack of a capital “G” hinting the lack...
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...Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 from a quite poor family: his humble origins will always be a source of shame for him, and that’s why he will always try to hide them. Moreover, his origins determinate his absolute pessimism about the chances of being fulfilled in this context and, in general, about humans’ destiny. He believes that every man has a sort of predestination to failure, without any help from society or love. As a matter of fact, the middle class is self-righteous, full of prejudices and pretender, money is owned only by a small part of the society, whereas all the other people starve to death. He tries to denounce this awful situation (despite the censure to which he is forced), and that’s why his novels are so provocative: as a matter of fact, in “Tess d’Ubervilles”, the main character is always described as pure, lovely and innocent, even if she’s an unmarried mother and kills Alec, her first husband. This murder, as a matter of fact, is caused only by circumstances and not by the will of doing violence on him. His pessimistic ideas are caused not only by the reality in which he lives, but also by scientific movements and the new geological discoveries: because of them, he rejects Christian doctrine and the Bible and starts to think man is insignificant. One other really important element is Hardy novels (which also determinates his tragic view of life) is Nature: it isn’t just the background of his novels, but a real character; it is a lively force always...
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...Azad Mrs. Brady AP Lit and Comp 29 January 2016 Examining Thomas Hardy’s poetic philosophy and style by analyzing his poems profusely is similar to finding a needle in a haystack. The reasoning behind the hardship is attributed to Hardy’s unconventional style of poetry which is influenced by events in his life. Consequently by researching into Hardy’s life, there were connections to his poetic style and its’ inspiration. By making use of eccentric syntax and melancholic tone, Thomas Hardy creates a sense of nostalgia, which is influenced by his personal life and especially the death of his wife, Emma. Thomas Hardy was born in Stinsford, United Kingdom in 1840. He was born in a country where poetry dominated literature and where arguably some of the greatest poets lived including William Shakespeare. Most of his poetry got published in the later part of his life. He also wrote many famous novels to support himself financially. Some of his poetry was inspired by his first wife Emma, to whom he paid little attention to while she was alive. His works include regretful elegies inspired by his late wife. His poems have the effect of longing and nostalgia, solidified by odd syntax and diction. His other works are mostly about uncertainty of fate, time and change, and the relationship between man and nature. Hardy was a Victorian realist and he was also inspired by William Wordsworth poetry style of Romanticism. Hardy was a hardcore idealist and realist as he represented things...
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...Thomas Hardy is a British poet from an English village of Higher Bockhampton in the country of Dorset. He was famous during Naturalism/ Victorian literary time period. Hardy’s most famous poems are; Neutral Tones, The Darkling Thrush, and Drummer Hodge. Thomas Hardy used common themes, and styles in his poems. In Thomas Hardy’s writing he uses common themes such as disappointment & suffering, and love. An example of disappointment & suffering is his poem “Neutral Tones” in this poem the writer is looking back at a women he has fallen out of love, but it is the disappointment is that the writer is getting from falling in love. Also “Look into my glass” he is reflecting his age, and time passing “ageing” the suffering id depression. Another...
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..."The main purpose of the poem 'Drummer Hodge' is to provide the memorial the soldier himself never received." To what extent do you agree with this view? Just from observing the title the reader can already grasp that the poem is about a very young drummer boy in the army who would've been rather innocent and quite unknowing about what he was entering into. Hardy uses a lot of techniques to make the reader feel sympathy for the young boy as he appears to be forgotten about after death with no sense of formality or ritual to his burial. This poem also bring to light, the side of war which isn’t thought about as much and it shows that war isn’t always about fighting and killing but sometimes about remembering. From just the second word of the poem, Hardy pulls on the reader's heart strings as he uses the verb "throw". This word connotes a very careless and heartless action which seems to be played out with little or no respect. Considering the person is clearly a young child, not only does it make the action appear violent, but it also gives a sense that there is no real formality or ritual about his death, he is just being thrown into a pit to be forgotten about for eternity. The reader evokes more sympathy a few lines later, "That breaks the veldt around." This makes it appear to be very lonely and isolated, as the buried boy is the only break in the landscape for miles around. It further emphasises the idea that this young boy has been left and forgotten about away from...
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...WITH REGARD TO THEMATIC PRE-OCCUPATION, DICTION, SETTING AND PLOT, ASSESS THOMAS HARDY “TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES AND MORAL”. THOMAS HARDY- TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES (NON-AFRICAN) Pre-Occupation Thomas hardy first in his career became an apprentice to John Hicks. A Dorchester Architect for several years, his practice architecture in Dorchester, he also simultaneously studied Greek and Latin. It was during this period that he began written poetry. In 1862, Hardy moved to London ad worked as a Architect for Arthur Bloomfield. He continued to write poetry but was unsuccessful in getting it published. In 1871, his first novel, Desperate Remedies, was published, and a year later, under the greenwood tree was published DICTION Diction entails the use of words or language style use in the poetry. The style use in this poetry is narrative technique employed by the writer is the third person or omnipresent, through this technique the writer is able to present the various, no matter where they occur. • Imagery Bird: Image of bird recall throughout the novel evoking their traditional spiritual associative with higher Realm of transcendence. • Biblical Allusion The book of Genesis: the genesis story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is evoked repeatedly throughout Tess of the d’urbervilles, giving the novel a broader metaphysical dimension. • Symbols Prince: When Tess dozes off in the wagon and loses control, the resulting death of the Durbey field horse, price...
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...Time's enchantments In hall and bower. There was no tragic transit, No catch of breath, When silent seasons inched me On to this death ... -- A Troubadour-youth I rambled With Life for lyre, The beats of being raging In me like fire. But when I practised eyeing The goal of men, It iced me, and I perished A little then. When passed my friend, my kinsfolk, Through the Last Door, And left me standing bleakly, I died yet more; And when my Love's heart kindled In hate of me, Wherefore I knew not, died I One more degree. And if when I died fully I cannot say, And changed into the corpse-thing I am to-day, Yet is it that, though whiling The time somehow In walking, talking, smiling, I live not now. Thomas...
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...Thomas Hardy's poem "Convergence of the Twain" discusses a role of fate as a major theme. The poem was first published at an event held at the London’s Covent Garden Theatre in aid of the disaster fund in response to a tragedy event: the sinking of the Titanic. What one expects to find in a poem written in response to a tragedy on this scale, is the context that appeals to the one’s sympathy or sense of loss of lives undeservedly cut short. Thomas Hardy, however, chooses not to mention of a devastating loss of more than 1,500 lives and the sinking of the magnificent ship, but rather uses the tragedy to give lessons to us, as readers, on the act of over self-confidence as an act of Satan. Through means of imagery, irony and symbolism, Thomas Hardy gives to the readers the absence of everything one expects from the reading of this poem. Irony is apparent in the way the author skillfully handles the situation of the victims. In cases where the author mentions the victims, he uses the words such as “the opulent” and “the sensuous mind”. These words made it...
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...Throughout the two novels, Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” and Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” the common theme of oppression by using psychological methods prevails. Tess’ parents and Alec can control her by leveraging guilt as a way of victimization which ultimately seals her fate. Mr. Kurtz in” Heart of Darkness” takes control over the weaker African natives to force them into submission. Both stories have this underlying theme of power and domination resulting in feelings of slavery and victims of fate. “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” is a tale of the tragic life of Tess that results when she accidentally kills Prince, the family horse. Tess’ parents use the guilt that she feels to exploit her and force her to work for the family. Therefore, she encounters Alec, who ultimately rapes and impregnates Tess. Instead of Alec being condemned for his actions, Tess is publically criticized and cast aside for this act, even though she was the victim. The cruel hand of fate hangs over all the characters and actions of the novel, as Tess’ story is defined by the bad things that happen to her. Thomas Hardy himself, as the author of the book, naturally causes the many unfair coincidences and plot twists that beset Tess, however as the person telling the story, he also manages to appear as her only champion against an unjust world. Tess's difficult situations are described as mere sport for the "President of the People who will never die," which is very...
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...is more evident than in the novels Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Though each book is written in a different era and continent from each other, both authors have taken a profound look into the lives of women who, in submission of the society they live in, persevere and carry on their lives no matter what. Though Hardy’s Victorian countryside and Hosseini’s war ridden Afghanistan have very different plot lines, both novels develop the theme of inner strength of women through the protagonist’s characteristics, the conflicts in the plot and setting. In 1891 Hardy wrote Tess of the d’Urbervilles. The novel received a public outcry and was criticized for its taboo topics and insight into a ruined woman’s private life. The passionate and intense Tess Durbeyfield, whom the novel is centralized around, faces more tragedy and injustice in her adolescent years than any women could bear and perseveres through out. Tess’s character, as well as the women around her, shows the true inner strength women possess. From the early days of Tess’s journey, the inner strength of her character is shown as she plays caretaker to her large family. Hardy presents Joan Durbeyfield, Tess’s mother: as superstitious, faintly childlike, and essentially harmless, and he had remarked that between her and Tess ‘there was a gap of two hundred years as ordinarily understood’...Hardy encourages us to be critical...
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...Year 12 AS Literature Coursework Planning Sheet Prose Essay: Tess Of The D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy. Essay Titles: 1. Explore how Hardy uses Form, Structure and Language to present Alec D’Uberville as the predatory villain of the novel. Weighting of Marks: AO1: 12/30 AO2: 15/30 AO4: 3/30 Notice that AO3 (comparison and different interpretations) is not given any marks in this essay, unlike the Drama Essay. In this essay, you are marked mainly for the style and structure of your argument, the use of terminology, and foremost, your ability to analyse Hardy’s use of Form, Structure and Language in shaping meaning. In looking at Alec’s characterisation, there needs to be a clear focus on how Hardy crafts his writing to manipulate the readers’ feelings and thoughts concerning Alec. An attention to close textual detail, analysing use of dialogue, description, narration, and settings will be needed. You also need to engage with how Hardy has used Form (the conventions of particular types of novel) and Structure, showing your awareness of the Chapters and Phases of the novel, signposting your writing clearly and showing understanding of how Hardy structures events to shift and change or develop our understanding of Alec’s character. Context is only a small aspect, but should be embedded in your response, with comments linking to specific details in the text. PLANNING: If you want to organise a good party, planning is important. If you want to put on...
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...Angel and Tess: A Romance Fit For the Books? Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Napolean and Josephine. Throughout society's entire existence, we have known almost innately that these couples belong together, and yet fate intervened to deal their relationship a tragic blow. Yet readers persist on viewing these couples as the most passionate of all times. What makes them so unique? What makes them so compatible? What makes everyone see them as half of a whole instead of two? These couples proved to society that they belonged together, no matter what circumstances they faced . They possessed True Love, the rare gift that makes a relationship last, amidst outer turmoil. In the novel, Tess of the D'Ubervilles, by Thomas Hardy, another literary couple is portrayed. Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare appear to be in such an invincible love. The audience believes that they could have a happy life together as a unified couple, but, here too, fate intervenes and Tess is killed. However, the question remains in readers' minds: Would Tess and Angel’s relationship reached the level of perfection in these examples had Tess remained alive? Would their relationship have been successful? There are several factors that can define a successful relationship. In order for a relationship to be worthwhile, the relationship must possess mutual love, respect, and trust, characterized by similar backgrounds, harmonious personalities , and compatibility. Tess and Angel’s love could not have...
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...It should sway the readers or audiences with pity or fear in the end. To keep it in mind, “The Return of Native” can be coined as a village tragic novel which brings us into contact with ordinary people. Hardy is able to create genuine tragedy out of the inter-relationships between characters and the background of Egdon Heath. The protagonist (Eustacia) of the novel because of her passionate nature and ungovernable longings for fashion life resulted in her tragedy. Some of the heath folks think she is a witch. The death of her whether it is accidental or a case of suicidal, is highly pitiful. Many of the people think that she is the real tragic heroin of the novel. But if we compare her with Clym, we will come to know that he is the real tragic hero. The very title of the novel tells about his return from Paris to Egdon Heath. He is quite an emotional sort of person reluctant to reality of situations. He is actually a person who could not understand the thinking of folks of Heath as those people only longs for money not intellectual development. His unpractical idealism is the cause of his downfall (hamartia). The novel also holds some supernatural or gothic element in it which suggests that it belongs to the category of tragedy. Redman is the symbol of gothic element. Hardy has magnificently woven a tapestry of tragedy with the threads of fate, providences and tragic flaws. These three elements have proved that “End justifies means” throughout the novel. Clym is seen to be...
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...The Darkling Thrush - Thomas Hardy [1840-1928] Relevant Background * The poet Thomas Hardy was born near Dorchester in England. * He is also famous for writing novels. * Hardy gained a love of music from his father. Music is a prominent feature of ‘The Darkling Thrush’. * Hardy gained his interest in literature from his mother. * At the age of 22 Hardy moved to London and started to write poems. These early poems praised country life. Yet Hardy didn’t publish his poems until he was 58. He was 60 when he wrote this poem. * Hardy wrote over 900 poems in his lifetime. * Hardy’s poems are straight to the point and sometimes gloomy in outlook. In this poem he finds a source of hope when a thrush suddenly starts to sing. * Hardy’s most common theme is about the way people struggle against fate. * Hardy's themes also include rural life and nature, love, change, time, loss and death. * Hardy’s tone is usually ironic; that is he sees the unexpected twists and surprises of life. The twist in this poem is that when the poet was in a sad mood due to winter a weak old thrush caused him to feel hope. * Most of Hardy’s poetry is relatively simple and yet skilful. However, some of his poetic writing can be difficult due to old-fashioned words and phrases. * Hardy loves to think in surprising images that appeal to the reader’s intelligence. * Hardy’s poems tend to be descriptive, lyrical, and regular in form. He is a poet who likes even lines...
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...Learning From Mistakes People learn from the past. Either their own or from the people that lived before them. Readers can learn from the literature they read. In “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”, by Thomas Hardy, readers can learn from the actions of the characters. Written in 1891 the roles of women and men are different from what they are now. Readers can see the difference though many of the characters such as Tess Durbeyfield, Angel Clare, Alec D’Urberville, and Joan Durbeyfield. These can be shown through the characters in their relationships, thoughts, and actions. Your relationship with someone can say something about you. Once learning about their ancestry and the tragedy of the horse, Tess’s family decides to have her go visit part of their family in Trantridge. Upon her arrival she is greeted by Alec, the son of the mansion. Alec always got what he wanted and he wanted Tess. Since Tess refused his companionship Alec rapes her one night and Tess becomes pregnant. After the death of her infant, Sorrow, Tess finds new work at a dairy where she meets her new husband, Angel. On their wedding night Angel and Tess tell secrets that they have been holding in. Tess tells about Alec, and Angel decides to leave her. Tess’s past relationship changes her relationship now. This shows that who you are associated with can change how people think about you. Once Angel found out about Tess’s past he decides to go on with his apprenticeship without her. On the rode he runs into Izz...
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