Handouts



=== In my Research paper I wanted to prove that Thomas Hardy’s strongest stylistic technique is his use of setting, a device that is so intrinsic to his use of major works that it acts as a character. I did this by discussing the different aspect that make up setting. Setting is identified by three aspects: time, place, and social context. ===

=== Most of Thomas Hardy’s novels take place in Hardy’s native county of Dorset, which Hardy chose to revive as the archaic Wessex. Tim involves not only the century or decade in which the story takes place, but also the duration of the story and its impact on the main characters. The societal context of the story if defined by the way in which society reacts to these other features of setting. Religious, political and cultural aspects of society are extremely important to a story, and even more so to Hardy’s novels. The way people who held these values highly react to the actions of the characters is intrinsic to an understanding of the story. ===

===The basic and almost universal conception of the 19th Century is that it was an age of transition. It was a time when society was finally breaking away from Middle Age concepts, and facing an epoch of drastic change. Industrialization divided the world between the industrialized and the natural; Hardy clearly wanted to demonstrate this through his stories. People were forced to work for unbearably long hours, in harsh, monotonous jobs, instead of the harsh but relative independence of farming life. Setting also mirrors the emotions of the characters. I described several instances where this was so, including the following: Tess’ fascination with Angel’s lyre and the way the description of the vegetation reflected this lust and desire, The darkness and fog in the Chase which foreshadowed the rape, and the frigidness and desolation of Flintcombe-Ash which demonstrated the abandonment of Tess. I concluded in my paper that Hardy’s setting is clearly a major technique of his style. It is such an essential part of his work that it obtains a personality of its own and participates in the story as a character. ===


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