English Language and Literature ETDs

Publication Date

12-11-1968

Abstract

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) published six novels in the 1870’s: Desperate Remedies (1871); Under the Greenwood Tree (1872); A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873); Far from the Madding Crowd (1874); The Hand of Ethelberta (1876); The Return of the Native (1878). This study is divided into four chapters according to the four periods of criticism of Hardy’s earliest novels: first, the immediate critical reception between 1871 and 1879; second, the initial retrospective evaluation between 1879 and 1898; third, criticism in the period of apotheosis, that is, from the publication in 1898 of the novelist’s first volume of poetry, through his fame as the epic poet of The Dynasts (1904-1908), until his death in 1928; fourth, critical estimates since Hardy’s centenary, that is, between 1940 and 1967. This introduction presents a frame of reference for the study as a whole, and includes biographical information. The study is limited to criticism of the six earliest novels because criticism of Hardy’s formative work has been too long neglected by critics who prefer the work of Hardy’s maturity.

Degree Name

English

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

Frederick Bolton Warner, Jr.

Second Committee Member

Roy Glenwood Pickett

Third Committee Member

Mary Jane Power

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Download

Share

COinS