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A General Drama of Pain
Character and Fate in Hardy's Major Novels
Résumé
This motivational analysis of the protagonists in Thomas Hardy's three most widely read novelsâTess of the d'Urbervilles, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Jude the Obscureâhighlights an often-overlooked aspect of his art. Bernard J. Paris shows Hardy's genius in creating imagined human beings. He demonstrates that while Hardy tends to blame external conditions for his characters' painful fates, their downfalls are due to a very complex combination of cosmic, social, and psychological factors. Hardy's characters are usually discussed primarily in thematic terms. The characters are are so richly portrayed, Paris argues, that they can be better understood independent of Hardy's interpretations, in motivational terms and he utilizes the psychologist Karen Horney's theories to recover Hardy's intuitions. The characters are full of inner conflicts that make them difficult to fathom, but the approach Paris employs explains their contradictions and illuminates their troubled relationshipsâshedding light on these expertly crafted imagined human beings. This psychological approach to Hardy's characters enables us to understand his characters and gain insight into the implied authors of the works. In addition, the approach shows Hardy's authorial personality. We can see that Hardy treats some defensive strategies more sympathetically than others. Given his view of life as âa general drama of pain,â resignation, like that of Hardy's character Elizabeth-Jane, is the strategy he prefers.
Détails de l'édition
- ISBN-13
- 9781412845984
- ISBN-10
- 141284598X
- EAN
- 9781412845984
- Éditeur
- Transaction Publishers (New Brunswick, N.J.)
- Date de publication
- 1 janvier 2012
- Langue
- en
- Pages
- 155
- Dimensions
- 24 cm
Provenance des données
- dimensions BnF Catalogue général · 23 juillet 2026
- language Google Books · 6 août 2026
- page_count Google Books · 6 août 2026
- publication_date BnF Catalogue général · 23 juillet 2026
- subtitle Google Books · 6 août 2026
- summary Google Books · 6 août 2026
- title Google Books · 6 août 2026