Here the Hardy canon is challenged through the analysis of two `minor' novels, The Hand of Ethelberta and Two on a Tower, and with the help of manuscript evidence a revolutionary re-reading of The Woodlanders is offered. Generous references to Hardy's letters, autobiography, literary notebooks, marginalia, and the letters of his two wives seek to blend a biographical approach with a feminist reading. Parallelisms between Hardy's fiction and that of contemporary feminist writers are explored to suggest mutual literary influence. Hardy's relations with contemporary women writers, especially his protégées and his `scribbling' wives, are discussed in unprecedented detail. An analysis of the short stories makes a case for Hardy as the champion of `Woman as Victim', while his changing responses to the Suffrage movement suggest a deep-rooted ambivalence that makes any glib appropriation of Hardy under the feminist banner too simplistic. This book thus highlights the tensions and contradictions between Hardy the apologist for women and Hardy the alleged misogynist.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Critics' Debate
The Hand of Ethelberta
The Return of the Native
Two on a Tower
The Woodlanders
The Short Stories of the 1890s
Jude the Obscure
Hardy, his Wives, and his Literary Protégées
Hardy and Some Contemporary Female Writers
Conclusion: 'A Confused Heap of Impressions'
Notes
Index
SHANTA DUTTA is a Professor in the Department of English, Jadavpur University, Calcutta. She studied English at Presidency College, Calcutta, and gained her MA and MPhil from the University of Calcutta. She was awarded a Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship (1993-6) and did her PhD on Hardy at the University of Leicester. She began her full-time teaching career at Loreto College, Calcutta, in 1986, but moved later that year to Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta, which she joined as Lecturer in the Department of English. In 1993 she was promoted to Senior Lecturer and for a year (1992-3) she was also Honorary Guest Lecturer, Department of English, University of Calcutta. She is a vice-president of The Thomas Hardy Association (USA) and a member of The Thomas Hardy Society.
Description
Here the Hardy canon is challenged through the analysis of two `minor' novels, The Hand of Ethelberta and Two on a Tower, and with the help of manuscript evidence a revolutionary re-reading of The Woodlanders is offered. Generous references to Hardy's letters, autobiography, literary notebooks, marginalia, and the letters of his two wives seek to blend a biographical approach with a feminist reading. Parallelisms between Hardy's fiction and that of contemporary feminist writers are explored to suggest mutual literary influence. Hardy's relations with contemporary women writers, especially his protégées and his `scribbling' wives, are discussed in unprecedented detail. An analysis of the short stories makes a case for Hardy as the champion of `Woman as Victim', while his changing responses to the Suffrage movement suggest a deep-rooted ambivalence that makes any glib appropriation of Hardy under the feminist banner too simplistic. This book thus highlights the tensions and contradictions between Hardy the apologist for women and Hardy the alleged misogynist.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Critics' Debate
The Hand of Ethelberta
The Return of the Native
Two on a Tower
The Woodlanders
The Short Stories of the 1890s
Jude the Obscure
Hardy, his Wives, and his Literary Protégées
Hardy and Some Contemporary Female Writers
Conclusion: 'A Confused Heap of Impressions'
Notes
Index
Authors
SHANTA DUTTA is a Professor in the Department of English, Jadavpur University, Calcutta. She studied English at Presidency College, Calcutta, and gained her MA and MPhil from the University of Calcutta. She was awarded a Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship (1993-6) and did her PhD on Hardy at the University of Leicester. She began her full-time teaching career at Loreto College, Calcutta, in 1986, but moved later that year to Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta, which she joined as Lecturer in the Department of English. In 1993 she was promoted to Senior Lecturer and for a year (1992-3) she was also Honorary Guest Lecturer, Department of English, University of Calcutta. She is a vice-president of The Thomas Hardy Association (USA) and a member of The Thomas Hardy Society.
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