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Poems of the Fast and Present Thomas Hardy, literary artist and deterministic philosopher Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Miller, Margaret Pearl Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 13:07:23 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553750 mOMk'S HARDY, LITERARY ARTIST ADD DETERMINISTIC PHILOSOPHER Margaret P. Miller ****************** Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the College of Letters, Arts, and Soienoes, of the ■-x'si'vvy-/ : University of ilrisona :: ' 1928 ************************ e9?9/ / 9 2 ? 9 t*yc> ACK30'.-%L.DGaL.Z,T The writer wiohea to aeknowledgo indebtodnouu to Dr$ Sidney F. Pattiaon and Dr. Gerald D. Sandora for inapirational advioe. 67576 IKDJSI Prer&oe.,..*..... ....... ..... I-II Chapter I. 2arly Crwtive Life... 1 Chapter II. The Bovolist,.18 Chapter III. The lyricist........ 43 Chapter IV. The Philosopher..... 56 Bibliography. .................. 81 1 . PRKFAC5 Die avdrage reader of H&rdy'o novels has only a superficial acquaintance with his poetry, and. almost none with his dr aim. In the pages which follow it has been the attempt of the author to draw an adequate picture of the motives which dominated Hardy’s life, culminating in the phil­ osophical theories of The Dynasts. Difficulty has been encountered in obtain­ ing adequate facts in the life of Thomas Hardy, For this material, the writer wishes to acknowledge Indebtedness to The Life of Thomas Hardy by Ernest Brenneoke. For a more com­ prehensive grasp or M o life, the student is advised to read the volume us a whole rather tlmn to be content with the brief paraphrase which Is given in this paper. In reading the novels we have only an ■ approach to M s philosophy; in M s lyrics, a partial express­ ion of M s theories; and in M s drama the whole theory of the immanence of the nlll. Hot until his later work do we see revealed the gleam of hope w M e h shines through his well- clothed determinism. In order to explain Hardy’s philosophy it has been necessary ^ briefly summarize that of Schopenhauer, the!points of difference in their theories lying chiefly in II. their expression of them, tichopenhsner, primarily a philo­ sopher, xmo interested in the ideas themselves and eared' little for the manner in nhioh they wore expressed; while Hardy, an author, was interested in both the ideas and their clothing, Walter Pater in M s Appreciations tolls us that good art depends upon both the form and matter, and goes on to add "if it (art) be devoted further to the increase of men*o happiness, to the redemption of the oppressed, or the enlargement of our sympathies with each other, or to such pre­ sentment of now or ol% truth about ourselves and our relation to the world as may enable and fortify us in our sojourn hero ,it will he great art; if, over and above those quali­ ties I summed up as mind and soul— that color and mystic per­ fume, and that reasonable structure, it has something of the soul of humanity in it, and finds Its logical, its architec­ tural place, in the great structure of human life," It M s been the desire of the author to show that Hardy * s works have in them that "mystic perfume," as well as the "reasonable structure" which ensure* them a place in "the great structure of human life." CHAPTER I. EARLY CREATIVE LIFE Immersed by the insorut&ble, timeless per* sonallty of % d o n Heath; and of a piece wltli Its loneliness, the low house of the Hardy’s)formed a fitting birthplace for the quiet, self-contained, shy, but rugged personality which was later to manifest itself in the huge Dynasts and the lighter Wessex stories. Born in this remote place in 1840, Thomas Hardy spent a sunny childhood. The servants told him folk tales and country lore, shorn of their grotesqueries, and the farm laborers gave him impressions which no later civilisation could remove, but which rather became intensified by his wanderings over the wastes of Egdon Heath and along its Roman Road. It was to this rambling old house that, the village choir came to practice their carols and dance tunes, and we can imagine the little Thomas clapping his hands and stamping his feet to the rhythm of *0 Jan, 0 Jan!” while Grand* ter Cantlo1 s high voice, "like a bee bussing in a flue," boomed out a sturdy •accompaniment to tho cane which kept time to his movements. The ohuroh, as will be later shown, formed a great part in Hardy’s life. Joseph Fort liewton of the Christian Century, am he pays tribute to Hardy, says: "lio nan had mono devotion to the house of God, alike as architect and artist; so many of M o stories have as their motif a vine-covered church, and it is always a part of the landscape as though it had g r o w out of it.” i Hardy early received religions training from M s mother, who taught him the stories of the miracles, the parables, and a few of the early historical events of the Old Testament. The lat­ ter, Hardy found, wore more in tune with the wild, stern sweet­ ness of the Heath he came to love. In pleasant weather the family went to Dorchester (the Caaterbridge of the novels), where the boy, Hardy, later spent his architectural years, to attend the divine services at St. Peters, Here, Hardy became deeply imbued with the pragmatism so native to the average Wessex character. With Joseph Poorgrass he learned that ”God*s a perfect gentleman•” The Hardy family had never been noted for orthodoxy of religious beliefs, and the seeds planted In Thomas, early in life, remained to produce heretical fruit. He early developed, through his association with the boys of the hamlet, a tendency toward the loutish habits of speech and manner so peculiar to the Wessex charac­ ters, For the first time in his life he learned the lesson . of ”trimming Ills sails” to fit at least two winds of environment Rural manners were not becoming to a Hardy, the son of an illustrious line, and the language learned outside the home -ilewton, Joseph Fort, Christian Century. Feb. 2, 1920: "Christ on Fgdon Heath." Yma not to be carried into it. Tho Xon^j lino,of Hardys from which bad come the Captain of Trafalgar, and the noble do Hardys of the French Revelation, had loft a dignity that even the shy Thomas of the remote Heath must respect. Thus, before he came to tho age of six he was leading a doable life. With M s playmates it was "bide where ye be," but in M e mother's presence, "stay where you are." This duplicity had effect upon the boy in manners other than speech. His mother1 a aloofness from Wessex became more poignantly felt as he grew older, and the sense of family superiority manifested itself in Shyness and a spiritual drawing away from M s young companions. When he should have been a participant in all their activities he was a mere observer. While all feeling of self should have been lost in play, he became, instead, almost morbidly self-conscious• Since this social superiority could not be evidenced in an objective way, but must be pointed out through mental aloofness, the situation / was made more poignant for the child. 3arly in M e eighth year ho was registered in the primary school of Dorchester, w M c h the Hardy family had founded in the early Dorset days. He soon became indolent, discontented and impatient of learning to such a degree that he refused to attend longer, being more interested in listening to the tales of the Wessex pioneers than to tho drone of a monotonous recitation. -4 ' Three yearo of tutoring in the olaaaioa and under a Ereneh governess, eoapleted Hardy^ formal educa­ tion. learning, free from direction and guidanoo, v/ae constantly being absorbed into M s every fiber. But M s formal aohoolihg had at least taught M m how to write. Having the reputation of noholarlinoss be­ cause he could read a foreign language, he was in demand by all the boys and girls of the village, to write their love letters. Unlike the composed letters of Richardson,.Hardy1s were purely a dictation. Hio love for the Wessex people must have been manifest in the amatory notes he wrote. When we read The Mayor of Casterbritoe we hear an echo of these experiences. Mother Cuxsom says: "love letters? Then lot’s hear ’em, good soul..... Do you mind, Richard, what fools we used to be when we were younger? Getting a school boy to write ’em for us and giving him a penny, do yo mind, not to tell other folks what he’d put inside, do you mind?" ± This period of M s early life was profitable in experience. Though he became disillusioned through M s insight into village affairs he acquired, to season it, a keen penetration of mind that becomes evident in all of M s later work. This purposeless period was soon to come to an end, for the Hardys, ambitious that their son should add to their self-esteem and family pride, and despairing of higher ^flardy, Thomas, The Mayor of Caaterbrldge.
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