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Seeing Hardy: The critical and cinematic construction of Thomas Hardy and his novels Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Niemeyer, Paul Joseph 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 07/10/2021 07:03:00 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284226 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfiim master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter lace, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon ttw quality of the copy submitted. 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Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 SEEING HARDY: THE CRITICAL AND CINEMATIC CONSTRUCTION OF THOMAS HARDY AND HIS NOVELS by Paul Joseph Niemeyer Copyright © Paul Joseph Niemeyer 2000 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2000 UMI Number: 9992050 Copyright 2000 by Niemeyer. Paul Joseph All rights reserved. UMI ® UMI Microform 9992050 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Paul JoSGnh .'jiempvpr entitled Seeing Hardy: The Critical and Cinematic Construction of Thomas Hardy and His Novels and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Dortnr nf Philri'^mhu bei^id iionsmaa Date ^— 'I 1^1 ^—StHR^^i^aval /7 Date QO 44 Char!25 Scruggs Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recomnend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. /V 7/ ertation Director Gerald Monsnan Dat^ ( 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNEP/>^^ 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writing of this dissertation marked one of the most challenging and rewarding periods of my life; and it is only proper that I here recognize all those who contributed to this project. First, my deepest thanks and appreciation go to my dissertation committee; Professors Gerald Monsman, Suresh Raval, and Charles Scruggs, all of whom generously loaned me their time, expertise, and insights, and guided me toward a successful outcome. I would especially like to thank Professor Monsman, who agreed to chair the committee, who first suggested that I combine my interests in Hardy and film into a dissertation topic, and who years ago took an active role in shaping my graduate career. This project quite literally would not have been possible were it not for him. During much of the writing process I was supported by a David I. Patrick Dissertation Fellowship and by a "Tatum 10" Teaching Fellowship, which freed me from financial concerns and allowed me to focus on my writing. I would like to thank the University of Arizona English Department faculty for bestowing these awards upon me; and to again thank Professors Monsman and Scruggs for their help in securing these fellowships. My colleague and good finend Yvonne Merrill, Ph.D., read portions of the chapters, served as a sounding board for many of my ideas, and listened to my concerns about this project; and in return she gave me nothing but kind words and encouragement. I am lucky to have her fiiendship. During my graduate career I wrote and provided illustrations for the satirical magazine The Drawn and Quarterly, and the firiends I made through the D & 0-Marty Kelley, author of the world's greatest Hardy pun ("Thomas Hardee's Restaurant: You've Eaten Fast Food, But Have You Chewed the Obscure?"), James Champagne, Lisa-Anne Culp, Carol Nowotny-Young, Donald McNutt, Leslie Dupont, and Tully Thibeau-helped see me through the writing process by reminding me there's a funny side to everything. Even Thomas Hardy. A very good group of people made one portion of my research easier, and all the while they never knew they were helping me. Casa Video, at 2905 East Speedway Boulevard in Tucson, was my primary provider for all of the films cited in this study. Not only does Casa carry the complete films of John Schlesinger, Roman Polanski, and Michael Winterbottom, it also stocks the British films of the 1960s, 1980s, and 1990s I have referenced; and it remains the only video store I know of that carries the rare 1970 BBC serial of Jude the Obscure. The commitment of this local business-and its staff-to catering to the needs of the film buff and the film historian lifts it far above the usual Hollywood-Blockbuster Megacorp. Finally, my mother and father, Joyce and Albert Niemeyer, gave me one of the most valuable gifts I've ever received; a lifelong love for the written word. What unfolds in the pages that follow is a product of that love. DEDICATION To my mother and father, who always believed. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 7 INTRODUCTION; Seeing Hardy, Knowing Hardy 9 CHAPTER 1: "Strange Business"; Thomas Hardy, the Cinema, and the Critics 26 CHAPTER 2; What You See is More than What You Get; The Problem of Adapting Thomas Hardy to Film 66 CHAPTER 3; Far from the Madding Crowd: How Schlesinger Contained the Uncontainable 110 CHAPTER 4; Tess by Hardy, Tess by Polanski; Convergence and Fulfillment 171 CHAPTER 5; Hardy's the Obscure and Winterbottom'sywc/e; Coherence and Codification 284 CHAPTER 6; "Moments of Television"; or, Thomas Hardy is Brought to You By . 364 POST SCRIPT: Hardy on the Horizon 435 WORKS CITED 445 7 ABSTRACT Cinematic adaptations of "classic" novels have long been viewed by filmmakers and critics as vehicles for understanding the art, mind, and even the personality of the original author. By examining the film and TV adaptations of Thomas Hardy's novels and by analyzing critics' opinions on the "fidelity" of these films to Hardy, we can see that this author is popularly perceived to be a pastoralist, classical tragedian, gloomy pessimist, and ardent social critic. Though there is considerable truth in these images, they do not convey all of who Hardy was and what his novels convey. Moreover, these perceptions of Hardy actually have their roots in the earliest reviews of his novels, and they have been largely reinforced by the decades of criticism that followed. But Hardy's novels actually resist simple classifications; they are multi-generic and are constantly involved in the process of deploying and questioning the language that is used by the characters and by the readers to construct a sense of reality. Since Hardy's novels are continually interrogating language and genres, they border on being self-destructive and incoherent. The function of some literary criticism of Hardy has often been to make his novels coherent and easy to understand, and to a large extent literary critics have created their own "versions" of the novels that have often become accepted by general culture. In chapters on the individual novels, this study isolates the critical histories of Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure, critically reads the novels to determine both how they give rise to and challenge popular and critical assumptions; and utilizes Barthean-derived theories on intertextuality and film adaptation to consider how filmmakers have intercepted not only Hardy's plots, but the critical 8 interpretations of his novels, to replicate and codify on the screen familiar images of Hardy. The film and TV versions of Hardy's novels are both reflections of how these works traditionally have been read and perceived, and reflectors on how Hardy's novels continue to be read.

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