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MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO Non-Conformist Hero in Thomas MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Non-Conformist Hero in Thomas Hardy's Novels Comparison of Main Characters in the Novels Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles Bachelor Thesis Brno 2012 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Jitka Hofmannová Declaration I declare that I have written the bachelor thesis by myself, and that I have used only the sources listed in bibliography. I agree that the thesis is stored in the library of the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University, and that it is available for academic purposes. Brno, April 2012 …........................................... Jitka Hofmannová Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk for his useful help during writing this thesis, his kind support, patience and valuable advice. Bibliography HOFMANNOVÁ, Jitka. Non-Conformist Hero in Thomas Hardy's Novels Comparison of main characters in the novels: Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature. 2012. 48 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk. Bibliografický záznam HOFMANNOVÁ, Jitka. Non-Conformist Hero in Thomas Hardy's Novels Comparison of main characters in the novels: Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles: bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury. 2012. 48 l. Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk. Annotation The bachelor thesis approaches the theme of non-conformity in two selected literary works of the author of critical realism Thomas Hardy. The thesis attempts to demonstrate that Thomas Hardy himself was not a conventional author and that this fact was not only prompted by his inborn nature but also by people who surrounded him and by the environment in which he grew up. The thesis also focuses on the question of how Thomas Hardy was influenced by these people, and how he portrayed them, as well as himself, into his literary characters, Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles in particular. The thesis continues to deal with the theme of nonconformity in Hardy's characters, Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, with their subsequent comparison, and with the determination of their common and different traits. Anotace Práce pojímá téma nekonformity ve dvou vybraných literárních dílech autora kritického realismu Thomase Hardyho. Snaží se ukázat, že Thomas Hardy sám nebyl konvenčním autorem a že tahle skutečnost byla dána nejen jeho vrozenou povahou, ale také lidmi, kterými se obklopoval a prostředím, ve kterém vyrůstal. Práce také uvádí, jak byl těmito lidmi Thomas Hardy ovlivněn a jak je posléze promítl, stejně jako sebe, do charakterů svých literárních postav, zejména do Neblahého Judy a Tess z D'Urbervillů. Dále se práce zabývá pohledem na nekonformitu Hardyho hrdinů, Neblahého Judy a Tess z D'Urbervillů, a jejich následným srovnáním a nalezením jejich společných a rozdílných znaků. Key Words Analysis, difference, character, comparison, conformism, contrast, convention, hero, non-conformist hero, non-conformity, social class, society, similarity, trait. Klíčová slova Analýza, hrdina, charakter, charakterový rys, konformismus, kontrast, konvence, nekonformita, nonkonformní hrdina, odlišnost, podobnost, sociální třída, společnost, srovnání. Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. - 7 - 1 NON-CONFORMITY AND INSPIRATION ..................................................................................... - 9 - 1.1 TENTATIVE DEFINITION OF THE NON-CONFORMIST HERO ........................................................................ - 9 - 1.2 NON-CONFORMIST HARDY ..............................................................................................................- 10 - 1.3 HARDY'S LIVING INSPIRATIONS .........................................................................................................- 12 - 1.3.1 Female Muses ................................................................................................................ - 13 - 1.3.2 Male Muses .................................................................................................................... - 18 - 1.3.3 The Picture of Thomas Hardy in Jude Fawley ................................................................. - 20 - 2 CHARACTER ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ - 22 - 2.1 JUDE THE INCORRIGIBLE VISIONARY ...................................................................................................- 22 - 2.1.1 Christminster the Avalon ................................................................................................ - 23 - 2.1.2 Dreamer's Blows of Disillusion ....................................................................................... - 25 - 2.2 CASTAWAY WITH A ROOK ON HIS SHOULDER .......................................................................................- 27 - 2.3 PROGRESSIVE COUPLE ....................................................................................................................- 31 - 2.4 TESS THE "PROUD" INDIVIDUALIST ....................................................................................................- 33 - 2.5 TRIO FATAL ..................................................................................................................................- 37 - 2.5.1 Discussion on Tess as Femme Fatale .............................................................................. - 39 - 2.6 JUDE AND TESS WALKING HAND IN HAND? ........................................................................................- 41 - CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... - 45 - WORKS CITED .................................................................................................................................. - 47 - Introduction Thomas Hardy was an author of critical realism in the 19th century England. As a poet and a novelist, he represents a discussed figure in the British literature. A plenty of literary studies have been published about Thomas Hardy. The studies centre not only on the literary critique of his work but also on his life which is generally considered to be shrouded in the cloak of vagueness. It is believed that Thomas Hardy wrote his discredited autobiography called The Early Life and Later years of Thomas Hardy which was initially intended to be considered and read as a biography written by his second wife Florence Emily Dugdale. A variety of biographies share sometimes different views on some of the events in Hardy's life. They try to confirm or disprove, or rather clarify their veracity in order to render the public veracious insight. For the purpose of elaborating the chapters Non-Conformist Hardy and Hardy's Living Inspirations, I have chosen Robert Gittings' biographies, as main sources, on the account of numerous references made by other biographers to his Young Thomas Hardy and The Older Thomas Hardy. Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure are Hardy's significant and extensively discussed novels which endured a great deal of criticism owned to having brought forward controversial issues since their release. Not surprisingly, after the scorching criticism of Tess, Hardy said that “if this sort of thing continues, no more novel-writing for me” (Hardy in Millgate 296). Jude received even greater amount of criticism, so as a result, Hardy eventually returned back to writing poetry. The thesis demonstrates Tess's and Jude's non-conformity, perhaps, the reason why they were accepted with such ambiguity and contradiction. I became intrigued with the resemblance of young Thomas to young Jude while reading about the life of Thomas Hardy. Hardy's constant denial of this fact prompted me to examine this connection; furthermore, to briefly introduce people in his surroundings, and summarize their influence on Hardy's writing. Thomas Hardy, as a person, also captured my attention. For this reason, I present his personality from peculiar side. - 7 - Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure are novels often submitted for a deep and thorough analysis. After the exploration of accessible literature, my decision was to analyse the non-conformity of Tess and Jude primarily from my point of view; therefore, I have worked mostly with the primary sources. The sub-chapter Discussion on Tess as Femme Fatale is the only exception. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part called Non-Conformity and Inspiration begins with the tentative contextual definition of the term non-conformist hero where my intention is to highlight the various interpretations and multiple usage of this term. The following chapter deals with Hardy's personality which I dare to define as non-conformist on the account of the previous analysis of this term. Succeeding chapters are dedicated to Hardy's muses who influenced him in his writing of novels and poems. The reason of elaborating the chapter The Picture of Thomas Hardy in Jude Fawley is to demonstrate a close link between Hardy and his fictional character, Jude Fawley. The second part called Character Analysis centres on the inquiry into Tess's and Jude's personalities
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