Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs From Wessex Poems to Time’s Laughingstocks : An eco-critical approach to the poetry of Thomas Hardy Thesis How to cite: Tait, Adrian Geoffrey (2010). From Wessex Poems to Time’s Laughingstocks : An eco-critical approach to the poetry of Thomas Hardy. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2010 The Author Version: Version of Record Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk From Wessex Poems To Time's Laughingstocks: An Eco-Critical Approach to the Poetry of Thomas Hardy by Adrian Geoffrey Tait Submitted for the qualification of Doctor of Philosophy The Open University 29 April 2010 No part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or other qualification of The Open University or any other university or institution. It has been prepared by me and me alone. :;"0\0 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to re-evaluate the poetry of Thomas Hardy from an eco­ critical perspective, and in so doing, show how and in what ways Hardy's poetic oeuvre represents a revealing response to the environment, and an important and still relevant comment on humankind's relationship to it. As the Introduction explains in more detail, the thesis concentrates on the verse drama and verse collections published between 1898 and 1909. However, Chapter 1 opens with an eco-critical analysis of Hardy's earliest surviving poem, 'Domicilium', written 1857-60; the Chapter develops into a discussion of the origins of eco-criticism as a theoretical approach with a political edge. Chapter 2 discusses the complex Victorian concept of 'Nature', which shaped Hardy's own response to the environment. Chapter 3 engages with Hardy's career as a novel writer, and notes the way in which it informs his later poetry. Chapter 4 extends the eco-critical analysis to Hardy's poetry, focusing on Wessex Poems, his first verse collection. Although short, the collection shows how Hardy was already shaping his own poetic sense of the natural world. This theme is developed in Chapter 5, on Poems of the Past and Present, a collection notable for a series of poems with a bio-centric focus on the natural world in general and bird life in particular. Chapter 6 deals with The Dynasts, a retelling of the Napoleonic Wars through which Hardy dramatized his belief that all life on earth is connected by the workings of the 'Immanent Will'. Chapter 7 discusses Time's Laughingstocks, Hardy's bleakest reading of the human condition. The Conclusion analyses another individual poem, 'The Convergence of the Twain', written following the loss of the Titanic in 1912, and summarises Hardy's distinctive contribution to our emerging sense of what might constitute a meaningful 'eco-poetic'. f~ :r: ~\-":~:f'J .~ 'I(;J.', '~ ~ 2 6 ~·1AY 2011 .\ U'" III ii {3. The Library 00NATION T g23. go Hf'1(. ..2010 ~CJ,·,-.sv l~ob:oll C(:)p~ Table of Contents Preliminaries page Title Page Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Acknowledgements vii A Note on Texts viii List of Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1: An Introduction to Eco-criticism 6 Introduction 6 Hardy's Dwelling 6 The Emergence of Eco-criticism 18 Defining Eco-criticism(s) 24 Provisional Activism: An Eco-critical Approach to the Poetry of Thomas 44 Hardy Chapter 2: The Victorian Concept of 'Nature' 47 Introduction 47 Definitions of 'Nature' 48 The Romantic Influence 51 The Influence of Science 53 The Influence of Natural Theology 57 iii The Impact of Industrialization and Urbanization 61 Chapter 3: The Novels of Thomas Hardy 66 Introduction 66 A Problematic Pastoral 67 Re-reading the Literature of the Land 77 The Woodlanders 89 The Return of the Native 100 'Wessex' Revisited 108 'In a Wood': The Transition from Novels to Poetry 114 Chapter 4: Wessex Poems and Other Verses 120 Introduction 120 Hardy's Poetry: Critical Responses and Eco-critical Approaches 121 An Introduction to Wessex Poems 131 Hardy and Science 138 Hardy's Godless Universe 145 The Limits of Reason in Wessex Poems 154 People and Place in Wessex Poems 162 Chapter 5: Poems of the Past and Present 171 Introduction 171 'War Poems' 173 'Poems of Pilgrimage' 177 'Miscellaneous Poems' 181 Idiosyncrasies of Sty\e \n Poems of the Past and Present 185 iv Hardy's Depiction of Animals 192 Beyond Animal Rights: 'An August Midnight' 199 'The Darkling Thrush' 208 The Idealisation and Actuality of Country Life 212 Summarizing Poems of the Past and Present 220 Chapter 6: The Dynasts 225 Introduction 225 Connections 226 Local and Global in The Dynasts 229 Hardy's 'Immanent Will' 236 Self-Determinism and Self-Awareness in The Dynasts 242 'The Unconscious Will' and Eco-Psychology 248 Language and Form in The Dynasts 251 Conclusion 256 Chapter 7: Time's Laughingstocks 261 Introduction 261 'The Revisitation' as Exemplar 262 Dwelling 274 Love 297 Time 308 Conclusion 318 I ntrod uction 318 'Convergence': Collision as Destiny 318 v The Beginning of the End 331 A Summing Up 335 From 'Nature' to Environment in the Poetry of Thomas Hardy 337 The Quality of Hardy's Pessimism 340 'Enchased, lettered': Hardy's Wessex 343 Hardy's Eco-poetic 347 Bibliography 352 vi Acknowledgements lowe a debt to all those at the Open University who have supported me during the course of researching and writing this thesis. I am particularly grateful to my supervisors, Dr. Sara Haslam and Dr. Lynda Prescott, whose patience and professionalism have made this experience both rewarding and enjoyable. I am also indebted to various members of both ASLE (UK) and the Thomas Hardy Society who took the time to discuss aspects of my work. This 4-year, part-time project would not have been possible without the support and forbearance of my family, to whom my efforts are respectfully dedicated. vii A Note on Texts Unless otherwise indicated, the source text for poems from Wessex Poems and Other Verses, Poems of the Past and Present, and Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses, is The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy, ed. by Samuel Hynes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982-95), I (1982), and for The Dynasts, IV and V (1995). Each poem is annotated with a numerical identifier prefixed by 'CP', for 'Complete Poems'. These identifiers are taken from the numbering system used in Thomas Hardy: The Complete Poems, ed. by James Gibson (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), which is in widespread use by Hardy scholars as a convenient means of identifying the poems. Individual texts are always referred to by their full titles in the text. Where there is a quotation from a work by Thomas Hardy, however, the associated reference is given in the form of an abbreviation, which is placed alongside the quotation. These abbreviations are listed separately below. All other references follow the conventions set out by the Modern Humanities Research Association. viii List of Abbreviations The following abbreviations have been used throughout: CL 1-7 The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy, ed. by Richard Little Purdy and Michael Millgate, 7 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982-95) CP Thomas Hardy: The Complete Poems, ed. by James Gibson (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001) CPW1-5 The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy, ed. by Samuel Hynes, 5 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982-95) FMC Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, ed. by Suzanne B. Falack-Yi, new edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) JO Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, ed. by Patricia Ingham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) LN1-2 The Literary Notebooks of Thomas Hardy, ed. by Lennart A. BjOrk, 2 vols (London: Macmillan, 1985) LW The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy, ed. by Michael Millgate (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1984, repro 1985) MC Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, ed. by Dale Kramer (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) PB Thomas Hardy, A Pair of Blue Eyes, ed. by Alan Manford (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) RN Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, ed. by Simon Gatrell (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990, repro 1998) ix SL Thomas Hardy: Selected Letters, ed. by Michael Millgate (Oxford: Clarendon, 1990) TD Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, ed. by Tim Dolin (London: Penguin, 1998, repro 2003) IT Thomas Hardy, Two on a Tower, ed. by Suleiman M. Ahmad (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, repro 1998) TW Thomas Hardy, The Wood/anders, ed. by Patricia Ingham (London: Penguin, 1998) UGT Thomas Hardy, Under the Greenwood Tree, ed. by Simon Gatrell (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985, repro 1992) WP Thomas Hardy, Wessex Poems (Ryburn: Keele University Press, 1995) x Introduction The aim of this thesis is to re-examine the poetry of Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) in the light of eco-critical thinking, and in so doing, show how and in what ways it represents a distinctive and revealing response to the environment, and an intriguing and still relevant commentary on our relationship to it. The thesis focuses on the verse drama and verse collections published between 1898 and 1909. In particular, it concentrates on Wessex Poems, Poems of the Past and Present, The Dynasts, and Time's Laughingstocks. However, it opens with a discussion of Hardy's earliest attempt at poetry, 'Domicilium', written 1857-60, and concludes by analysing another individual poem, The Convergence of the Twain', which was written and published in 1912. Behind Hardy's poetic response to the natural world - his eco-poetic - lies a powerful, parallel process of change.