Hardy's Geography Also by Ralph Pite THE CIRCLE OF OUR VISION: Dante's Presence in English Romantic Poetry LIVES OF THE GREAT ROMANTICS: Coleridge THE VISION OF DANTE by Henry Cary (editor) Hardy's Geography Wessex and the Regional Novel Ralph Pite © Ralph Pite 2002 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 978-0-333-98774-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with * the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London wn 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-43145-8 ISBN 978-0-230-51266-5 (eBook) DOl 10. \057/9780230512665 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number. 2002025237 Contents List ofIllustrations vii Acknowledgements viii List ofAbbreviations ix 1 Introduction 1 Hardy's geography 4 Literary criticism, local knowledge and Tess 9 Regional geography 17 2 The Imaginative Geography of the West Country 25 The country-party, King Alfred and the western parts of England 27 Wordsworth and local independence 32 Roads, railways and Hardy's Dorset 37 The Mayor ofCasterbridge, Weydon-Priors and Budmouth 41 3 Ruralism and Provincialism in the Victorian Novel: North and South 50 Ruralism 51 Ruralism and the provincial novel 60 George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell: provincial novelists 69 Hampshire, ruralism and Tess 76 4 Ruralism and Provincialism in the Victorian Novel: East and West 86 The westward look 88 Dickens and Gissing: Twickenham and Wattleborough 90 Barsetshire, Carlingford and Armadale 100 The Return ofthe Native: facing east and west 111 5 Rural Encounters 120 Roads, trains and Desperate Remedies 121 Far from the Madding Crowd: stars, constellations and Herbert Spencer 126 Personal geography 142 6 Wessex, Elusive and Independent 150 Elusive places in Wessex Tales 150 v vi Contents A Laodicean: geographies of provincialism 159 Constructing Wessex 169 7 Wessex and Elsewhere 178 Mobility and attachment in Jude the Obscure 178 Conclusion: Hardy's regionalism 190 Notes 196 SelectBibliography 235 Index 240 List of Illustrations 1 'Turnpike Roads and Railways in and around Dorset' (from Cecil Cullingford, A History ofDorset) xi 2 First Series Ordnance Survey maps, covering three areas: (a) near Dorchester (surveyed in 1811) xii (b) near Poorstock (from c. 1870, based on 1811 survey) xiii (c) near Buckhorn Weston (from c. 1870, based on 1811 survey) xiv vii Acknowledgements Thanks to Hester Jones for her constant support and durable willing­ ness to be interested; to Adrian Poole for his thoughtful reading of these chapters in early versions; to Marilyn Butler for discussing this project with me on several occasions; to my colleagues at the University of Liverpool, especially Tony Barley, Nick Davis, Andrew Hamer and John Lansley, for their many comments and suggestions; to Tinho da Cruz, the map curator in the University of Liverpool, for his generous help; to Eric Woehrling for ideas and conversation; and to Jonathan Coe for directing me towards Henry Fielding and William Cooper. My reader at Palgrave Macmillan made many very helpful suggestions. I greatly appreciate his or her thoughtfulness and care. Also to the Department of English Literature at the University of Glasgow, especially David Pascoe and Adam Piette, where part of this study was given as a paper; to Timothy Webb for organising the con­ ference 'Bristol: Romantic City' held in Bristol, September 1998; to Michael Baron for organising the conference on 'Literature and Region­ alism', University of London, November 1998, and to Josie Billington and her colleagues for inviting me to speak at the Centre for Victorian Studies, University College, Chester. Much of the work for this book was prompted by teaching an under­ graduate course on 'Hardy and his Successors'. I have been fortunate in having such enlivening students. Research for the book and its compo­ sition have been made possible by the Leverhulme Trust's award of a post-doctoral research fellowship. I am most grateful for their generous support. The book is written in loving memory of Solomon, an African Grey: Better blankness day by day Than companion torn away RALPH PITE The map on page xi of turnpike roads and railways in and around Dorset, drawn by John Britton, is reproduced by kind permission of the publisher, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, Shopwyke Manor Barn, Chichester, West Sussex, P020 6BG, from Cecil Cullingford's A HistoryofDorset(3rd edn, 1999). viii Abbreviations Hardy, DR Thomas Hardy, Desperate Remedies, edited by Mary Rimmer (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998) Hardy, HE Thomas Hardy, The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters, edited by Tim Dolin (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1996) Hardy, Jude Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, edited by Dennis Taylor (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998) Hardy, Laodicean Thomas Hardy, A Laodicean; or, The Castle ofthe De Stancys. A Story of To-Day, edited by John Schad (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1997) Hardy, Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, edited by Rosemarie Morgan and Shannon Russell (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2000) Hardy, Mayor Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man ofCharacter, edited by Keith Wilson (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1997) Hardy, PBE Thomas Hardy, A Pair of Blue Eyes, edited by Pamela Dalziel (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998) Hardy, Return Thomas Hardy, The Return ofthe Native, edited by Tony Slade; introduction by Penny Boumelha (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1999) Hardy, Tess Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, edited by Tim Dolin (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998) Hardy, Well-Beloved Thomas Hardy, The Pursuit ofthe Well-Beloved and The Well-Beloved, edited by Patricia Ingham (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1997) Hardy, Withered Arm Thomas Hardy, The Withered Arm and Other Stories: 1874-1888, edited by Kristin Brady (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1999) Hardy: A Biography Michael Millgate, Thomas Hardy: A Biography (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982) ix x Abbreviations Hutchins, Dorset John Hutchins, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset [.. .J, 3rd edn, 4 vols (Westminster: John Bowyer Nichols & Sons, 1861-73) IR Thomas Hardy: Interviews and Recollections, edited by James Gibson (Basingstoke and New York: Macmillan - now Palgrave Macmillan, 1999) Letters The Collected Letters ofThomas Hardy, edited by Richard Little Purdy and Michael Millgate, 7 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978-88) Life Thomas Hardy, The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy, edited by Michael Millgate (London and Basingstoke: Macmillan - now Palgrave Macmillan, 1984) Literary Notebooks The Literary Notebooks of Thomas Hardy, edited by Lennart A. Bjork, 2 vols (Basingstoke: Macmillan - now Palgrave Macmillan, 1985) Poems Thomas Hardy, The Complete Poems, edited by James Gibson, The New Wessex Edition (London: Macmillan - now Palgrave Macmillan, 1976) Poetical Works Thomas Hardy, The Complete Poetical Works, edited by Samuel Hynes, 5 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982-95) Personal Writings Thomas Hardy's Personal Writings: Prefaces - Literary Opinions- Reminiscences, edited by Harold Orel (London and Melbourne: Macmillan - now Palgrave Macmillan, 1967) 1 'Studies, Specimens &C Thomas Hardy's 'Studies, Specimens &C.I Notebook, edited by Pamela Dalziel and Michael Millgate (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994) roads-+/ Railwa y;:=:3ines:. TURNPIKEROADS AND RAILWAYS Turnpike 1 Proposed line of the ~ open INANDAROUND DORSET Dorset-Somerset canal ~ closed Dates of opening shown Woodyates , To Salisbury To Taunton .... Montacute CranborneX..I'--'I Fordingbridge =I:~t~S;~~ael ./ ./ , rj ....I''Ringwood ,.... ~. A Wiltshire, Somerset & E Salisbury & Yeovil Rly. Weymouth Rly. Later C.W. 'LaterL.S.W. Leased and later bought by F Dorset Central Rly. Later 8 C.W. Somerset & Dorset Joint Rly. C C.W. with L.S.W. running G Salisbury & Dorset Junction powers Railway. Later L.S.W. Weymouth & Portland Rly: H Southampton & Dorset D joint C.W. & L.S.W. lease o 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Railway. Later I..S.W. Scale II I I I II I III Miles Figure 1 Turnpike Roads and Railways in Dorset Figure 2a Near Dorchester xii xiii Figure 2c Near Bockhorn Weston xiv.