Rites of passage in selected Wessex novels of Thomas Hardy Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Burton, Nancy Kay, 1938- 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 03/10/2021 19:34:54 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/318899 HIKES 0F.,:JE&SS&@& IBSSgX lOiEm: QF KH0M&S m R B Y :: ^ . Haney Ko Burt on A KhesiS' Submitted to the Faculty of the ' DEPARTMEErT OF EEGLISH In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements . F o r : the Degree of ' '' Z&SKEE OF ARKS E-;,: :'. ; In the Graduate College : E1K WliERSlfy; OF AHI20HA v . ^ STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfill­ ment 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 thesis are allowable with­ out special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quo­ tation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgment the pro­ posed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author• SIGNED: /’ APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: 9, /,‘i(r 12. Byrd Howell Granger ^ y Date Lecturer in English ii : \ ' - ;'/'v- : / / :: /;' r 1 would like to express my Sincere appreclation to - Dr<> Byrd Howell Granger^ tbe director of this thesiss for . he r ;gui dance and ^ enednr agejten t r an d to Dr, Way land D o land s Head of the Departmeht of Comparative Folklore and Mythology at the University of Galifprnia. at Los AngelesP for his kind assistanee in ohtaining material for this study o' \ i-i': ' r : ./; :: ill , m m m of o o n m t s IH®SlQEy6 TI'OH 6 * e ". '•' o <3,0 d .o o o o o. o o « o o e o @ 6 ' V Chapter . ■ Page I HITES OF PASSAGE o ' p o o . * * o 1 II BIBTH AMD CHILDHOOE o o . « .. » .» '• > » 0 o « Ij. III BETHOTHAE ABD MAHRIAGBo « = o *, * * . * . * *. «, 11 IT DEATH ASD BURIAL a « « = o . = » * * « » , «, 29 T GROUPS AHD INDIVIDUALS • = » o . '* ^ VI SEASOHAL FESTIVALS . o o o » o 6 55 GOMGLUS.IOl' & O O O O & O 0,0 ©o.o O O O O O o Y2 BIBLXOG'SAPHX© © © © © © & & & © © © o © © © © © © © & Y& i v Il'IRODUGflOH I/, -. During recent years tiie study ©f folklore has come tadre and more to be regarded as having significance 0 The methods of research in folklore have reached a seiehtlfie ■ level5 and the various customs and beliefs of almost every society have been classified and examined, to some extent for their historical^.sociological and psychological impliea= tions* : / ' :■ '• v: ; .v';:'. i;/; • SO thoroughly does the folklore of a country permeate , the lives of its pe ople that aim os t no novelist refrains from includingvarious, manifestations of the folk customs of the ; , > people about whom he writes0 Probably in no other novels can we find better examples of the folkways of the people of . Erigland than in those of Thomas Hardy® The beliefs and customs of G-reat Britain, are found not only in the realm of his , ; .whimsical rustics but also in the more e due a ted and sophism tlcated of his characterso. " . .; . • Folklore was formerly regarded as something belongs ing only .to the ignorant or unsophis tl cated^-some thing ; - interesting which had little to do with intelligent or educated peoplCo A close examination of the customs and beliefs adhered to by the members of any level of So cietyj, 'howevera reveals much that has been carried over from the. folkways of .their ancestorsj, even though the origihal intent behind a practice may have long been forgotten and the practice itself become an unquestioned tradition® v V In all that has been written concerning the works of Hardy, however^ folklore seems to be the aspect that is most often either overlooked almost entirelys misinterpreted? or treated easually and then hrushed aside as containing rela­ tively no importance© The majority of the critics who discuss folklore at any length speak of it as belonging almost exclusively to the rustics in their role as Greek chorus? their function of providing comic relief? or their brilliant addition to the local color© Only one full-length study of . ' ■ V . " ' ■ ■ ■ 2 ■ • the f olklore in Hardy has been published? and although it offers a general glimpse into the various folkways included . in both his novels and his poetry? it does not go deeply enough into the study of these folkways© As a result? a great deal of territory is superficially covered? and the classification of various customs and beliefs is not always accurate© : ’ - TO attempt to regard with any depth or detail all the categories of f olklore. used by Harcy in even a few novels would be impossible in a paper of this scope © Only one classification?. therefore? will be discussedi The Writes of pas sage V* or customs which accompany the more critical events in the lives of individuals or groups© The purpose 2 . Buth Piror? Folkways in Thomas Hardy (Philadelphia? of this study will he t© examine these rites as they occur in three of Hardy6 s raost successful novels°”Far from the Madding Crowds The Return of the Native and The' Mayor of Gasterhridge^-to cite their historical Occurrence in the folklore of England*, .and to determine the significance of their role in these three novelse e wi S B i BlfiS OF PASSAGE The term “rites of passage1® was first used, hj A3?nol<a Tan Genneps who 1m 1908 published hes Bites de Passages a book whieh has become a. classic araong both folklorists and . ■ 1 " ■ 1 _ 1 " ahthropologlstso Included in rites of passage are those ceremonies, which are performed in ebnnectldn with the more critical phases of life or important seasonal changeso Van dennep examines the various occasions for rites of passage in eight chaptersg The Territorial Passage$, Individuals and Groupss Pregnancy and 0hlldbirth9 Birth and Childhood^ Initiation Rites, Betrothal and Marriage9 Funeralss and Other Types of Bites of Passages the, latter including seasonal festivals'.: and . certain .miscellaneous: ritese The rites them- .: ■ selves usually occur in three stagesi separation^ transition^ and incorporation^ although one phase may be dominant in the . rites performed for any one occasi0no Rites of Incorporatlons for examples are most Important in wedding customss whereas rites,of separation are among the most common In funeral practiceso - .' ' ■ 1 : . " :• .. • ' The material in this section is taken from Arnold van G-ennep^ The Rites of Passage s trahs 0 Monika BV Vlzedom and Sabrlelle lo"Baffee (GhlcagOg I960)t ' t .; . V - v 1 ■■■■ ■■ .: Van Q-ennep saw these; rites of passage as being critical to the process of regeneration necessary at various times in, any socle tye He re It that .wthe energy which is found in any system gradually becomes spent and must be renewed at intervalssw and that ^this regeneration is accom­ plished in the social World by the rites of passage given ' 2 ; expression in the rites- of death and rebirthelf &ny important change in the life of an individual— christening^ . marriage^ or change in occupation or social status— calls for certain rites with which the individual is separated from his f ormer statCo; He then goes through a - transitional periods after which he is finally incorporated into a new state o The pattern of death and rebirth may also be noted In seasonal festivals", with the passing or dying of the old season and the welcoming the birth of the new0 These rites of passage are manifested in the religious and secular worlds of every individuals even though the original meanings of the rites may have been forgotten, long agoa The rites themselves are <|ulte similar^ even though" the particular occasions for which they are performed may differ radically. The occasions for which rites of passage are performed, says van G-ennep, ®do hot occur Without disturbing the life 2 Solon To Kimball, introduction,*1 The Hites of Passage, p® Vill® - . : ''■. ' . ■■ . ; 3 of soeie ty and tiae itidivl<iiaal> and it is the function of . 3 rites of passage to reduce their harmful effects0M Although, van G-ennep divides the occasions for rites of passage into eight chapterse a study of Hardy8s Far from the Madding Crowda The Return of the Native and The Mayor of Qasterbrldge has revealed nothing in the way of rites accompanying pregnahey or initiation and few rites of territorial passage0 The study of rites of passage in these three.novelSg therefore^ will he divided into five chaptersi Birth and 0hildhood9 Betrothal and Marriage Death and Burial, Groups and Individuals, with the last containing a brief discussion ,of the rites of territorial passage, and Seasonal Festivals^ 3 van Gennep, p«> 13 c QHiPlSH II BIKEB M m GHiKDHOOD ' ' ' , In Fan; from the landing. Crowds Ike Re turn of the Native,9 and The Mayor of Oasterbrldge the rites which pertain to hirth and childhood are primarily rites, which are per= rormed in eonneet'ioh ifith the christening of the newborn childe Ghristening may he regarded as both an act of separa° : i ■.