Hardy's dark ladies

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Authors Treadwell, Lujuana Rae Wolfe, 1941-

Publisher The University of Arizona.

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HARDY'S DARK LADIES

by

LuJuana W olfe T rea d w ell

A T h e s is Subm itted to the F a cu lty of the

DEPARTM ENT OF ENGLISH

In P a r tia l F u lfillm en t of the R eq u irem en ts F or the D e g re e of

M ASTER OF ARTS

In the G raduate C o lleg e

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

1 9 6 6

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

T his th e s is has been subm itted in p a rtia l fu lfillm en t of req u irem en ts for an advanced d eg ree at The U n iv ersity of A rizon a and is d ep o sited in the U n iv ersity L ib rary to be m ade a v a ila b le to b o rro w ers under r u le s of the L ib rary .

B r ie f quotations from th is th e s is a re a llow ab le w ithout sp e c ia l p e r m iss io n , p rov id ed that a ccu ra te acknow ledgm en t of so u rce is m ad e. R eq u ests for p e r m is s io n for extended quotation from or rep rod u ction of th is m a n u scr ip t in w hole or in part m ay be granted by the copyrigh t h o ld er.

SIGNED: Luu& UiW t W U W l U t M

A PPR O V A L BY THESIS DIRECTOR

T his th e s is has been app roved on the date show n below:

C asd? J / • T x i x f l y - 5 , . / ? _ 6 ? £ L

CARL H. KETCHAM / DateA s s o c ia te P r o fe s s o r of E n g lish

T A BL E OF CONTENTS

P age

A B ST R A C T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

C hapterI. THE DARK LADY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. THE DARK LADY IN BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM . . 6

III. THE DARK LADY IN MINOR ROLES. . . . . . . . . 29

IV. THE DARK LADY IN MAJOR ROLES . . . . . . . . 40

V. THE MAJOR DARK LADIES IN THEIR NOVELS. . . . 53

VI. . THE DARK LADY AS HARDY VIEW ED HER . . . . . 77

LITERATURE CITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

i i i

ABSTR AC T

The d a rk -h a ired , sex u a lly a ttra c tiv e w om en who appear th rou gh ­

out T hom as H ardy’s f ic t io n - - th o s e I c a ll h is dark la d ie s - - a r e a s in g le ,

coh eren t group of c h a r a c te r s probably m o d eled on h is f ia n c e e Tryphena

Sp ark s, H ardy often u se s the dark lady a s a v i l la in e s s , but he a lw ays

m ak es h er a fa sc in a tin g fig u re and ch an ges h er again and again until

f in a lly it i s w ith h er that he c r e a te s w om en of tr a g ic m agn itu d e- -

E u sta c ia V ye and T e s s D u rb eyfie ld ,

The th ree m o st im p ortan t dark la d ie s , E u sta c ia , T e s s , and

V iv ie tte C onstantine, p lay s im ila r d ram atic and sy m b o lic r o le s in th e ir

n o v e ls , em bodying r ev o lt a g a in st the a c ce p ted ord er of e x is te n c e . The

dark lady, who c o n s id e r s h e r s e lf b an ish ed in an unhappy, u n sym path etic

w orld , know s that life is tr a g ic , E ove i s h er only hope fo r joy, and

w hen she r e a l iz e s that it w ill not la s t , sh e w ants to ex tin g u ish the f ie r y

glow that i s her sp ir it and to end h er e x is te n c e fo r e v e r . The dark

lad y 's fin a l ap p earan ce in H ardy's f ic t io n i s as the tr a g ic h ero in e who

stands for s e n s it iv e m ankind a g a in st the s e n s e le s s fo r c e s w hich a re

the u n iv er se in H ardy's v iew , - She r e fu s e s to c o m p ro m ise h er fin e

v is io n of life in ord er to su rv iv e in life as it i s .

iv

THE DARK LADY

The fa c t that T hom as H ardy's fe m a le c h a r a c ter s freq u en tly

develop one from the other has been r e c o g n iz e d and co m m en ted upon

by c r it ic s ; so , to a l e s s e r d eg ree , h as the fa c t that th ere a re two d i s ­

tin ct k inds of fe m a le c h a r a c ter s: the fa ir and p a sto r a l, the dark and

a lien . H ow ever, the dark, a lie n la d ies have been d is m is s e d rather

qu ick ly a s m odern , h ed o n istic , e c c e n tr ic f ig u r e s who a r e e s s e n t ia lly

sep a ra te from the p a s to r a l w orld of H ardy's fic tio n . L u cetta F a r fr a e

and F e l ic e Charm ond a r e the m o st freq u en tly d is c u s se d ex a m p les of

th is c la s s ; E u sta c ia V ye i s so m e tim e s c la s s e d w ith th em . A lthough

E u sta c ia p r e se n ts a p e c u lia r p rob lem , the f ir s t two c h a r a c te r s do seem

to be agen ts ou tsid e the com m on life of the n o v e ls in w h ich they appear.

H ow ever, th is does not ju stify d is m is s in g them quick ly, for the dark,

a lie n w om en co m p o se a far la r g er and m o r e s ig n ifica n t group of c h a r ­

a c te r s than is g e n e ra lly r eco g n ized . T hey a r e not o u tsid e the action of

H ardy's f ic t io n and a r e not m e r e ly p e r so n s in trod u ced in to the w oodland

settin g to r e p r e se n t the unnatural in flu en ce of m od ern s o c ie ty . R ather,

they a re an in teg ra l p art of H ardy's w o r ld and an e s s e n t ia l e lem en t of

h is fic tio n . They ev o lv e from the fo lk lite r a tu r e and tra d itio n a l b ack ­

ground of W e sse x as m uch a s do th o se c h a r a c ter s who see m to be the

e s s e n c e of the p a s to r a l--M a r ty South, T h om asin Yeoibright, B athsheba

E verd en e, and o th er s . F u rth erm o re , L u cetta and F e l ic e a re s im p ly

two m a n ife sta tio n s of the dark lady, and th ey a re e x tr e m e --n o t ty p ic a l - -

ex a m p les of h er .

• A c er ta in fe m a le ch a ra c ter , dark haired , beautifu l, fu ll-

figu red , and sex u a lly a ttra c tiv e , ap p ears throughout H ard y's f ic tio n .

She i s so m e tim e s of m inor im p o rta n ce , so m e tim e s the p r in c ip a l c h a r ­

a c te r , but w h atever her r o le sh e i s a fa sc in a tin g fig u re . She i s not the

ty p ica l E n g lish country g ir l a s a r e G race M elbury, T h om asin Y eobright,

and the oth er fa ir w om en who a re p erh ap s true to l ife but rem a in c o lo r ­

le s s and con ven tion a l w hen com p ared to the darker w om an, who i s

p h y s ic a lly and p sy c h ic a lly d is tin c t . M ost of H ardy's w om en have brow n

hair; they a re p retty , health y, sm a ll or of a v era g e heigh t. T h ere a re ,

how ever, other w om en whom Hardy d e sc r ib e s as dark and beautifu l.

They have b lack or v e r y dark brown hair; in fig u re they a re ta ll and

statu esqu e; th eir co m p lex io n s a re p a le . T hey a re d e sc r ib e d a s ra re

w om en, not at a ll ty p ica l of the E n g lish c o u n tr y s id e -- th e se a re the dark

la d ie s .

T hey a re d istin ct from the ord in ary country g ir ls p sy c h o lo g i­

c a lly a s w e ll a s p h y s ic a lly . . T h eir o r ig in s a re seld om ru ra l: they a r e

u su a lly fo re ig n , nob 14, or from the c ity . T heir c h a r a c ter s a re not lik e

th o se of the country g ir ls , who a r e u su a lly content w ith the life they

lead, seek in g on ly the h ap p in ess of a good m a r r ia g e . The dark la d ie s

a re tra g ic f ig u r e s , troub led , proud, enduring, doom ed. They d e s ir e

the love of a man, but th e ir longing i s far m o re sex u a l than i s that of

the fa ir w om en . A lthough the country g ir l m ay be a coq u ette , she is

u su a lly innocent; the dark lady i s a lw ays sex u a lly ex p er ien ced , never

a v irg in . The p a ss io n a te sex u a l love that co n su m es h er is her cen tra l

m o tiv e . She rem a in s loya l to her love u n less c irc u m sta n c e fo r c e s h er

to b etray it .

T h ere a re n u m erou s dark la d ie s in H ardy's n o v e ls and sh ort

s to r ie s and each is a c h a r a cter e s s e n t ia l to the sto ry in w hich she

a p p ea rs . Two of h is m o st s u c c e s s fu l tr a g ic h e r o in e s , E u sta c ia V ye

and T e ss D u rb eyfie ld , a r e dark la d ies and a r e not, a s i s g e n e ra lly

b eliev ed , m e r e m o d ifica tio n s of the m o re ty p ica l H ardy w om an, the

p retty , f ic k le , fa ir h ero in e of the e a r ly n o v e ls and m any of the sh ort

s to r ie s . E u stac ia , T e s s , and a le s s sa t is fa c to r y h ero in e , V iv ie tte

C onstantine, a s w e ll a s s e v e r a l other c h a r a c te r s a re ev er y one ta ll,

fu ll-f ig u r ed , dark h a ired b ea u ties: tr a g ic , iso la te d , p ow erfu l, s e d u c ­

tiv e and s in is te r w om en.

The dark lady i s d is tr u s te d by h er fe llo w c h a r a c te r s and often

by H ardy h im se lf , w h ose attitude tow ard her i s a sh iftin g one, leav in g .

u n re so lv ed .a lm o st to the end the q u estion of w hether sh e i s good or

e v il. Hardy f ir s t d is tr u s ts , then u n d erstan d s the dark lady, but he

alw ays m a k es h er a h igh ly a ttra c tiv e f ig u re , m o re d eep ly and sen su a lly

in vo lved in life than the other c h a r a c te r s . W ith her he c r e a te s w om en of

a /m agn itu d e w hich can su sta in traged y , c h a r a c ter s who a r e tra g ic h e r o in e s

The dark lady n ea r ly a lw ays s e e m s ev il, and in h er a p p ea r­

a n ces in the sh ort s to r ie s and as a m in or ch a ra cter in the n o v e ls , she

i s u su a lly a v i l la in e s s or i s at le a s t am ong the s in is te r fo r c e s w hich

thw art the p ro ta g o n ist. - C yth erea A ld c ly ffe , Xanthippe B arn et, H elena

H all, L ucetta , and F e l ic e a ll act in op p osition to the p ro ta g o n ist . The

r o le of V iv ie tte C onstantine, E u sta c ia V ye, and .Rhoda B rook i s " som e­

what am b iguous: each b eco m es the p ro ta g o n ist, a lthough it i s d ifficu lt

to d eterm in e w hether or not sh e w as m eant to be. T e s s D urb eyfie ld ,

H ardy's "pure w om an, " i s the only dark lady trea ted w ith fu ll sym pathy

and the only one who i s a con su m m ate h ero in e .' i

And even T e s s i s su sp e c t in the e y e s of s o c ie ty . Though

ind iv idual ch a r a c ter s m ay un derstan d and love h er , s o c ie ty as em b od­

ied in her m oth er, A lex,. A n gel, and u ltim a te ly the hangm an, cannot

com prehend h er n ob ility . H er fe llo w c h a r a c ter s can n ev er fu lly c o m ­

prehend the dark lady, whom they co n s id e r decadent, w itc h - lik e , or

e v il. In The R eturn of the N ative , E u sta c ia i s see n on R ainbarrow H ill,

a lien a ted from the so c ie ty through w h ich H ardy and h is r e a d e r s s e e h er .

The n o v e l i s to ld from a point of v iew c lo s e r to that of M rs. Y eobright

and her son than of E u stac ia ; to them sh e is p e r v e r s e , w eird , and

s e lf is h . T e s s , h o w ev er, p o s s e s s e s h er n ovel. T hom as Hardy and h is

r e a d e r s s e e its even ts unfold as T e s s h e r s e lf e x p e r ie n c e s th em . She

i s ou tsid e so c ie ty , but the author i s o u tsid e it w ith h er and it i s s o c ie ty

. 5

w hich s e e m s to be p e r v e r s e and n arrow 9 not T e s s , who i s H ardy's m o st

s u c c e s s fu l dark lady.

THE DARK LADY IN BIOGRAPHY A N D CRITICISM

W hile a ca re fu l read in g of h is fiction- w ill r e v e a l the e x is te n c e

of H ardy's dark la d ie s and a m o r e r ig o ro u s exam in ation r e v e a ls how he

u se s them , new c r it ic a l s tu d ies and m eth ods have s im p lif ie d the ta sk

and opened new m ean s of a n a ly s is , and a v e r y recen t b iograp h ica l

d isc o v e r y has sh ed new ligh t on the p o s s ib le g e n e s is of th e s e ch aracters«

It has long been r ec o g n iz e d that H ardy b a sed m o st of h is f ic t io n

Ion p e r so n a l e x p e r ie n c e s and h is c h a r a c te r s on p eo p le he knew . M ost

of the s to r ie s take p la ce near H ardy's h om e in the reg io n he c a lle d

W essex . M any of the m a le c h a r a c ter s a r e m u sic ia n s , young a r c h ite c ts ,

or cou n try -b orn m en try in g to su c c e e d in the w orld of learn in g; and

m any fe m a le ch a r a c ter s a r e s im ila r to H ardy's f ir s t w ife ,. E m m a

L avin ia G ifford , who w a s, acco rd in g to the b iograp h er W eber and

zo th ers , an u n d em on stra tive , rath er co ld , p iou s, co n ven tion a lly r e l i ­

g iou s w om an who w as proud of being from a h igh er s o c ia l p o s itio n than

her husband and tr ie d to im p ro v e h im . ̂ It has been a ssu m e d that the

b elo v ed w om an of H ardy's p oem s i s E m m a and that H ardy loved her

1. . C arl J. W eber, H ardy of W e sse x : H is L ife and L ite ra r y C areer (New York, 1962), p. 10.

2. ■ Ib id ., p. 160.

3. Ibid. , p. 163.

6

v e r y m uch until the p ro b lem s of th eir m a r r ia g e s t if le d h is a ffec tio n and

the m a r r ia g e b ecam e ^neither d e ligh tfu lly happy nor te r r ib ly unhappy0 ^

How ev er 3 a s ta r tlin g rec e n t b io g ra p h ica l d isc o v e r y su g g e sts

that E m m a w as, not the w om an to whom the love p oem s w e re a d d re sse d

and that H ardy m ay n ev er have lo v ed her p assion ately .. The -d iscovery ,

m ade by L o is D eacon , i s that from 1867 to 1872 T hom as H ardy w as

engaged to h is cou sin . M iss T ryphena Sparks of Puddletow n, Dor seto ̂

T his d isc o v e r y has been g e n e ra lly a ccep ted by sch o lars,, ̂ Indeed,

P r o fe s so r R ichard P u rd y .su sp e c te d that the lady m en tion ed in the

P r e fa c e to Jude the O bscu re w as the P hena of the poem , and h e had

a lread y id en tified h er a s T ryphena S p a rk s»

M iss D ea co n 's d isc o v e r y r e la te s d ir e c tly to the d ichotom y I

find b etw een H ardy's dark la d ies and the fa ir on es, for w h ile T ryphena

Sparks' h a ir w as v e r y dark chestnut, h er e y e s dark, and h er fe a tu re s

4= I b id ,, p. 157,

5o L o is D eacon , T ryphena and T hom as H ardy (B e a m in ster , D o r se t, 1962), p». 11,

6, - S ee C, J, P». B eatty , "Tryphena and T hom as Hardy, " N o tes and Q u er ies (F eb ru ary 1964), p, 80; and John P a ter so n , "The L a test G ossip : T hom as H ardy and the T o u c a n .P r e ss M onographs, " V ic to r ia n S tu d ies (S ep tem ber 1965), pp. 45 -49«

7. B eatty , p. 80.

dign ified , ® 'Em m afs hair w as corn colored^ and her co m p lex io n w as

f a ir 0 **■ ® F u rth erm o re , although the fa c ts of T hom as Hardy^s en g a g e­

m ent to T ryphena have a s y e t only been su g g ested and hintdd at in prin t,

they do in d ica te that her p e r so n a lity w as lik e th ose of the dark la d ies

and that th e ir love r e se m b le d the lo v es of the dark ladieso

P a s s a g e s in The E a rly L ife m ake no r e fe r e n c e to T ryphena

excep t when H ardy h ea rs of h er death, and even then the a llu s io n does

11not nam e h er . H ow ever, it h as long been r eco g n ized that. Hardy

tr ie d to k eep the in tim a te fa c ts o f h is l ife p r iv a te , * ̂ and thus the c o n ­

tent of The E a r ly L ife d oes not by atpy m ean s p reclu d e the e x is te n c e of

T ryphena. . In fa c t, s e v e r a l th ings in The E a rly L ife m ak e the en g a g e­

m ent se e m p o s s ib le . D uring th is p er io d H ardy w as liv in g w ith h is

p a ren ts near the Sparks' hom e w ritin g F a r F rom the M adding,C row d,

m o st o f w h ich tak es p la c e in the Puddletow n reg io n . F u rth erm o re ,

H ardy d oes not sound p a r tic u la r ly en am ored of E m m a in the notebook

e n tr ie s quoted in The E a rly L ife . ^ W hatever h is fe e lin g s w ere fo r

8. D eacon, Tryphena, p. 11.

9. • F lo r e n c e H ardy, The E a r ly L ife of T hom as H ardy (New York, 1928), p.. 196.

IQ. Ib id ., p . - 103.

11. Ibid.

12. . R ich ard C arpenter, T hom as H ardy (New York, 1964), p. 19 =

13. F lo r e n c e H ardy, E arly L ife , p. 99 =

. E m m a, i t r em a in s quite- p o s s ib le that he lo ved T ryphena p a ss io n a te ly

and that h e s im p ly le ft th is im p ortant ep iso d e in h is l i f e out of h is

biography-

M iss D eacon has w r itten two b io grap h ies o f H ardy w h ic h ,in te r ­

p re t h is l ife in v iew of the en gagem en t, but they a re a s y e t unpublished, ^

and the two s len d er p am p h lets w hich sh e h as p u b lish ed contain only h in ts

and, su g g estio n s of the r e la tio n sh ip b etw een H ardy and Tryphena- The

h is to r ic a l fa c ts w hich sh e g iv e s a r e that the rom an ce began in the su m ­

m er o f 1867 when H ardy w as tw e n ty -se v e n and T ryphena w as s ix te en ,

ju st a fter h is retu rn to B ockham pton from London w h ere he had w ork ed

for f iv e y e a r s a s an a rch itec t- . Tryphena, who liv ed a l it t le over two

m ile s from H ardy, often w alked w ith him on the heath w hich sep a ra ted

th eir h o m es , the Egdon Heath of the n o v e ls- ^ The two w e re engaged

for a lm o st f iv e y e a r s , but " circu m stan ce" *^ even tu a lly sep a ra ted them

and T ryphena retu rn ed h is r in g . In D ecem b er of 1877, sh e m a rr ied

C h arles G ale. * ^

T h ese p a r tic u la rs a r e c er ta in ly im p ortan t to th e p r e se n t study.

H ow ever, perh ap s even m o re re lev a n t a r e the su g g e ste d d e ta ils of the

14- L o is D eacon , H ardy's S w ee tes t Im age (Ingledene,. C hagford, Devon, 1964), p. 10.

15- D eacon , T ryphena, pp. 1 1 -1 2 .

16. ■ D eacon , Im age, p. 13.

17. D eacon , Tryphena, p. 11.

10

engagem en t. M iss D eacon w ill not sa y w hat sep a ra ted the lo v e r s ,

although sh e d oes say that h er b io g rap h ies t e l l th is and h in ts at s e v e r a l

c a u se s , often a s se r t in g that "the tru e s to r y of H ardy and Tryphena"

ap p ears in s e v e r a l of the n o v e ls ,, p a r tic u la r ly in ,The R eturn of the

N ative . * ̂ She su g g e sts that the ca u se of the sep a ra tio n w as a s e c r e t

suddenly r e v e a le d to the lo v e r s :

The poem N eu tra l T ones (dated 1867) . . . b e lon gs to th e sad w in ter day w hen T hom as and T ryphena f ir s t knew a g h a stly truth w hich w ould p reven t them from e v er m a rry in g each oth er , a s they had planned. . The shock ing new s did not at on ce sep a ra te them , but i t w as an om inous f ir s t lin k in a heavy, sh ack lin g iro n chain of untow ard c irc u m sta n c e , w hich ev en tu a lly dragged them a p a r t--th o u g h in bondage fo r e v e r . ^

P erh ap s, the s e c r e t w as learn in g of th eir k in sh ip . M iss D eacon 's pub­

lish e r su g g e sts in a le tte r that T ryphena w as not H ardy's cou sin , but

h is n ie c e . If th is w e re one of the r e a so n s for th e ir sep a ra tio n it

w ould a s s o c ia te T ryphena in another w ay w ith the dark la d ie s , for

m any of th e ir lo v e s a r e c h a r a c te r iz e d a s som ew h at unnatural.

A nother p o s s ib le r e a so n for th e ir parting i s the su g g estio n

that T ryphena w as not a v ir g in and that Hardy, lik e A n gel C lare,

dem anded that she be. In a lengthy p a s sa g e M iss D eacon h in ts at th is

p o s s ib il ity . She sa y s that the She, to Him son n ets a r e H ardy's p o e tic

18. D eacon , Im age, p. 12.

19. Ibid. , p. 13.

20. H elen .C ox, P e r so n a l L etter from the T oucan P r e s s , N ovem b er 19, 1965.

11

r ev e la tio n of im a g in ed or a c tu a l c o n v ersa tio n s betw een h im se lf and

Tryphena., • She quotes a sonnet w h ich sh e sa y s Tryphena sp eak s to

T hom as Hardy;

Som e o th er 's fea tu re , a ccen t, thought lik e m in e W ill c a r r y you back to w hat I u sed to say .And bring som e m em o ry of your lo v e 's d ec lin e .Then you m ay p a u se aw h ile and think, "Poor Jade! "And y ie ld a s igh to m e . „ . .

"Poor J a d e " --ca n th is be T ryphena, speaking to T hom as ?Y es, in d ee d --a n d the date of h er p le a is a p p rox im ate ly 1869, w h ile sh e w as at C o lleg e in London, w hen a g h a stly c o m p lic a ­tion en tered th e ir p e r so n a l l iv e s , and H ardy te m p o ra r ily spurned h is b e loved , q u arre lin g at the sa m e tim e w ith h is d e a r e s t m an fr ien d , H orace Mouleo . . . "Clym Y eobright" c a lle d "E ustacia" a jade = „ , "A ngel C lare" c a lle d " T ess" a jade = = «, "Sue" in Jude the O b scu re w as thought by a lm o st ev ery o n e to be a ja d e . . . " E lfr id e , " of: A P a ir of B lue E y e s , w as d eem ed by two of h er lo v e r s to be a jade. ^

W as T ryp h en a's sex u a l e x p e r ie n c e lik e that of the dark la d ie s ? T his i s

c er ta in ly w hat M iss D eacon im p lie s .'

W hatever the c a u se s of th e ir p artin g , th ey w ere ev id en tly

shock ing .an d ir o n ic , for M iss D eacon sa y s , "It w as a lw a y s e s s e n t ia l

that the love of Tom and T ry ffie should be kept s e c r e t - - p r o g r e s s iv e ly

e ss e n t ia l, a s dram a p iled up on dram a in th e ir p r iv a te l iv e s , and ir o n ic

c irc u m sta n c e co m p lica ted iro n ic c ir c u m sta n c e . The two p arted

even tu a lly , but only a fter having en joyed "a p er io d of v e r y p r e c a r io u s .

21. D eacon , Im age, p. 21.

22. Ib id ., p. 15.

12

un easy and s e c r e t h ap p in ess to g e th er --a b o u t w hich w e a r e to ld a g r ea t

deal, in d ir ec tly , in The R eturn of the N ative and a lso in T e s s . • A fter

that, p lan s w e re m ade for the r e -sh a p in g of th eir l iv e s . In Two on

a T ow er, th ere i s a s im ila r p e r io d of h a p p in ess w hen Sw ithin and

V iv ie t te ,. s e c r e t ly m a rr ied , l iv e to geth er in h is co tta g e . • So each of the

m ajor dark la d ies e x p e r ie n c e s a "m arriage" lik e that of T hom as H ardy

and T ryphena.

. A lthough T ryphena la ter retu rn ed H ardy's ring, and each

m a r r ied another p erso n . M iss D eacon contends that he lo v ed Tryphena

throughout h is life and that "after the co m p lica ted T ryphena tragedy . . .

T hom as H ardy h e ld a v e r y poor opinion of h im se lf for the rem ain d er of

h is long life , and that he continued to w r ite of T ryphena: " S om etim es

he spoke for h er , and so m e tim e s for h im se lf , but a lw ays h is su b lim e

in ten tion w as to im m o r ta lise h er .

M iss D ea co n 's r e v ie w e r s doubt that T ryphena w as the so le

in sp ira tio n for H ardy's w om en, a lthough the fa c t that she in sp ire d so m e

of them i s not q u estion ed . - P erh a p s Ju lia M artin, the lady of the m anor

whom Ha-rdy knew as a boy, w as another so u rce of h is dark la d ie s .

Hardy h im se lf sa id that "his fe e lin g for h er w as a lm o st that of a

23. Ibid.

24. Ib id ., p. 20. '

25. Ib id ., p. 23.

13

lo v er , " and i t s e e m s lik e ly that he had her in m ind w hen he w rote of

the e a r ly , o lder and noble dark la d ie s . H is m ain in sp ira tio n , how ever,

w as probably T ryphena. P a te r so n b e lie v e s "that T ryphena Sparks w as

the o r ig in a l in a p a r tia l s e n se at le a s t of E u sta c ia V ye. . . . "27 The

N otes and Q u eries rev ie w e r a c ce p ts the ev id en ce for the engagem ent a s

authentic, but sa y s that M iss D eacon s lig h ts Em m a in h er in te r p r e ta -

28tion of T ryp h en a1 s in flu en ce on H ardy's l ite r a r y w o rk s. T h is m ay

w e ll be true, for it s e e m s p o s s ib le that ea ch w om an in sp ir e d Hardy,

Em m a w ith the c o r n -c o lo r e d hair cou ld have been the m o d el for the

fa ir w om en and T ryphena the d a rk -h a ired togeth er w ith the lady of the

m anor cou ld have been the o r ig in a l of the dark la d ie s . T h is su g g estio n

does not im p ly that each fe m a le ch a ra cter i s s im p ly a p o r tra it of one of

the w om en H ardy knew b e s t or that one i s h ero in e and the o th er v i l -

la in ess ; it im p lie s only that Em m a and T ryphena w e re d is tin c t ty p e s - -

ev id en tly in p e r so n a lity a s w e ll a s a p p ea r a n c e --a n d that H ardy could

have u sed h is know ledge of the two w om en in crea tin g c h a r a c te r s .

If th is i s the c a se , it sh ed s new ligh t on m y th e s is , r e in fo r c ­

ing it w ith b io grap h ica l ev id en ce . H ow ever, the th e s is w a s co n ce iv ed

b efore reading; M iss D eacon 's p am p h lets and it d oes not depend on

26. E velyn Hardy, T hom as Hardy: A C r itic a l B iography (London, 1954), p. 28.

27. P a ter so n , p. 47 .

28. B eatty , p. 80.

14

b io grap h ica l ev id en ce . T h ere i s su ffic ie n t p roo f in the n o v e ls and

s to r ie s th e m se lv e s to m ake the study co m p le te . Indeed, m any c r it ic s

have poin ted out the d ichotom y of ch a ra cter ty p es and the iso la t io n and

sex u a l m otivation of so m e of H ardy's c h a r a c te r s .

T h ere has been enough c r it ic is m of H a r d y --so m e u s e le s s ,

so m e v a lu a b le - - to f i l l a g o o d -s iz e d lib ra ry . The la r g e ly u n sa tisfa c to ry

older c r it ic is m w hich d is c u s s e s H ardy's p e s s im is m , r e a lism , and

a rch itec to n ic p lo ts h as in rec e n t y e a r s been augm ented by c r it ic is m

w hich a p p lie s new m eth od s to the f ic tio n and d is c u s s e s i t s m yth ica l,

a rch etyp a l, p sy c h o lo g ic a l, and sy m b o lic a s p e c ts . T h is new c r it ic ism

tr e a ts H ardy w ith the kind of r e s p e c t it g iv e s tw en tie th -cen tu ry w r ite r s

and s e a r c h e s in h is w ork s for th o se th ings w hich d istin g u ish and em pbw er

g rea t tw en tie th -cen tu ry fic tio n , . In stead of r ev ea lin g h is w e a k n e sse s

a s s ty lis t , r e a lis t , p h ilo so p h er , i t p o in ts out som eth in g of w hat s t i l l

draw s r e a d e r s to H ardy's fic tio n , th o se fin e th ings that m ake m any of

h is sh ort s to r ie s and n o v e ls p erh ap s g rea t, at le a s t im m e n se ly read ab le

fic tio n . It i s m ain ly upon th ese new m eth ods that th is e s s a y w ill be

b ased , fo r they do m o re to r e v e a l H ardy's a ch iev em en ts as a n o v e lis t

than do the o ld er m eth o d s,

•Hardy i s a p e c u lia r w r ite r . H is e c c e n tr ic it ie s , faux pas, and

la p se s in ta s te have often been n o ticed and w ritten of. H ow ever, d e sp ite

so m e g r o ss w e a k n e sse s , h is n o v e ls rem a in g rea t a c h ie v em en ts , and

w h ile the new c r it ic a l m eth ods a re not sa t is fa c to r y fo r trea tin g m any

15

p re -tw e n tie th cen tury w r ite r s , in H ardy1 s c a se they a r e unusually v a lid .

In the f ir s t p la ce , although H ardy w as an educated m an, h is hom e and

im a g in a tiv e cen ter w as the country he c a lle d W essex . It i s the n o v e ls

w hich a re se t th ere and p eop led by ru ra l ch a r a c ter s w hich a re the m o st

su c c e s s fu l. It has b ecom e a com m on p lace of c r it ic is m that fo lk m yths

and b e lie fs a re a strong part of H ardy1 s n o v e ls , and a s a r e su lt , a r c h e ­

typal and m y th ica l c r it ic is m is v a lid and ind eed e s s e n t ia l to a study of

Hardy.

- D on ald . D avids on1 s c r it ic is m of Hardy, ty p ica l of the m y th ica l

in terp reta tio n , e s ta b lish e s a good b a s is for m y study. D avidson

d e sc r ib e s H ardy1 s con cep tion of p lot as an ex ten sio n of the tra d itio n a l

ballad and o ra l tale* C onverting tra d itio n a l n a rra tiv e into con tem p orary

fic tio n , Hardy p rovid ed W e sse x a s se ttin g , na w orld in w hich typ ica l

ballad h e r o e s and h ero in es can f lo u r ish w ith a thoroughly r a tio n a lize d

29^mythology* to su sta in them . H Hardy c r e a te d a sp e c ia l w orld w h ere

the c h a r a c ter s he adapted e ith er c o n sc io u s ly or u n co n sc io u sly from

tra d itio n a l ta le s cou ld e x is t .

A ccord in g to D avidson , s e v e r a l p ecu lia r c h a r a c te r is t ic s of

H ardy1 s fic t io n a re exp la in ed by it s c lo s e re la tio n sh ip to o ra l tradition;

for instance,' why the n o v e ls "have the rou n d ed ,, often in tr ica te plot and

29o D onald D avidson , "The T rad ition a l B a s is of Thom as H ardy1 s F ic tio n , " Hardy: A C o llec tio n of C r it ic a l E s s a y s , ed. A lb er t Jo G uerard (E nglew ood C liffs , No. J o , 1 9 6 3 ) , p. 15.

16

the b a lan ce and a n tith e s is of c h a r a c te r s a s so c ia te d w ith trad ition a l

f ic tio n from an cien t t im e , " why th ey r e se m b le c la s s ic a l dram a, why

"action, not d escr ip tio n , i s a lw ays fo rem o st; /a n d w h y / the event e «. <,

rath er than m o tive or p sy ch o lo g y , or com m ent" d o m in a tes . It i s a ls o

the r ea so n fo lk - lik e su p e r stit io n i s often in the background of the n o v e ls ,

and why H ardy u se s co in c id en ce w hich, D avidson c la im s . Hardy

d e lib er a te ly u se s in p la c e of the. m ira cu lo u s e lem en ts of b a lla d s. ^

R ich ard C arpenter a g r e e s that H ardy's f ic t io n i s a rch etyp a l,

pointing out that the s itu a tio n s and sy m b o ls of m y th ,. "the scap egoat,

the fe r t i l i ty r itu a l, the night jou rn ey , th e dying god, the reb irth th em e, "

32a ll appear in H ardy's w ork . "The m yth ic s ig n ifica n ce of the e a r th -

a ir - f ir e -w a te r , of ligh t and d a rk n ess , i s ev ery w h ere ev iden t, " he

co n tin u es. T his la tter is an ev ident a ttr ib u te of the dark lady, who

alw ays a c ts in cou n term ovem en t to the ligh t, fa ir m en and w om en, and\

who is u su a lly accom p an ied by im a g e s of f ir e .

- When D avids on a p p lie s the m y th ica l a n a ly s is of H ardy's f ic t io n

to the ch a ra cter -m a k in g , w h ich he sa y s i s "the m o st str ik in g fea tu re of

H ardy's hab it of m in d ,. a s tra d itio n a l n a rra to r , he m ak es c lea r one

30. Ibid. „

31= Ibid. , p. 18.

32. C arpen ter, p. 35.

33. , Ibid.

34= . D avidson , p. 19 =

17

of the b a s ic d if fe re n c e s b etw een the typ es of c h a r a c ter s inhabiting

H ardy1 s novelso The c h a n g e le ss c h a r a c ter s of ep ic s saga , rom ance,

and ballad H ardy a s s ig n s to both m ajor and m inor r o le s , g e n e ra lly

settin g them ^in ju x tap osition w ith one or two c h a r a c ter s of a m ore

changefu l or m od ern typ e0 The in terp la y betw een the two kinds of

c h a r a c ter s i s the fo cu s of the stru g g le that m ak es the storyo It i s

am ong the modern^ !,ch an gefu ln c h a r a c te r s - - th o s e D av id son d e sc r ib e s

as r e b e ls a g a in st the o rd ered r itu a l of th eir l iv e s , th o se who attem pt

3 6P ro m eth ea n m an ip u lations of th e ir w o r ld — that the dark la d ies a re

found.

W hen other c r it ic s apply the a rch ety p a l m eth od to H ardy's,

c h a r a c te r s , they r e v e a l w hy the m o re sa t is fa c to r y p ro ta g o n ists seem

to be c o lo s s a l r e p r e se n ta t iv e s of m ankind ra th er than the h igh ly in d iv id ­

ual p e r so n a lit ie s com m on in co n tem p orary n o v e ls . , R o lfe S c o tt-J a m e s

c a lls H ardy "a p ea sa n t burdened w ith know ledge w hich m agn ified the

p ro b lem s, h e ig h ten ed the s ig n ifica n ce of the em o tio n s, and en la rg ed

the ob jects of p ercep tio n t i l l they se e m e d to be c o ex is te n t w ith a ll th e

w o rld and the in fin ite , and sa y s that "the p eop le and the co u n trysid e

of w hat he c a lle d W e sse x , s e e n through the p r ism of a rom an tic

35. . Ibid. , p. 21.

36. Ibid.

37= . R o lfe A.- S c o t t -J a m e s ,. T hom as H ardy (New York, 1951),p. 12.

18

imagination.,, p rov id ed fo r H ardy the a rch ety p a l fo rm s of hum an e x i s t ­

en ce , „ „ „ Thus, H ardy's c h a r a c ter s b ecom e e lem en ta l p e r so n s

w h ose a c tio n s r e p r e se n t th o se of a ll m en a s they s tr u g g le a g a in st an

uncaring w orld . The m o st s u c c e s s fu l p ro ta g o n ists , th o se who a re

capable of su sta in in g traged y , a r e such c o lo s s a l b e in g s ,

. P r o fe s s o r s B een and C arp en ter, who m ake s p e c if ic a n a ly se s

of H ardy's c h a r a c te r s , com p are them to the arch ety p a l f ig u re s T antalus

and J o b ^ and to the sca p eg o a t arch ety p e , that of the s a c r if ic ia l v ic t im

who m u st be d estro y ed or k il le d so that o th ers m ay be stren gth en ed , ^

In H ardy tr a g e d ie s th o se q u a litie s w hich d istin g u ish the dark la d ies and

the other r e b e ls from the ty p ica l fo lk --" im p u lse , en erg y , e la n " ^ - -a r e

a lm o st in v a r ia b ly pu nished, sa y s B een , The p ro ta g o n ists , th ose who

d iffer from , a r e a lie n to, the p a s s iv e c h a n g e le ss p a s to r a l c h a r a c ter s

do not su r v iv e . A s B een ex p la in s, they end by g iv in g up life and thus

4-2rev ea lin g th e flaw of the u n iv e r se . T h is the dark la d ie s do w hen th ey

rea ch th e ir dual cu lm in ation in. E u sta c ia V ye and T e s s B u rb ey fie ld ,

B een co n clu d es by say ing that H ardy's n o v e ls " set the p a ttern for one

38. . Ibid. , p . 13.

39. Leonard.W .. B een , "H eroism and P ath os in The R eturn of the N a tiv e , " N in eteen th -C en tu ry F ic tio n , XV, p., 218.

40. C arp en ter, p. 35.

41 . B een , p. 218.

42. . Ib id ., p. 219.

19

of the dom inant tra d itio n s of the m od ern n ovel, the tra d itio n w h ich

p la c e s a sym p ath etic , s e n s it iv e in d iv id u al in a w o r ld h o s tile to h im .

The g e n e r a liz e d p ro ta g o n ist who em b od ies m an in reb e llio n

ag a in st h is w o r ld d oes not, of c o u r se , lend h im se lf to su b tle p sy c h o ­

lo g ic a l d e lin ea tion , T hom as H ardy did not want such d e lin ea tion s; he

w as not a d e lib er a te p sy c h o lo g is t . A s W alter A llen sa y s , " individuality ,

a s such, i s not what he i s a fter; what c o n cern s him m o st i s hum an b ein g s

in th e ir r e sp o n se to the d eep -r o o te d p a s s io n s , above a ll sex u a l lo v e ,

T his i s c o r r e c t , fo r a lm o st ev er y n o v e l and sh ort s to r y that Hardy

w rote w as p r im a r ily a love story; and fu rth erm o re . H ardy w as long

con cern ed with, the p le a s u r e s , m is e r ie s , and p sy c h o lo g ic a l im p lica tio n s

of the m a r r ia g e re la tio n sh ip . A s a r e su lt , m o st p sy c h o lo g ic a l stu d ies

of H ardy's f ic tio n a re d is c u s s io n s of the c h a r a c te r s ' sex u a l d e s ir e s and

e x p e r ie n c e s .

H ow ever, although m o st c r it ic s a g r e e that the s e x life of

H ardy's c h a r a c te r s i s b a s ic to the a c tio n of h is fic tio n ,. H ardy w as

unable to d ea l openly w ith the c h a r a c te r s ' s e x life and d e s ir e s b eca u se

he w ro te for a V ic to r ia n au d ien ce . T his p r e se n ts a p ro b lem , for if

H ardy does not r e v e a l the sex u a l m o tiv es of h is c h a r a c te r s , how can

a c r it ic know that th ey e x is t? The tex t of H ardy's n o v e ls and sh ort

43- Ibid,

44 , W alter A llen , The E n g lish N ovel (New Y ork, 1950), p. 287,

20

s to r ie s p ro v id es su ffic ien t ev id en ce to ju stify the a ssu m p tio n that s e x

i s one of the m ain m otivatin g fo r c e s in h is fic tio n . The sh ort s to r ie s

and le s s com m on ly read n o v e ls contain in n u m erab le i l l i c i t m ee tin g s ,

c la n d estin e m a r r ia g e s , s e c r e t p r eg n a n c ie s , and i l le g it im a te ch ild ren .

T heir freq u en cy to geth er w ith the fa c t that they a r e u su a lly b a s ic to the

p lo ts - -th e s to r ie s and n o v e ls have no p lo ts w ithout them - - r e v e a ls that

se x i s the foundation of m o st H ardy p lo ts . F u rth erm o re , a ttem p tin g to

d eterm in e the c h a r a c te r s ' sex u a l d e s ir e s en a b les one to understand

them and the n o v e ls b e tter . F in a lly , a s C arpenter and o th er c r it ic s

point out, H ardy's in a b ility to d is c u s s s e x openly led him to r e v e a l i t

sy m b o lica lly ; w hether th is sy m b o lism i s c o n sc io u s or u n con sc iou s

m ak es no d ifferen ce in i t s e ffe c t on the r e a d e r s . Such sy m b o lism ,

f ie r y and p h a llic im a g e s , surrou nds the dark la d ie s .

H ow ever, even w hen the n e c e s s ity of an a lyzin g the c h a r a c te r s '

sex u a l m o tiv es is reco g n ized , a s e r io u s prob lem r e m a in s . The ex a ct

nature of th e ir s e x life , overt and co v er t, can be d edu ced only from

scan ty and so m e tim e s am biguous e v id en ce . T his i s p a r tic u la r ly b o th er ­

so m e in analyzin g the dark la d ies and i s undoubtedly one r e a so n they

have not been fu lly u n d erstood or a p p rec ia ted . C arp en ter c ite s th ree

ex am p les of the p rob lem : the rea d er n ev er knows w h eth er T e s s w as

raped or seduced; he n ever know s E u sta c ia 's exact re la tio n sh ip w ith

W ildeve; he can only g u e ss that F e l ic e i s pregnant w hen sh e w h isp ers a

21

45shocking s e c r e t to G race , E ach exam p le co n cern s a dark Lady,

Thus m od ern c r it ic is m opens the w ay for a d is c u s s io n of H ardy's

dark la d ie s , who a r e both grand, a rch ety p a l f ig u re s and sex u a lly m o t i­

va ted w om en.

F u rth erm o re , c r it ic s o ld and new have been quick to n o tice

groups of ch a ra cter ty p es in H ardy's fic t io n . W hile H ardy w as s t i l l

a liv e , V irg in ia W oolf p o in ted out that h is w om en a re s im ila r to each

other but d ifferen t from the m en, b eca u se the w om en a re w eak er and

m o re f le sh ly , and b eca u se they su ffer not the co n flic ts w ith fa te w h ich

m en ex p e r ie n c e , but co n flic ts w ith oth er c h a r a c te r s , ^ A rec e n t study,

one w hich extends M iss W oolf's, is the e la b o ra te a n a ly s is of r e la t io n sh ip s

betw een H ardy's w om en m ade by A lb er t G uerard , He b eg in s h is a r t ic le

by d istin gu ish in g b etw een m a le and fe m a le c h a r a c ter s mmdh a s W oolf d o es ,

d escr ib in g H ardy's em p h a sis on "w om an's im p u lse to s e iz e the day

a g a in st m a n 's stubborn id e a lism , " and continuing a s fo llo w s:

o , , from th is f i r s t r a d ic a l d ifferen ce a ll o th ers m ay be sa id to fo llow : w om an 's 'im p u ls iv e in co n seq u en ce , ' her van ity , her f ic k le n e s s , h er in d iffe r en ce to ju s t ic e , and her in a b ility to m ake an u n sexed judgm ent, even h er s to ic a l endurance and h er cu r io u s m a s o c h is t ic im p u lse s . She who l iv e s in an. e tern a l p r e se n t liv e s not the life of r ea so n ,

45, C arpenter, p= 28,

46, V irg in ia W oolf, "The N o v e ls of T hom as H ardy, " The Second C om m on-R eader (New York, 1932), p. 272,

47, A lb e r t J, G uerard , T hom as H ardy (New York, 1964), pp. 1 2 9 -3 0 ,

22

The d istin ctio n b etw een m en and w om en is g e n e r a lly va lid , but

c lo se r a n a ly s is of the fe m a le c h a r a c ter s r e v e a ls that th ey d iffer sh a rp ly

from ea ch oth er, m o re in fa c t than th ey do from so m e of th e m en.

G uerard r e c o g n iz e s th is and show s the d iffe re n c e s b etw een the v a r io u s

fe m a le c h a r a c te r s and the change in H ardy's attitude tow ard w om en.

- ' (5

H ero in es of the e a r ly novels, a re un m oral and charm ing, sa y s G uerard,

and the e a r ly n o v e ls p r e se n t "a ra tio n a le , v e r y n ea r ly , of fem in in e e v a ­

s io n and f ic k le n e s s , a lthough F ar P rom the M adding C rowd and la ter

n o v e ls show a m o re co m p reh en siv e v iew of w om en . E lf r id e Sw ancourt

is "a m inor E u sta c ia V ye, fu ll of unused fem in in e e n e r g ie s ;" but her

c h a r a c ter iz a tio n i s in co m p le te b eca u se the o r ig in of H ard y's sym pathy

for h er s e e m s to e x is t so m ew h ere o u tsid e the book. ^ G uerard does

not sea r c h for the so u r ce of the sym pathy, but it i s in te r e s t in g to note

that H ardy's cou rtsh ip of both T ryphena and E m m a c o in c id e s With the

w ritin g of A P a ir of B lu e E y e s . - W hatever it s so u rce , h ow ever, sym path y

for the h ero in e d oes e x is t , and it i s v ita l , for a s G uerard s a y s , .

" S y m p a th y --so m eth in g m o re , that i s , than the co o l o b serv a tio n of

w om en a s fa sc in a tin g o b je c ts - -w o u ld be n e c e s s a r y to the la ter and

u n iv er sa lly p r a ise d p o r tr a its of E u sta c ia V ye and T e s s D u rb eyfie ld .

48 . Ibid. , p. 131.

49 . Ibid. , p. 135.

50. , I b id ., p. 137.

' 23

ELfride i s not r e a lly a dark lad y0 • A lth ough in so m e w ays sh e

b eco m es a tr a g ic w om an b e fo re the n ovel ends, she b eg in s as a ty p ica l

and ra th er in co n seq u en tia l country g ir l, and the change in h er p e r so n ­

a lity i s not m ade p la u sib le in the n o v e l. T ru e sym pathy and the fu ll

d evelop m en t of a tra g ic h ero in e do not occu r until H ardy understands

and sy m p a th izes w ith the dark lady; for although he c r e a te s b e liev a b le

c h a r a c ter s in the fa ir e r , f ic k le w om en of h is e a r ly n o v e ls , he n eith er

fu lly un derstan ds nor d eep ly sy m p a th izes w ith them . G uerard su m ­

m a r iz e s H ardy's d evelop m en t a s a c h a ra cter -m a k er by say in g that i t

p r o g r e s s e s , "from an assu m p tio n that a l l young w om en a r e u n p red ictab le

in the sa m e am u sin g w ay to an understanding that w om en m ay d iffer one

from th e other a s m uch as m en do and m ay even be as p u rp osefu l and

id e a lis t ic as they.

T his i s tru e of the dark la d ies who a r e often c h a r a c te r iz e d a s

m a sc u lin e . T hey sh a re m an 's c o n flic t w ith fa te , fa c in g the grand p ro b ­

le m s of e x is te n c e , unlike the fa ir e r w om en, who en coun ter th eir m ain

d iffic u lt ie s in rela tion sh ip s, w ith other c h a r a c te r s . A d istin ctio n b etw een

dark and ligh t c h a r a c te r s i s m o re v a lid and fru itfu l than i s a d istin ctio n

b etw een m a le and fe m a le c h a r a c te r s , p a r tic u la r ly w hen one i s studying

the w hole of H ardy's f ic t io n and not ju st the e a r ly w ork . G uerard

r e c o g n iz e s that so m e H ardy w om en a c h ie v e the n ob ility and stren gth

51. I b id ., p., 143 .

24

of c h a r a c te r -w hich the author e a r lie r r e s e r v e d for h is m en . Those* who

do th is m o st c o m p le te ly a r e the two m o st su c c e s s fu l dark la d ies:

E u sta c ia V ye and T e s s D u rb eyfie ld .

The p u b lish ed c r it ic is m , then, n e ith er a ff irm s nor d en ies a

coh eren t con cep t of the dark lady in H ardy's fiction ; but it does lea v e

the w ay open for m y attem p t to show that c er ta in c h a r a c te r s form such

a coh eren t group, e s s e n t ia l to the fic tio n , and that from su ch c h a r a c te r s

H ardy d evelop s h is g rea t tr a g ic h e r o in e s , E u sta c ia a n d .T e ss .

D. H, L a w ren ce 's e ssa y ,. "H ardy's 'P r e d ile c t io n d 'a r tis te , '"

co m es c lo s e r to m aking the d istin ctio n w hich I s e e betw een dark and

light c h a r a c ter s than d oes any other d is c u s s io n of H ardy. L aw ren ce

d is c u s s e s H ardy's a lie n s or, a s he c a lls them , a r is to c r a ts , both m a le

and fem a le : C ytherea. ALdclyffe, • A etnus M anston, ELfride Sw ancourt

and the lord sh e m a r r ie s , T roy, F a r m e r Boldw ood, E u sta c ia and

W ildeve, de Stancy, V iv ie tte C onstantine, M ich ael H enchard and

L ucetta , F e l ic e C harm ond.and E ld red F itz p ie r s , T e s s and A le c

52D 'U r b e rv ille , and Jude F a w ley . H ardy ad m ired th ese c h a ra c ter s

and w as draw n to them , L aw ren ce sa y s , b eca u se a s an a r is to c r a t each

i s a ch a ra cter who "cau afford to be, to be h im se lf , to c r e a te h im se lf ,

to liv e as h im se lf . That i s h is e tern a l fa sc in a tio n . . . . . The g lo ry of

m ankind is not in a h o st of se c u r e , co m fo rta b le , law -ab id in g c it iz e n s ,

52. • D. H. L aw ren ce , "H ardy's 'P r e d ile c t io n d 'a r tis te , '" H ardy: A C o llectio n . . . E s s a y s , ed. A lb er t J. G uerard, pp. 4 6 -7 .

25

but in the - few m o re fin e , c le a r Lives, b e in g s, individuals-, d is tin ct,

detached, s in g le , . , , "53

L aw ren ce show s how H ardy's attitude tow ard th e se c h a r a c ter s

ch a n ges. A t f ir s t H ardy m ak es each one who is unusual a v illa in ; "all

ex cep tio n a l or stron g tr a its he holds up as w e a k n e sse s or w ick ed fa u lts . 11

H ow ever, he m o v es s te a d ily aw ay from th is p o sition , and each new

a r is to c r a t b eco m es " le ss v illa in o u s and m o r e hum an. The f ir s t show

of r e a l sym pathy, n ea r ly conquering the b o u rg eo is or com m une m o ra lity ,

i s for E u sta c ia . " H ardy's a ttitud e con tin u es to change, L aw rence s a y s ,

until h e i s ab le to c r e a te Jude who i s both "the old V irg in Knight and

the D ark V illa in :"

The condem n ation grad u ally sh ifts over from the dark v il la in to the blond b o u rg eo is v ir g in h ero , from A le c d'UrberviLLe to A n g el C la re , t i l l in Jude they a r e united and Loved, though the p rep on d eran ce i s of a dark v illa in , now dark, b eloved , p a s ­sio n a te h ero . The condem nation sh ifts over at Last from the dark v il la in to th e w h ite v irg in , the b o u rgeo is in sou l: from

. A r a b e lla to Sue. . In fin ite ly m o re su b tle and sad i s the co n ­dem nation at the end, but th ere it is : the v ir g in knight is h ated w ith in ten sity , y e t s t i l l loved; the w hite v ir g in , the beloved , i s the a r c h -s in n e r a g a in st l ife at Last, and the la s t note of h atred i s a g a in st h er . ^4

T his a n a ly s is of H ardy's c h a r a c te r s r e v e a ls m uch of what

happens to the dark la d ie s in the c o n r se o f h is c a r e e r . , The dark,

sex u a l fe m a le c h a r a c te r s , at f ir s t se e n -a s unnatural p eo p le ou tsid e th e

53= Ibid. , p. 47 .

54, Ib id ., p. 48 .

26

so c ie ty of the n atu ra ls p a s to r a l c h a r a c te r s b ecom e sym p ath etic h e r o ­

in e s who a re see n a s natural, w h ile the p a sto ra l, s o c ia l c h a r a c ter s

b ecom e a r ig id ly c r u e l and inhum ane group. T his m eta m o rp h o sis

tak es p la c e soon er in the fe m a le c h a r a c te r s than in the m a le , h ow ever.

F rom h is f ir s t p u b lish ed n ovel. D e sp e r a te R e m e d ie s , H ardy sy m p a th izes

with and a d m ire s the dark la d ies , a lthough he reg a rd s them as e v il or

at le a s t s in is te r in h is e a r ly fic tio n . A nd even though the a r is to c r a ts

have H ardy's sym pathy la te in h is c a r e e r as a fic t io n w r ite r , they

"m ust e v ery one die, e v e r y s in g le one. " The ca u se , L aw ren ce sa y s ,

i s tw ofold: "the germ of death" e x is t s in th ese c h a r a c te r s and "the

a r t is t h im se lf / h a s / a b o u rg eo is taint, a jea lo u s v in d ic t iv e n e ss" that

tak es rev en g e on th e a r is to c r a t . ^

L a w ren ce l s a n a ly s is of H ardy's develop m en t a s a c h a r a c te r -

m ak er i s , in m y opinion, e s s e n t ia l ly c o r r e c t . He p oin ts out that each

a r is to c r a t ic c h a ra cter i s p a ss io n a te and that fa ilu re i s in h eren t in each

of th em . He d e sc r ib e s the a r is to c r a t ic w om en as fo llo w s: E lf r id e,

V iv ie tte C on stan tin e ,. M arty South and T e s s a re p a ss io n a te a r is to c r a ts

"doom ed by th eir v e r y being to tr a g e d y ,. or to m isfo r tu n e in the end. "

C ytherea A ld c ly ffe ,. E ustacia ,. L ucetta , and F e l ic e a r e p a ss io n a te

a r is to c r a ts who fa ll "before the w eigh t of the a v era g e , the law ful

crow d, but who, in m o re p r im itiv e t im e s , w ould have fo rm ed rom an tic

55. - Ib id ., p., 47.

27

rath er than tra g ic f ig u r e s , " T h ese a r is to c r a t ic w om en L aw ren ce c o n ­

tr a s ts to the a v era g e s u c c e s s fu l wom an, C ytherea G raye, B athsheba,

T hom asin , P au la , E liza b eth -J a n e , G race , Sue, ^ The c o n tra st i s

b etw een dark and light, r e b e l and a s s en ter .

The m eaning of the n o v e ls , L aw ren ce , co n c lu d es, i s that the

p h y sic a l and sp ir itu a l in d iv id u a lis t, "a m an of d is tin ct being, who m u st

a ct in h is own p a r ticu la r w ay to fu lf ill h is own ind iv idu al nature, " i s a

being w h ich has to fa il "b ecau se of i t s own iso la tio n , b eca u se it i s a

sport, not in the tru e lin e of l ife , 11 T e s s , Jude, and V iv ie tte he g iv e s

57as ex a m p le s , . I w ould add E u sta c ia ,

The b io grap h ica l and c r it ic a l s tu d ies exam in ed above p rov id e

a fa v o ra b le background for. m y th e s is by e sta b lish in g four im p ortant

p o in ts . B io g ra p h ers have shown that H ardy b a se s a g r ea t m any of h is

p lo ts and c h a r a c te r s on h is p e r so n a l e x p e r ie n c e and acq u ain tan ces and

that he knew two d is tin c tly d ifferen t w om en in tim a te ly , • C r it ic s have

poin ted out aga in and again that th er e a r e two v a s t ly d ifferen t k inds of

w om en in H ardy's fic tio n : G uerard d ifferen tia te s b etw een th o se who

a re ra th er com m on p lace and m undane and th o se unusual, grand, and

h e r o ic , L aw ren ce d is tin g u ish e s b etw een the dull, law -ab id in g ,

com m unal c h a r a c ter s and th o se a r is to c r a ts who a re iso la te d , liv in g

56, . Ibid, , p, 49 ,

57. - Ibid,

28

"fine, c lea r l iv e s , " F in ally ,, c r it ic s g e n e r a lly r e c o g n iz e that in the

c o u r se of h is c a r e e r H ardy's attitude changed from sym path y for the

ty p ica l ch a ra cter to sym pathy for the a ty p ica h ■ Each of th e se poin ts

lends support to m y b e lie f that the dark la d ie s , probab ly m o d eled on

T ryphena Sparks, a re a s in g le co h eren t group of c h a r a c ter s whom

Hardy f ir s t d is tr u s ts and f in a lly fin ds such deep sym path y fo r that

they b eco m e h is h e r o in e s , th o se who can r e b e l for a ll m ankind a g a in st

the u n feelin g , inhum ane, ir o n ic u n iv e r se .

THE DARK LADY IN MINOR ROLES

The dark Lady p la y s a cen tra l r o le in H ardy's f i r s t pu b lish ed

n ovel. D e sp e r a te R e m e d ie s . The lady, M iss A ld c ly ffe , a c ts in o p p o si­

tion to the m ain ch a ra c ter , the fa ir and- som ew h at s i l ly C yth erea G raye;

and it i s her stron g love fo r C y th erea 's fa th er w hich p rom p ts her to

s e e k the m atch betw een her il le g it im a te son and C yth erea . T his d e s ir e

is the so u rce of the a c tio n of th is m e lo d ra m a tic n ovel.

The dark lady m ak es her f ir s t app earan ce as sh e stands b efo re

c r im so n cu rta in s em b lazon ed by the aftern oon sun:

The s tra n g er ap p eared lik e a ta ll b lack fig u re standing in the m id st of f ir e . It w a s the fig u re of a f in e ly -b u ilt wom an, of sp a re though not angu lar p ro p o r tio n s.

• She w as not a v e r y young w om an, but cou ld b o ast o f m uch beauty of the m a je s t ic autum nal p h a se .

She app eared now no m o re than f iv e -a n d -th ir ty , though sh e m igh t e a s i ly have been ten or a dozen y e a r s o ld er . • She had c le a r stead y e y e s , a R om an n o se in it s p u rest fo rm , and a lso the round p rom in en t chin w ith w hich the C a e sa r s a r e p r e se n te d in an cien t m a rb les; a m outh e x p r e ss in g a cap ab ility for and tend ency to strong em otion , hab itually c o n tr o lle d by p r id e . T h ere w as a s e v e r ity about the low er o u tlin es of the fa c e w hich gave a m a sc u lin e c a s t to th is p ortion of h er coun ten an ce. ■ W om anly w ea k n ess w as now here v is ib le save in one p a r t - - th e cu rve of h er fo reh ea d and brow s; th ere it w as c le a r and em p h a tic . *•

1. T hom as H ardy, D e sp e r a te R em ed ie s (New Y ork, 19.20),pp. 5 8 -9 .

29

30

A lthough she i s a m id d le -a g e d w om an. M iss A ld c ly ffe 's

fe a tu r e s , f ig u re , co lo r in g , and the aura of w ea ry so p h is tic a tio n about

her a re th o se of e v e r y dark lady. In th is , h is f ir s t p u b lish ed novel,

Hardy d e s c r ib e s th e dark lady fu lly : a ta ll b lack fig u re a m id fire ;

f in e ly -b u ilt , m a je s t ic a lly beau tifu l w ith c le a r , stead y e y e s and a

c la s s ic n ose and chin; an em otion a l andqproud w om an w ith a cer ta in

m a sc u lin e look and a lm o st none of the w ea k n ess ty p ica l of o th er H ardy

w om en. - She i s one of the m o s t in te r e s t in g c h a r a c ter s in th is f ir s t n o v e l,

and even a fter one has rea d m o st of H ardy's fic tio n , sh e rem a in s a

m em o ra b le fig u re .

The cen tra l a c tion of D esp era te R em ed ies c o n cern s c h a r a c ter s

of the g en era tio n a fter that o f C ytherea A ld c ly ffe , but the n ovel opens

at the tim e of h er youth. . R ather qu ick ly and sk etch ily . H ardy te l ls of

a country boy, A m b ro se G raye, who g o e s to London w h ere he m e e ts

the B ra d le ig h fa m ily and th eir daughter C ytherea . (L ater , w hen th ey

in h er it a fortune, th ey change th eir nam e to A ld c ly ffe . ) The B r a d le ig h s1

s o c ia l p o s itio n i s above G ra y e 's , for M r.. B rad le igh i s a r e t ir e d naval

o fficer and h is w ife 's g en ea lo g y i s e x c e lle n t . M iss A ld c ly ffe i s s o c ia lly

d istin ct from the m o re p a s to r a l G raye and the ch ild ren he w ill h ave. .

A m b ro se G raye fa l ls in lo v e w ith C ytherea A ld c ly ffe , but

although sh e s e e m s to lo v e h im , she b e c o m e s quite u p set w hen he su g ­

g e s t s that they m a rry . - E ven tu ally sh e sen d s him a le tte r in w hich sh e

hints that th ere i s a m y s te r io u s s e c r e t in her p a st and t e l l s him g o o d -b y e

31

fo r e v e r , G raye a ccep ts h er r e fu sa l sad ly , retu rn s hom e, and la ter

m a r r ie s a w om an he d oes not lo v e . They have two ch ild ren , a daughter

whom G raye n am es C ytherea , and a son .

A t th is point in the n a rra tiv e . H ardy sk ips over s e v e r a l y e a r s ,

then r e su m e s the ta le to d e sc r ib e the death of A m b ro se G raye and

b egin s the m ain a ctio n o f the n ovel, the s to ry of h is ch ild ren . T hey

m ove fro m th e ir hom e, and C yth erea G raye i s h ired a s a com panion to

M iss A ld c ly ffe , who has b ecom e the w ea lth y m id d le -a g e d w om an of the

d e scr ip tio n quoted ab ove. M iss A ld c ly ffe soon d is c o v e r s that young

C ytherea i s the daughter of A m b ro se G raye and b eco m es o b s e s s e d w ith

the id ea that C ytherea m u st m a rry M ansion, M iss A ld c ly ffe 's il le g it im a te

son w h ose e x is te n c e p rev en ted h er own m a r r ia g e to A m b r o se . T his

d e s ir e i s the b a s ic m o tiv e for a ll that M iss A ld c ly ffe d oes in the n o v e l.

In h is d is c u s s io n of D e sp e r a te R e m e d ie s ,. A lb er t G uerard sa y s

that the f ir s t f iv e ch ap ters of the novel have no "anim ating im p u lse" at

w ork in th em and that "the book r e c o v e r s en ergy in the s ix th chapter

w ith the ap p earan ce of a h igh ly abn orm al w om an, /th e--o ld er / M iss

A ld cly ffe; the next few ch a p ters a r e an im ated by H ardy's c u r io s ity c o n ­

cern in g her m o tiv es and th o se of A en a es M ans ton, a B yron ic if not

d iab o lic v illa in . L ater G uerard i s m o re d eta iled ;

H ardy's f ir s t im p r e s s io n of h er , c o lo re d no doubt by h is r e a d ­ing of fic tio n , i s d is tin c tly un p leasan t. But M iss A ld c ly ffe a lso

2. A lb er t J. G uerard, T hom as H ardy, p. 50.

32

h as h er 'sw ee t dream , 1 a s w e Learn at the v e r y end. . . .H ardy's c o n sc io u s in tu itiv e understanding of M iss ALdclyffe . o . red u ces i t s e l f to two p ro p o s itio n s , w hich a re m e lo ­d ram atic rath er than im p la u s ib le : (1) a w om an m ay be in ex p lica b ly a ttra c ted to a g ir l b eca u se sh e is the daughter of a fo r m e r lover; (2) she m ay want to reen a ct her own u n su c c e ss fu l rom an ce, but s u c c e s s fu lly , by m a rry in g her son to the daughter. ^

The so u r ce of th e n o v e l's p lo t, then, i s M iss A ld c ly ffe 's attem pt to

r e c r e a te her p a ss io n a te love and is c er ta in ly not the ra th er in s ip id lo v e

of C ytherea and S p rin grove . The sex u a l o v erto n es in the ch a ra cter o f

M iss A ld c ly ffe a r e stron g and som ew h at p e r v e r s e . The sc e n e in w hich

she c lim b s into bed w ith the young C yth erea and c a r e s s e s h er has b een

pounced upon by m od ern c r it ic s , but G u erard 's contention that th is

s c e n e 's L esb ia n o v erto n es w e re u n co n sc io u s in tu ition on H ardy's p art

s e e m s m o re lik e ly than any hint that th ey w ere d e lib er a te . N e v e r th e ­

le s s , G uerard s ta te s that "the 'u n p lea sa n tn ess' w hich H ardy d ra m a tize s

i s un m istakab ly that of L esb ia n attach m en t, and it s e ffe c t i s that of

abn orm al sen su a lity ..

The c r it ic L aw ren ce Jon es, d e scr ib in g M iss A ld c ly ffe a s

m o re than m e r e ly a s tereo ty p ed c h a ra c ter , sa y s that "the m a r r ia g e

of h er i l le g it im a te son to G ra y e's daughter b eco m es . . = h er m ean s

of sy m b o lic a lly sa tis fy in g h er lo v e . • She i s not a s im p le ev ild o er , but

i s to so m e ex ten t a v ic tim of h er own p a ss io n s and the s o c ia l

3. Ib id ., pp. 1 0 3 -4 .

4 . . I b id ., p.- 104.

33

sy s te m . P a ss io n a te love m o tiv a te s h er and c a u se s h er to act the r o le

of v i l la in e s s . T his cou ld w e ll be sa id of a l l the dark la d ies who a r e s e e n

a s e v il .

• M iss A id e ly ffe i s u n su c c e ss fu l.in h er attem p t to r e c r e a te h er

love in C ytherea and M anston, and sh e d ie s a s a ll dark la d ies m u st.

Hardy sa y s of h er , "M iss A ld c ly ffe in the jaw s of death w as M iss

A ld c ly ffe s t i l l , though th e old f ir e had d eg en era ted to m e r e p h o sp h o r es ­

cen ce now.

T hus, in th is the f ir s t f ic t io n p u b lish ed by H ardy, the dark lady

ap p ears and though not a m ajor ch a r a c ter , is the cen tra l m otivatin g

fo r c e of the n ovel. If sh e did not e x is t , th ere w ould be no p lo t. M iss

A ld c ly ffe i s a dark lady: she i s p h y s ic a lly ta ll, dark, sta tu esq u e , and

beautiful; sh e i s a s so c ia te d w ith im a g e s of fire ; she i s from the c ity , i s

of noble lin ea g e , and i s w ealthy; she is d e sp e ra te ly in lo v e and is

m o tiva ted by th is love; she i s not a v irg in ; sh e i s sad and trag ic; she

i s c o n s id e re d w e ird and unusual by C yth erea and the other m o re co m m o n ­

p la c e ch a r a cter s; sh e i s an overp ow erin g p erso n a lity ; sh e d ie s w ithout

fu lfillin g h er d e s ir e s and H ardy sa y s that her "weak a c t of try in g to liv e

/s e e m e d / a s ile n t w r es tlin g w ith a ll the p ow ers of the u n iv e r se .

5. L aw ren ce O. J o n e s ,. " D esp era te R em ed ie s and the V ic to r ia nS en sa tion N ovel, " N in eteen th -C en tu ry F ic tio n (June, 1965), p. 39«

6„ T hom as H ardy, D e sp e r a te R e m ed ie s , p. 443 .

7,. • I b id . , p. 440.

34

A lrea d y the dark lady has the p o ten tia lity of b ecom in g a h e r o ic a lly

tra g ic fig u re .

M iss A ld c ly ffe i s the m o st in te r e s t in g of the m in or dark la d ie s ,

but th ere a r e n u m erou s o th ers , including.X anthippe B arn et and H elena

H all who a re quite ty p ica l, L ucetta F a r fr a e and F e l ic e Charm ond who

a r e unusual dark la d ie s , and Rhoda B rook , the h ero in e of "The

W ithered A rm , " w h ose ch a r a c ter iz a tio n s tro n g ly fo resh a d o w s that of

T ess D u rb eyfie ld ,

• Xanthippe B arn et, a "tall, com m anding lady, d oes not often

appear in the sto ry , but her e x is te n c e i s c en tra l to the d ram atic s tr u c ­

tu re of " F e llo w -T o w n sm en . " A s the tro u b leso m e and m y ste r io u s o ld er

w ife of the p ro ta g o n ist, sh e i s th e dark ch a ra cter w h o se e x is te n c e s e ts

up a c o n flic t w ith the fa ir e r c h a r a c te r s . • She p rev en ts h er husband

from finding h ap p in ess e ith er in th e ir m a rr ia g e or in h is lo v e for the

"fair young woman"^ w ith "a s lig h t g ir l is h shape, L ucy S a v ile .

B arn et m a r r ie s X anthippe and b rin gs h er to liv e w ith him in a sm a ll

town b efo re the s to ry op en s. The ta le of th eir m ise r a b le m a r r ia g e and

of h is longing fo r L ucy S a v ile i s to ld from B arn et's poin t of v iew , as is

the ty p ica l m ethod in the e a r ly f ic t io n w h ere Hardy v ie w s the dark lady

8. T hom as Hardy, " F ello w -T o w n sm en , " The Short S to r ie s of T hom as H ardy (London, 1928), p. 112.

9. Ibid. , p. 129 =

10. I b id . , p. 125.

35

from the v iew p oin t of a m o re convention al ch a ra cter who d is lik e s h e r .

When B arn et b e lie v e s that X anthippe has drow ned, h o w ev er , he looks

at her s t i l l fe a tu r e s a s sh e l ie s on the bed and s e e s h er a s the sex u a lly

a ttra c tiv e and m y s te r io u s f ig u re w hich i s the dark lady:

She w a s a w om an so m e y e a r s o ld er than h im se lf , but had not by any m ea n s o v e r p a sse d the m a tu r ity of good looks and v ig o u r . H er p a ss io n a te fe a tu r e s , w e ll-d e fin ed , f ir m , and sta tu esq u e in life , w e re doubly so now: her m outh and brow, beneath h er p u rp lish -b la ck h a ir , show ed only too c le a r ly that the tu rb u len cy of ch a ra c ter w h ich had m ade a b e a r -g a rd en of h is h ou se had been no tem p o ra ry p h a se of h er e x is te n c e . * *

In the next sen ten ce h e d ec id es that she m ay not be dead. H is m in is t r a ­

tion s bring h er back to c o n sc io u sn e s s and she liv e s to m ake h is m a r r ia g e

m ise r a b le once m o re and to thw art h is d e s ir e to have L ucy as M s own.

E ven w hen X anthippe d ie s , y e a rs la te r , h er death co m e s too la te to Let

him m a r jy L ucy.

In: " In terlop ers at the Knap, " H elena a c ts as the so u r ce of the

short s to r y 's co n flic t and the ca u se of i t s unhappy ending. H elena,

another dark lady, ap p ears as a m in or but e s s e n t ia l c h a r a c ter . The

s to r y opens as F a r m e r D arton r id e s to m a r r y S a lly H all. B efo re he

a r r iv e s for the cerem o n y , S a lly 's b roth er P h il, M s w ife H elena, and

th eir two ch ild ren a r r iv e from. A u str a lia co ld , hungry, and im p o v er ish ed .

PM I d ie s and it i s soon r ev e a le d that D arton loved H elena y e a r s b efo re

but that sh e had re fu sed M s p ro p o sa l of m a rr ia g e to w ed P h il who, sh e

11. Ib id ., pp. 1 1 9 -2 0 .

36

t e l ls D arton, had. "the p r io r c la im « 11 T h is and o th er rem a rk s she

m ak es in d ica te that H elena w as prob ab ly pregnant w hen sh e re fu sed

D arton 's p ro p o sa l and le ft E ngland to jo in P h il in .A u str a lia . - She r e fe r s

to paying for h er e r r o r s and sa y s that her w ealthy uncle d is in h er ited

I oher b eca u se sh e had d isg r a ce d h e r s e lf . H ardy d e s c r ib e s H elena as

a m a je s t ic f ig u re a s she stands in .th e sta b le in S a lly 's w edding d r e s s ,

"a p a le , d a rk -ey ed , lad y lik e c re a tu re , w h o se p e r so n a lity ru led her

a tt ire rath er than w as ru led by it .

E ven tu ally D arton m a r r ie s the w idow ed H elena in stea d of

Sally , and she m ak es him m ise r a b le b eca u se " sin ce the tim e he had

o r ig in a lly known her - - e igh t or ten y e a r s b e fo r e - - s h e had been s e v e r e ly

tr ie d . She had loved h e r s e lf out, in sh ort, and w as now o c ca s io n a lly

g iven to m op ing. L ike the other dark la d ie s , H elena h as loved

p a ss io n a te ly and lik e them she b eco m es w ea ry and ap ath etic . A fter a

few y e a r s of m arriage ,. H elena d ie s .

The d e scr ip tio n s of M iss A ld c ly ffe , X anthippe, and H elena,

th eir str ik in g n a m es, th eir r o le s in the p lo ts , th e ir w o r ld -w e a ry n a tu res ,

th eir d eath s, and the am biguous w ay in w hich H ardy tr e a ts them a ll

12. T hom as H ardy, " In terlop ers at the Knap, " The Short S to r ie s . . . , p . 172.

13. . Ibid.

14. . I b id . , p.- 167=

15. I b id ., p. 171.

37

m ake each c le a r ly a dark lady3 though each i s a seco n d a ry c h a ra c ter .

F e l ic e C harm ond and JLucetta F a r fr a e a re the c h a r a c ter s

c r it ic s c ite m o st freq u en tly a s a lie n and unusual. Both a r e dark la d ie s ,

but th ey a r e ex trem e ex a m p les of the typ e. ■ E ach i s an a ttra c tiv e ,

sen su a l w om an w h ose o r ig in s a re not ru ra l: JLucetta i s F rench ; F e l ic e

i s an a r is to c r a t . A lthough he u se s each a s an an tagon ist. H ardy tr e a ts

them w ith a d eg ree o f sym pathy, a s he does ev ery dark lady. The two

a re , h ow ever, m od ern , h ed o n istic , e c c e n tr ic f ig u re s who a r e e s s e n ­

tia lly sep a ra te from the p a s to r a l w o r ld in w hich H ardy p la c e s them - -

not ty p ica l dark la d ie s . The n o v e ls in w hich th ey appear p r e se n t a

cen tra l ch a ra cter , M ich ael H enchard and G race M elbury, s e t betw een

two fo r c e s w hich can be g e n e ra lly d e sc r ib e d as n a tu r a l-p a s to r a l and

unna tu ra l-m o d ern . In both n o v e ls . H ardy u se s the dark lady to r e p r e ­

sen t the unnatural in flu en ce of m od ern so c ie ty , ex a g g era tin g her to m ake

the co n tra st betw een the two fo r c e s m o r e em p h atic . Both L ucetta and

F e lic e a r e ra th er s ta tic c h a r a c ter s who r e p r e se n t e v il in a so r t of

m o r a lity p lay in w hich the p ro ta g o n ist i s p u lled in two d ir e c t io n s - -

tow ard the fo r c e s of d ark n ess and tow ard th o se of ligh t. T h e se dark

la d ies a r e not fu lly d eve lop ed and they la ck the r e a lity o ther dark la d ie s

have. T hey a lso lack th eir grandeur. L ucetta and F e l ic e , who a r e

p r im a r ily sex u a l f ig u r e s , a r e m o tiv a ted only by se x . . F e l ic e c r ie s ,

"O! w hy w e r e w e g iven hungry h e a r ts and w ild d e s ir e s i f w e have to

38

liv e in a w orld lik e th is . ̂ The two c u r se life a s do a ll dark la d ie s ,

but th eir m ain com p la in t i s sex u a l, for they lack the grandeur of r e b e ls

such a s E u sta c ia and T e s s .

The long ta le , "The W ith ered A rm , " p u b lish ed in 1888, i s the

s to r y of another ta ll, d a rk -h a ired w om an, Rhoda B rook . She too i s a

dark lady. • Although: Rhoda is a m ilk m a id born in the country, her e a r ly

love for D airym an L odge, the b irth of h is son, and her p a s s iv e a c c e p t­

an ce of h is r e je c t io n have a lien a ted her from the oth er country fo lk

b efo re the s to ry op en s. L ate in the tale,, Rhoda r e c a l ls that "she had

been s ly ly c a lle d a w itch s in c e her fa ll; but n ever having u nderstood w hy

that p a r ticu la r s tig m a had been a ttach ed to h er, it had p a s s e d d is r e ­

garded . "I? H ow ever, L od ge's m a r r ia g e to a young w om an a r o u se s

R hoda's c u r io s ity , and she is ea g er to know what H ardy in d ica te s a r e

im p ortan t fa c ts about any w om an: w h eth er sh e i s dark or fa ir , i f she

i s a s ta ll a s Rhoda, and if h er e y e s a re a s dark as R h od a's. Hardy

co m p a res the two w om en: "T here w as m o re of the stren g th that en d u res

in h er /R h o d a 's /w e ll-d e f in e d fe a tu re s and la rg e fra m e th an .in the s o ft-

I 8ch eek ed young w om an b efo re h e r . "

16. T hom as H ardy, The W oodlanders (London, 1961), p . 204.

17. T hom as Hardy, "The W ith ered A rm , " Two W e sse x T a le s (B o s to n ,-1919), p. 53.

18. Ib id ., p. 52=

39

W hen young M rs. L od ge's arm b eco m es d isfig u red , the co u n try ­

fo lk and even tu a lly Rhoda and M rs. Lodge too, b e lie v e that R hoda's

m align in flu en ce c a u se s it . • Rhoda and h er son m ove aw ay and when,

y e a r s la te r , M rs. L odge g o es to touch the n eck of a han ged m an hoping

to cu re h er arm , sh e i s confronted by Rhoda and D airym an Lodge who

have co m e to c la im the body of the cr im in a l, th eir son.

Rhoda i s a d a irym aid as T e s s w a s to be. She i s a lso a dark

lady w h ose youthful a ffa ir produ ced a ch ild and w h ose a lo o fn e ss a lie n a te s

her from the other c h a r a c te r s . L ike a l l dark la d ie s , sh e i s m otiva ted

by love , she i s t ir e d of life , and sh e i s doom ed. . U nlike a ll but T e s s ,

she i s the p o s s e s s o r of h er s to ry , and unlike a ll other dark la d ie s , sh e

d oes not d ie in the s to ry but liv e s on a lo n e and is o la te d . She w ork s

until h er form b eco m es bent and "her once abundant dark h a ir w hite

and w orn aw ay. E ven though her death i s not p o r tra y ed in the

sto ry , h er life i s c le a r ly ended w hen th e ta le c lo s e s . T h is i s H ardy's

f ir s t fu lly sym p ath etic trea tm en t of the dark lady.

19. Ibid,., p. 78.

THE DARK LADY IN MAJOR ROLES

T h ree dark la d ie s , E u sta c ia V ye,. V iv ie tte C onstantine, and .

T e s s D urb eyfie ld , p lay m ajor r o le s in the fictiono A lthough it m ay at

f ir s t see m cu riou s to group th ese th ree w om en to g eth er , a ca refu l

a n a ly s is of them w ill r e v e a l that th ey a r e each d eve lop ed from a s in g le

ch a ra cter typ e. T hey look a lik e , th eir p e r so n a lit ie s a r e a lik e , and

each i s d is tr u s te d by and a lien a ted from the other c h a r a c te r s . . F u r th e r ­

m o re , as the next chapter w ill show , th ey p lay s im ila r d ram atic and

sym b o lic r o le s in th e ir n o v e ls . And a s H ardy's a ttitud e tow ard them

changes from d is tr u s t to am b igu ity and fin a lly to co m p le te sym pathy,

they change from v i l la in e s s e s to h e r o in e s .

E u sta c ia V ye

L ike M iss A ld clyffe,. E u sta c ia V ye i s f ir s t s e e n a s a s o lita r y

fig u re b efo re a f ie r y background. H ardy c r e a te s an aura of m y ste ry

and a ttra c tio n about h er by r ev e a lin g her slo w ly to the rea d er . At f ir s t

he sa y s s im p ly : "That sh e w asitall and stra ig h t in build, that sh e w as

lady lik e in h er m o v em en ts , w as a ll that cou ld be lea rn ed of her ju st

now. . .... "1 L a ter , he d e sc r ib e s h er c la s s ic p r o file and then in the

1. T hom as Hardy, The R eturn of the N ative (New York, I960), p. 58, h e r ea fter c ite d a s R eturn .

40

41

fam ou s "Queen of Night" chapter d evotes h im se lf to a thorough d e s c r ip ­

tion of h er , beginning: " E u stacia V ye w as the raw m a te r ia l of a d ivin ity"

(R eturn, p. 73),

The p a ssa g e below , quoted from th is ch apter, i s H ardy's

fu lle s t and m o st d ir e c t d e scr ip tio n o f the dark lady:

She w as in p e r so n fu ll- lim b e d and som ew hat heavy; w ithout ru d d in ess , a s w ithout p a llor; and so so ft to the touch as a cloud. To s e e h er hair w as to fan cy that a w hole w in ter did not conta in d a rk n ess enough to form i t s shadow: it c lo se d over h er fo reh ea d lik e n igh tfa ll extin gu ish in g the w e ste r n glow .

Her n e r v es extended into th o se t r e s s e s , and h er tem p er could a lw ays be so ften ed by strok in g them down. W hen her hair w a s b ru sh ed down sh e w ould in sta n tly s in k in to s t i l ln e s s and look lik e the Sphinx (R eturn, pp. 7 3 -4 ).

He r e v e a ls her p a ss io n a te p e r so n a lity through h is d e scr ip tio n of her

sen su a l beauty and a n im a l- lik e r e sp o n se to p h y s ic a l touch, and by

a sso c ia tin g her w ith p h a llic and f ie r y im a g e s . She c a r r ie s the sp y g la ss

throughout the n ovel, often stands b e s id e f ir e s , and i s sa id to be a f ie r y

p erson :

. She had Pagan e y e s , fu ll of n octu rn al m y s te r ie s . T heir ligh t, a s it ca m e and w ent, and ca m e again , w as p a r tia lly h am p ered by th e ir o p p r e ss iv e lid s and la sh es; and o f th ese the under lid w as m uch fu lle r than it i s u su a lly w ith E n g lish w om en, , , ,- A ssu m in g that the so u ls of m en and w om en w e re v is ib le e s s e n c e s , you cou ld fan cy the co lo r of E u sta c ia 1 s sou l to be f la m e - l ik e . The sp ark s from it that r o s e in to her dark pu p ils gave that sa m e im p r e s s io n (R eturn, p. 74),

F ie r y im a g e s r e v e a l that h ers i s a p a ss io n a te p e r so n a lity , but th is i s

not th eir s o le m eaning, for th ey a ls o r e f le c t E u sta c ia 's P rom eth ean

r e b e ll io u s n e s s , ; She and the other dark la d ies cannot be c h a r a c te r iz e d

s im p ly in te r m s of th eir sex u a l d e s ir e s , fo r they a r e co m p lex p e r so n a l­

i t ie s w h ose p r e se n c e in the n o v e ls has m o re than se n su a l s ig n ifica n ce .

H ow ever, in th is chapter I sh a ll d is c u s s th eir sex u a l nature at som e

length b eca u se it i s the b a s is of th e ir ch a r a cter iz a tio n .

In th is , h is m o st d ir e c t ch a r a c ter iz a tio n of the dark lady.

H ardy r e v e a ls her sex u a l e x p e r ie n c e ra th er c le a r ly . The sp y g la ss ,

the w e ll rope, and m any of the d an ces E u sta c ia tak es p art in a ll

3sy m b o lize h er sen su a lity , a s c r it ic s have poin ted out. F u rth erm o re ,

although Hardy n ever sa y s that sh e has had an a ffa ir w ith W ildeve, he

hints that th is i s th e c a se . The p a s s a g e s below , quoted from the f ir s t

in terv iew b etw een ,W ild eve and E u sta c ia , show H ardy's m ethod:

"I have loved you, and have show n you that I lo v ed you, ’ m uch to m y reg ret" /E u s ta c ia / (R eturn, p, 93),

" E u stacia , how w e roved am ong th ese b u sh es la s t y ea r , w hen the hot days had got coo l, and the sh ad es of the h il ls kept us a lm o st in v is ib le in the h o llow s I" (R eturn, p, 95),

In an e a r lie r v e r s io n . H ardy w as even m o re d irect, fo r he had E u sta c ia

4say that sh e had been W ild ev e 's "body and sou l, "

2, John P a ter so n , "The 'P o e t ic s ' of The R eturn of the N a tiv e^ 1 M odern F ic tio n S tud ies (A pril I960), p, 220,

3, • C arpenter, p, 102; and Lang don E lsb r e e , "The B reaking Chain: A Study of the D ance in the N o v e ls of Jane A u sten , G eorge E lio t, T hom as H ardy,, and D, H»- L aw ren ce, " D is se r ta t io n A b s tr a c ts ,. XXIV, i i i , p, 2476.

4, • O tis W h eeler , "Four V e r s io n s of The R eturn of the N ative , 1 N in eteen th -C en tu ry F ic tio n (June 1959), p. 39°

43

H ardy t e l ls the rea d er d ir e c t ly that E u sta c ia 's i s a p a ss io n a te

and trou b led p e r so n a lity -which cannot find la s tin g fu lf illm e n t--a n d that

sh e r e c o g n iz e s th is fact:

To be lo ved to m a d n e s s - - s u c h w as her g rea t d e s ir e ,L ove w a s to h er the one co rd ia l w h ich could drive aw ay the eating lo n e lin e s s of h er d ays. And she se e m e d to long for the a b stra c tio n c a lle d p a ss io n a te lo v e m o re than fo r any p a rticu la r lo v e r .

She could show a m o st rep ro a ch fu l look at t im e s , but it w as d ir e c ted le s s a g a in st human b ein gs than a g a in st c e r ­ta in c re a tu re s of her m ind, the ch ie f of th e se being D estin y , through w hose in te r fe r e n c e she d im ly fa n cied it a r o se that love a lig h ted only on g lid ing y o u th --th a t any love she m ight w in w ould sin k s im u lta n eo u s ly w ith the sand in the g la s s .She thought of it w ith an e v er -g r o w in g c o n sc io u sn e s s of cru elty , w h ich tend ed to b reed actio n s of the r e c k le s s un con ven tionality , fra m ed to sn atch a y e a r 's , a w e e k 's , even an h ou r's p a ss io n from anyw here w h ile i t cou ld be w on.Through want of it she had sung w ithout being m e r ry , p o s ­s e s s e d w ithout enjoying, outshone w ithout tr ium phin g. Her lo n e lin e ss d eepen ed her d e s ir e . On Eg don, c o ld e s t and m e a n e st k is s e s w e re a t fam in e p r ic e s ; and w h ere w a s a m outh m atch ing h e r s to be found?

F id e lity in love for f id e lity 's sa k e had le s s a ttra c tio n for her than for m o st w om en: f id e lity b eca u se of lo v e 's grip had m uch. A b la ze / i t a l i c s m in e /o f lo v e , and ex tin ction , w as b etter than a lan tern glim m er of the sa m e w hich should la s t long y e a r s . On th is h ea d she knew by p r e v is io n w hat m o st w om en lea rn only by e x p er ien ce : sh e had m en ta lly w alk ed round lo v e , to ld the to w ers th ereo f, c o n s id ered i t s p a la ces; and con clud ed that love w as but a d o lefu l joy . Y et she d e s ir e d it , a s one in a d e se r t w ould be thankful for b ra ck ish w ater (R eturn, p. 78).

T h is d e scr ip tio n of E u sta c ia show s h er m o tiv a ted by sex u a l im p u lse s ,

and show s that th ese im p u lse s only form the b a se upon w h ich her c o m ­

p lex p e r so n a lity i s bu ilt.

. 4 4

E u sta c ia i s a dark lady in other w a y s . ■ She i s proud, • She i s

g iv en som e of the c h a r a c te r is t ic s w hich M iss W oolf sa y s H ardy r e s e r v e s

fo r m en . She i s an id e a l is t w h ose q u a rre l is w ith F a te , not w ith the

peop le around h e r . In the action of the n ovel, sh e tak es an a g g r e s s iv e

r o le . It i s sh e , not C lym , who in it ia te s th e ir cou rtsh ip by attending

the C h ristm a s p arty at h is h om e. H ardy m en tion s her m a sc u lin ity in

the "Queen of Night" chapter: "She se ld o m sch em ed , but w hen sh e did

sch em e, her p lan s show ed rather the co m p reh en s iv e s tr a teg y of a

g en era l than the sm a ll a r ts c a lle d w om anish" (R eturn, p. 80),

E u sta c ia , lik e a ll dark la d ie s , is a lien a ted from the country

fo lk near whom she l iv e s both b eca u se she fe e ls h e r s e lf to be d ifferen t

from them and b eca u se th ey d is tr u s t and fe a r h er , E u s ta c ia - - th e c ity -

bred, w e ll ed u cated g ir l w h o se fath er w as a fo re ig n m u sic ia n and w h ose

m other w as r e la ted to a p eer - -h a te s Eg don w h ere she f e e ls "like one

banished" (R eturn , p. 76), and i s u tter ly a lo n e , ■ W ild eve, h er only

acqu ain tan ce, i s no f it com panion for h er and she know s it . The other

inhabitants of the heath s e e h er a s w e ird and ev il: Susan Nun such

b e lie v e s she i s a w itch; C h r is t ia n C antie r e fe r s to her a s "a w itch"

(R eturn, p, 200); and ev en .M rs , Y eob righ t d is lik e s her and sa y s,

"Good g ir ls don't get tr e a ted a s w itch es" (R eturn, p. 203). Hardy at

f ir s t sh a red th eir opinion, as chapter s ix w ill show .

T h is, then, i s E u sta c ia V ye, the f ir s t of the fu lly d evelop ed

dark la d ie s : m a je s t ic , sen su a lly beautifu l, lan gu orou s, a lone, and

45

p a ss io n a te . H ardy c lo s e s h is "Queen o f Night" chapter and opens the

p lo t by say ing:

And so w e s e e our E u s ta c ia - - fo r at t im e s sh e w as not a lto g e th er u n lo v ea b le - -a r r iv in g ,a t that s ta g e of en lig h ten ­m ent w hich f e e ls that nothing is w orth w h ile , and fil l in g up the sp a re hou rs of her e x is te n c e by id e a liz in g W ild eve for want of a b etter o b ject. T h is w as the so le rea so n of h is ascen d en cy : she knew it h e r s e lf . A t m om en ts h er p r id e r e b e lle d a g a in st h er p a ss io n for h im , and sh e even had longed to be f r e e . But th ere w as only one c irc u m sta n c e w hich cou ld d is lo d g e h im , and that w as the advent of a g r ea ter m an (R eturn, p, 80),

V iv ie tte C onstantine

V iv ie tte C onstantine, the h ero in e of Two on a T ow er, an u n su c ­

c e s s fu l but v e r y in te r e s t in g n ovel, i s another dark lady. She, lik e

E u sta c ia , i s a s s o c ia te d w ith f ie r y and p h a llic im a g e s , i s s e n su a lly

beautifu l, p a ss io n a te , and sex u a lly ex p erien ced ; she p la y s a m a scu lin e

r o le in h er courtsh ip; and sh e is a lien a ted from the other ch a r a c ter s in

the n ovel, H ardy's d e scr ip tio n of h er a s she o b se r v e s Sw ith in .cou ld

e a s i ly be that of E u sta c ia , T e s s , or any of the other dark la d ies :

Her hair w as b lack as m idnight, h er e y e s had no le s s deep a shade, and h er co m p lex io n show ed the r ic h n e ss dem anded as a support to th e se d ec id ed fe a tu r e s . A s sh e contin ued to look at the p re tty fe llo w b efore her, » , , a w a rm er w ave of her w arm tem p era m en t g low ed v is ib ly through h er , and a q u a lified o b se r v e r m igh t from th is have h azard ed a g u e ss that th ere w as R om ance b lood in her v e in s , ^

She i s a m a r r ie d w om an w h o se husband has been aw ay fo r s e v e r a l y e a r s

5, T hom as H ardy, Two on a T ow er, A n n iv ersa ry E dition .(N ew York, 1920), p, 6, h erea fter c ited a s T o w er ,

and who, until sh e s e e s the fa ir Sw ithin9 i s b ored and lo n e ly . Hardy

sa y s that her d e s ir e to s e e the m e m o r ia l tow er on her p rop erty , w hich

i s c le a r ly a p h a llic sym b ol, w as prom p ted by "the sh eer d e s ir e for

som eth in g to d o - -th e ch ron ic d e s ir e of h er cu r io u s ly lo n e ly life , " and

that "she w as in a m ood to w e lco m e anything that w ould in so m e

m e a su r e d is p e r se an a lm o s t k illin g ennui. She w ould have w e lco m ed

even a m isfortu n e" (T o w er , p, 3), • She sh a r e s w ith E u sta c ia the d e s ir e

for so m e in ten se e x p e r ie n c e to end h er boredom , even if that e x p e r ie n c e

m u st have tr a g ic c o n seq u e n c es . H ardy m ak es it c le a r that th is d e s ir e

is at le a s t p a rtly sex u a l w hen he d e s c r ib e s her im m ed ia te a ttra ctio n to

the blond and "pretty" Sw ithin St.- Cl ev e .

In th e ir love a ffa ir she i s the a g g r e s s o r , lik e a l l the m ajor

dark la d ie s . ■ She r e c o g n iz e s that each advan ce sh e m a k es endangers

Swithin, y e t she cannot r e s i s t pu rsu ing h er love until, even tu a lly , he

r e a l iz e s how sh e f e e ls and im m ed ia te ly --u n c o n v in c in g ly - - fa lls

p a ss io n a te ly in love w ith h er . Indeed, at t im e s H ard y's d escr ip tio n s

m ake V iv ie tte see m to be p rey in g on the inn ocent Sw ithin, a s sh e does

w hen H ardy d e sc r ib e s h er thoughts ju st a fter m eetin g the boy:

A m o re a ttra c tiv e fea tu re in the c a se w as that the sa m e youth, so capab le of being ru ined by f la tte r y , b lan d ishm en t, p le a su r e , even a g r o s s p r o sp e r ity , should be at p r e se n t liv in g on in a p r im itiv e Eden of u n co n sc io u sn e ss , w ith a im s tow ard s w hose a cco m p lish m en t a C aliban shape w ould have b een a s e ffe c t iv e as h is own (T ow er, p. - 12).

47

V iv ie tte i s a w ea lth y a r is to c r a t , the w ife of a lord , and her

life is p a s s e d in the m anor hou se,, sep a ra te from the country fo lk .

She i s aw are of h er so c ia l p o s itio n and ob ligation s and so rem a in s

p sy c h o lo g ic a lly as w e ll a s p h y s ic a lly sep a ra ted from the other c h a r a c -t

ter s=. The country folk, look upon her a s p ecu lia r and w eird , a s they do

a ll dark ladieso Tabitha Lark, a ty p ica l country g ir l, cannot un derstan d

Lady C on stan tin e's l i s t le s s n e s s , , and a m em b er of the ru ra l chorus sa y s

of her: "Nobody can be a n sw era b le for the w ish e s of that onnatural

tr ib e of mankindo Not but that w om an 's h e a r t-s tr in g s i s t ie d in m any

aggravatin g w ays" (T ow er , p« 18), : She, too, is d is tr u s te d and fe a r ed .

In the d escr ip tio n of her ju st b efo re the a c tio n of th e p lot

c o m m e n c es . H ardy show s V iv ie tte a s the ty p ica l dark lady, a lone,

a ttra c tiv e , p a ss io n a te , and doom ed:

She w o re a heavy d r e ss of v e lv e t and la c e , and being the only p e r so n in the sp a c io u s apartm en t sh e looked sm a ll and iso la te d .The so ft dark e y e s w hich she r a is e d to him as he e n tered - - la rg e , and m elan ch o ly by c irc u m sta n c e far m o re than by q u ality - -w e re the n atural in d ic e s of a w arm and a ffec tio n a te , perhap s s lig h tly voluptuous tem p era m en t, lan gu ish in g for want of som eth in g to do, ch er ish , or su ffer fo r (T o w er , p, 24)j

T e s s D u rb ey fie ld

Both E u sta c ia and V iv ie tte a re d e sc r ib e d .a s dark la d ie s ,

T e s s i s d e sc r ib e d in the sa m e way; h ow ever, the tech n iq u e of her

ch a r a c ter iz a tio n d if fe r s from that of the other dark la d ie s who a re

each fu lly d evelop ed , m atu re c h a r a c te r s w hen th ey f ir s t appear in the

48

n o v e ls . T e s s D u rb ey fie ld 's ch a ra cter and app earan ce change in the

c o u r se of her n o v e l. She i s at f ir s t a lo v e ly , in n ocen t m aiden , but sh e

b eco m es a true dark lady, both p h y s ic a lly and p sy c h o lo g ic a lly , a fter

h er sex u a l e x p e r ie n c e w ith A le c 0 r~U rb erv ille .

H ardy's in it ia l d escr ip tio n , of her em p h a size s the fa c t that sh e

i s typ ica l;

A sm a ll m in o rity , m a in ly s tr a n g e r s , w ould look long a t h er in ca su a lly p a ss in g by, and grow m o m en ta r ily fa sc in a te d by her fr e sh n e s s , and w onder if th ey w ould e v er s e e h er again; but to a lm o st everyb od y sh e w as a fin e and p ic tu resq u e country g ir l, and no m o re . &

H ow ever, even in the beginning she i s som ew h at unusual. ■ She is d i s ­

turbed by the l ife her p a ren ts lead , and c r it ic a l of it; her fa th er sa y s

of h er , " T ess i s queer" (T e s s , p. 37). In other w ord s,, she cannot be

counted upon to a c t a s o th er young g ir ls do. E arly in the n o vel she has

a c er ta in p h y sic a l m atu rity , "a lu xu rian ce of a sp ec t, a fu ln e ss of grow th,

w hich m ade her appear m o re of a w om an than sh e r e a lly w as" (T e s s ,

p. 52) and d is tin g u ish es h er from oth er g ir ls . • A le c D 'U r b e rv ille is

the f ir s t to n o tice th is quality; the f ir s t tim e he s e e s h er he c a lls her

"m y big beauty" (T e s s , p. 50), ech oin g the e a r lie r d e scr ip tio n s of

dark w om en and foresh ad ow in g la ter d e scr ip tio n s of T e s s h e r s e lf a s a

dark lady.

6. T hom as Hardy, T e s s of the D 'U r b e r v ille s (New York, 19.62), p. 23, h e r ea fter c ited as T e s s .

49

H ardy t e l ls the rea d er that T e s s 's e x p e r ie n c e w ith A lec ch an ges

h er . W hen she i s return ing hom e from T ran trid ge, the su n r ise fo r m s

a "yellow lu m in o sity behind h er back" (T e s s , p, 89), p erh a p s echoing

e a r lie r f ie r y im a g es,, and a s sh e looks tow ard h er hom e. H ardy sa y s:

"Since her e y e s la s t f e l l upon it she had lea rn ed that the serp en t h is s e s

w h ere sw ee t b ird s sing , and h er v ie w s of life had been to ta lly changed

for h er by the le s s o n . V e r ily another g ir l than the s im p le one she had

been at hom e w as she who, bow ed by thought, stood s t i l l h e r e , and

turned to look behind her" (T e s s , p, 90),

H ardy's next d escr ip tio n of T e s s , a s sh e w orks in the f ie ld

a fter the b irth of h er child , r e v e a ls the p h y sic a l change. It i s in t e r e s t ­

ing to note that he u se s the sam e tech n iq ue h e did e a r lie r w ith E u sta c ia

and V iv ie tte , of r e v e a lin g h er fu ll beauty s low ly:

T h is m ornin g the ey e tu rn s in v o lu n ta r ily to the g ir l in the pink cotton jack et, sh e being th e m o st flex u o u s and fin e ly drawn fig u re of them a ll . But h er bonnet i s p u lled so far over her brow that none of h er fa ce i s d is c lo s e d w h ile sh e b inds, though h er co m p lex ion m ay be g u e sse d from a s tr a y tw in e or two of dark -b row n h a ir w hich extends below the cu rta in of her bonnet,

■ A t in te r v a ls she stands up to r e s t , and to r e - t ie her d isa rra n g ed apron, or to pu ll h er bonnet s tra ig h t. Then one can s e e the oval fa c e of a h an dsom e young w om an, w ith deep, dark e y e s , and long, heavy, c lin g in g t r e s s e s w hich seem to c la sp in a b e seech in g w ay anything th ey fa ll 'a g a in s t . The ch eek s a re p a ler , the tee th m o re reg u la r , the red lip s thinner than i s u su al in a co u n try -b red g ir l .

It i s T e s s D u rb eyfie ld , o th er w ise D 1 U rb erv ille ,. som ew h at ch a n g ed --th e sa m e , but not the sam e; at the p r e se n t sta g e of h er e x is te n c e liv in g as a s tra n g er and an a lien h ere , though it w as no stran ge land that sh e w as in (T e s s , pp. 104-5),

50

Her looks have so changed that now the eye i s drawn to her

w hen b efo re few w ould pay her s p e c ia l a tten tion . F u rth erm o re , sh e

who w as on ce a happy ru ra l m aid en now fe e ls h e r s e lf an a lie n in her

own v a lle y , - She e x p e r ie n c e s the sa m e iso la t io n which, E u sta c ia , V iv i-

e tte , and a ll the dark la d ies fe e l , T e s s i s a lon e, w h eth er for r e a l or

im a g in a ry r e a so n s : "W alking am ong the s leep in g b ird s in the h ed g es,

w atching the skipping rab b its on a m oon lit w arren , or standing under a

p h ea sa n t-la d en bough, sh e looked upon h e r s e lf a s a f ig u re of Guilt

intruding into the haunts of Innocence" (T e s s , p. 101), • She fe e ls that

she is an o u tsid er , ju st as the other dark la d ies do. And indeed , her

g en tee l a n c e s tr y m ak es her som ew h at d ifferen t from th o se around her

even if h er d eed does not, . In a d e sc r ip t iv e p a ssa g e . H ardy sa y s that

T e ss i s "an a lm o st ty p ica l wom an, " but that som eth in g in h er ch a ra cter

p rev en ts her from being co m p le te ly ty p ica l, from being in co m p lete

a cco rd w ith her environm ent:

It w as a thousand p it ie s , indeed; it w as im p o ss ib le fo r even an enem y to f e e l o th erw ise on looking at T e s s as she sa t th ere , w ith her f lo w e r - lik e m outh and la rg e , tender e y e s , n eith er b lack nor blue nor gra y nor v io le t; ra th er a ll th o se sh ad es togeth er , and a hundred o th ers , w h ich could be se e n if one looked into th eir i r i s e s - - s h a d e behind s h a d e --t in t beyond t in t--ro u n d depths that had no bottom , an a lm o st ty p ica l w om an, but fo r the s lig h t in c a u tio u sn e ss of ch a ra cter in h er ited from h er r a ce (T e s s , pp. 1 0 6 -7 ),

The ex p e r ie n c e w ith .A lec ch an ges T e ss to a dark lady by a l t e r ­

ing her p h y sic a l app earan ce, m aking h er aw are of s e x - - " s h e had le a rn ed

that the serp en t h is s e s w h ere sw eet b ird s sing", by ending her v ir g in ity .

51

and by a lien a tin g her from the com m u nity of ch a r a cter s- L ike a ll the

m ajor dark la d ie s 9 T e s s i s proud and som ew h at m a scu lin e - It .is p r id e

w hich p rev en ts her from respon ding to A le c 's d ec la ra tio n of love and

perh aps sav in g h e r s e lf from the o rd ea l of bearing a ch ild out of w ed lock-

When he a sk s h er i f sh e can ev er love him,, she r e p lie s , "P erhap s, of

a ll th ings, a lie on th is thing w ould do the m o st good to m e now; but I

have enough honor le ft, lit t le a s 't is , not to t e l l that lie - t£ I did lo v e

you I m ay have the b e s t o' ca u ses for le ttin g you know it- But I don't"

(T e ss , p, 93)- T e s s a lso sh a r e s m a sc u lin e c h a r a c te r is t ic s w ith the

other dark la d ies : sh e too f e e ls that d estin y i s h er enem y, not the

peop le around her , and she,, a s a ll m ajor dark la d ie s , a c ts the s o m e ­

w hat unnatural ro le of a g g r e s s o r in a cou rtsh ip w ith a blond man- She

co m es to G lare: he i s liv in g at the d a iry and she co m e s th ere; he i s in

the overgrow n garden and sh e ap p roach es him :

She w en t s te a th ily a s a ca t through th is p ro fu sio n of grow th, gath ering cuckoo - sp itt le on h er s k ir ts , brush ing off sn a ils , that w e r e c lim b in g the a p p le - tr e e s te m s , sta in in g h er hands w ith th is t le -m ilk and s lug - s lim e, and rubbing off upon her naked a r m s stick y b ligh ts that, though sn ow -w h ite on the tr e e -tr u n k s , m ade b lo o d -red s ta in s on her skin; thus she drew quite near to C lare, though s t i l l u n ob served of him (T e s s , p- 143)&

The death of h er ch ild c o m p le te s T e s s 's tr a n s it io n from .

country g ir l to dark lady, fo r it m ak es h er a m a je s t ic fig u re and g iv e s

her the s e n se of traged y that the other dark la d ies sh are- H er b ro th ers

and s i s t e r s r ec o g n iz e the change as th ey w atch her b ap tize the dead

52

child: "She did not look lik e S is s y to them now, but a s a being la rg e ,

tow ering, and aw ful - - a d iv in e p erso n a g e w ith whom th ey had nothing ,in

com m on" (T e s s , p. 112),

T e s s 's languor d iffe r s som ew h at from that of E u sta c ia and

V iv ie tte , for it i s not o v e r tly sex u a l. H ow ever, as T e s s r a l l ie s and

le a v e s the v a lle y again,, she h as r e s ig n e d h e r s e lf to a p a s s iv e , ra th er

dull e x is ten ce : "T here should be no m o re D 'U rb erv ille a ir - c a s t le s in

the d ream s and deeds of h er new l ife . She w ould be d a irym aid T e s s ,

and nothing m ore" ( T e s s , p. 117). • She i s in d ifferen t,, even som ew h at

l i s t l e s s , and h er m ood, though le s s o b v iou sly than th o se of E u stac ia

and V iv ie tte , is one w hich w il l be e a s i ly s t ir r e d to p a ss io n .

Thus, w hen the seco n d s e c t io n of the n ovel en d s, T ess, i s a

dark lady, a d is t in c t ly beau tifu l and tra g ic figu re:

A lm o st at a leap T e s s thus changed from s im p le g ir l to co m p lex w om an. S ym bols of r e f le c t iv e n e s s p a s s e d into her fa ce , and a note of traged y at t im e s in to her v o ic e . H er ey es grew la r g er and m o re eloquent. - She b ecam e w hat w ould have been c a lle d a fin e crea tu re; her a sp e c t w as fa ir and a rrestin g ; h er sou l that of a w om an whom the turbulent e x p e r ie n c e s of the la s t y ea r or two had quite fa ile d to d e m o r a liz e (T e s s , p. 116).

It i s a s such that T e s s le a v e s her hom e fo r the seco n d t im e . . The s to r y

of h er r e a l lo v e d oes not begin until sh e h as b ecom e a dark lady.

THE MAJOR DARK LADIES IN THEIR NOVELS

I

In the d ichotom y w h ich c h a r a c te r iz e s H ardy p lo ts - - a d ichotom y

b a s ic to the th ree n o v e ls under d is c u s s io n h e r e and to a lm o s t a l l of h is

f ic t io n -- th e dark lady i s the fe m a le em bod im ent of th o se who r ev o lt

ag a in st the a ccep ted ord er of th ings and who co n sid er th e m se lv e s

ban ish ed in an unhappy, un sym p ath etic w orld .

. A lthough c r it ic s have not a g r ee d on in terp retin g the a n tith e ses

upon w hich H ardy b a se s h is p lo ts and c h a r a c ter iz a tio n s , th ey have been

quick to poin t them out, a s C hapter Two in d ica ted . O lder c r it ic s

d e sc r ib e them in te r m s su ch a s tra d itio n a l and m odern , p a s to r a l and

urban, in n ocen t and so p h istica ted , and good and e v il. M ore m od ern

c r it ic s a r e le s s quick to lab el the a n t ith e se s , but they, too , r ec o g n iz e

th eir im p o rta n ce . ■ D avid son sa y s that so m e of H ardy's c h a r a c te r s ,

th o se he d e sc r ib e s as m od ern in concep tion , attem p t P rom eth ea n

m an ip u lation s of th e ir w orld in r e b e llio n a g a in st the o r d e re d r itu a l of

th eir l iv e s . * D. H .. L aw ren ce c a lls th e se ch a r a c ter s a r is to c r a ts , and

sa y s that each one i s a ch a ra cter "of d is tin c t being, who m u st act in

h is own p a rticu la r way to fu lf i l l h is own ind iv idu al n a tu re . D een sa y s

lo D avidson , p. 21.

2. - L aw ren ce , p. 49°

. 53

54

that som e of H ardy's c h a r a c ter s a r e ty p ica l of th o se com m on to tw en ti­

eth -cen tu ry fic tio n , ̂ in d iv id u a ls is o la te d in an a lie n w orld .

W hatever th e ir sy m b o lic m eanin g, the a n tith e ses a re c le a r ly

drawn and a r e cen tra l to H ardy's f ic tio n . • In m o st p lo ts , a s has been

sa id in p rev io u s ch a p ters of th is pap er, he u se s two d is tin c t ty p es of

c h a r a c ter s to r e p r e se n t a n tith e tica l m o d es of hum an e x is te n c e , th o se

who a s se n t and a ccom m od ate th e m se lv e s to life w ith i t s in ju s tic e and

m ise r y , and th ose who d isse n t, f e e l out o f p la ce in th e w orld , and r e b e l

a g a in st the natural ord er of th in gs. C o n flicts b etw een the a s s e n te r s ,

u su a lly p a sto ra l, ligh t, sp ir itu a l c h a r a c te r s , and d is s e n te r s , u su a lly

so p h istica ted ,, dark, sen su o u s, p rov id e the b a s is fo r m any of H ardy's

p lo ts .

The dark lady i s , of c o u r se , c en tra l to the a n tith e tica l fo r c e s

w hich H ardy p la y s a g a in st each other in h is p lo ts . . In each of the, th ree

n o v e ls having the dark lady as its m ain ch a ra c ter , sh e i s in lo v e w ith a

m em b er of the a n tith e tica l ord er of c h a r a c te r s , and in each of th ese

n o v e ls the op p osite m od es of hum an e x is te n c e w hich each p e r so n if ie s

a re brought into sharp c o n tra st. The b a s ic d ifferen ce betw een the

lo v e r s accou n ts for the a ctio n of the p lo ts .

. E ach n ovel t e l l s a d ifferen t sto ry , but the c a u se s fo r the ev en ts

a r e in each c a se the sa m e . The dark lady i s at odds w ith h er en viron m en t

3. B een , p. 219°

55J

and w il l not change h e r s e lf in ord er to su rv iv e; her lig h ter , m o re c o n ­

v en tio n a l lo v er m ay not fin d the u n iv er se ju st, but he i s w illin g to adapt

h im se lf to it . T h is i s tru e of E u sta e ia and CLym, of V iv ie tte and

Swithin, and of T e s s and A n g e l. In each: c a s e th eir m a r r ia g e r e p r e ­

sen ts the w edding of two a n tith e tica l fo r c e s and lik e the o th er c h a r a c ­

t e r s , the ligh t m an cannot com prehend h is dark w ife . T h is i s what

doom s each cou p le .

The d iffe re n c e s betw een the lo v e r s r e su lt ih p a r a lle l s itu a tio n s ,t

even ts; and m o tifs in each of the th ree n o v e ls . Both c h a r a c te r s f e e l

that nature i s u n sym path etic to th em , but the m an is w illin g to tem p er

h im se lf to i t s dem ands, can even find contentm en t in doing so , w h ile

h is darker p artn er i s unw illing to change, d eterm in ed to a c t accord in g

to h er own n ature. T h ese c h a r a c te r is t ic s a r e m a n ife sted in the p lo ts

in two p r in c ip a l w a y s . . F ir s t , each m an i s l e s s sen su a l than h is w ife ,

le s s a v is io n a r y r eb e l, and m o re p r a c tic a l. He can ig n o r e h is sen su a l

d e s ir e or channel it in to in te lle c tu a l developm ent, but sh e r e fu se s e ith er

to su b lim ate or to ig n o re h e r s . H ardy t e l ls the rea d er that each w om an

i s e s s e n t ia l ly p a ss io n a te , a s the la s t chapter poin ted out. He a lso ite lls

the rea d er that the m en a re le s s p a ss io n a te than th eir w iv e s , le s s than

w h olly devoted; Clym ,. Sw ithin, and A n gel a ll have in te r e s t s ou tsid e

th e ir lo v e . C lym i s the le a s t c r it ic iz e d of the th ree , but he a c c u se s

h im se lf of k illin g E u sta e ia by speaking " cru el w ord s to h er , " and by

not in v itin g "her back t i l l it w as too late" (R eturn, p.. 430). He

r e c o g n iz e s that h is love i s not a s stron g a s E u stac ia 's,, - N e ith er i s

Swithin'S; and Hardy t e l ls the rea d er that he i s not w orthy of V iv ie tte :

"In truth9 he w as not only too young in y e a r s , but too l ite r a l, d irec t,

and u n com p rom isin g in nature to un derstan d such a w om an a s Lady

/C onstantine; and she su ffered for that lim ita tio n in h im . „ . . " (T ow er,

p. 293)o Hardy*s co m m en ts on;A ngel C lare a r e m o re d irect: "Som e

m ight r isk the odd paradox that w ith m o re a n im a lism he w ould have

been the nob ler m an. W e do not say it . Y et C la r e 's lo v e w as e th erea l

to a fau lt, im a g in a tiv e to im p ra c tica b ility " (T e s s , p. 276). . Both the

m en .an d the w om en e x p e r ie n c e p a ss io n a te love , but the m en can find

m uted h ap p in ess in in te l le c tu a l d evelop m en t w h ile the w o m en 's only

h ap p in ess i s lo v e . The w om en a r e m o tiv a ted by th eir love; a ll e l s e i s

seco n d a ry . . E u sta c ia t e l ls C lym : "Don't m ista k e m e,. C lym . . . . I

lo v e you fo r y o u r se lf a lo n e . . . . . I w ould rather liv e w ith you in a

h erm ita g e h ere than not be you rs at a ll" "(R eturn, p. 227). A nd H ardy

sa y s of V iv ie tte , "To love St. C leve so fa r b etter than h e r s e lf a s th is

w as to su r p a ss the love of w om en a s con ven tion a lly u n derstood , and

m o stly ex istin g " (T ow er , p . 258). T e s s 's devotion to A n g e l is broken

only w hen he se e m s to have u tter ly fo r sa k en her, and s t i l l sh e lo v es

h im . At the end of the n ovel A n gel r e a l iz e s that "the stren gth of her

a ffec tio n for h im se lf . „ . had app aren tly ex tin gu ish ed h er m o ra l s e n se

a ltogeth er" (T e s s , p. 443). The dark la d y 's love n ever en d s. It i s only

w hen the m an 's love w eak en s that tra g ed y o ccu rs and the w om an d ie s .

57

The lover s ^ a n tith e tica l n atu res a r e shown in a seco n d w ay:

each m an is w illin g to su b m erge h is in d iv id u a lity , and each w om an has

a stron g s e n se of her im p o rta n ce as a s in g le being. T h is s e n se of

p erso n a l im p ortan ce i s m a n ife sted in the p lo ts in th ree w a y s: each

dark lady i s sep a ra ted from the other c h a r a c te r s both by her own

ch o ice and by th e ir r e a c tio n s to her; ea ch i s a s so c ia te d w ith su p e r ­

natural fo r c e s and so i s not a natural p art of the p a s to r a l setting; and

each i s proud and w ill not c o m p r o m ise h er p e r so n a l d ign ity in order to

s a t is fy the dem ands of hum an e x is te n c e .

In the th ree n o v e ls H ardy r e v e a ls th e w om an ’s s in g u la r ity by

m aking the m an one w ith the other c h a r a c te r s , a lthough he m ay be

m o re in te llig en t and s e n s it iv e than th ey a re , and by m aking the w om an

a lien a ted from them and th e ir so c ie ty . E ach dark lady f e e ls that she

i s sep a ra ted from the other c h a r a c te r s , and they r e c o g n iz e that sh e i s

not lik e th em . A s the la s t chapter in d ica ted , each dark lady p r id es

h e r s e lf on not being lik e the o th er s , - E ach m an, h o w ev er , i s p art of

th e com m u nity of c h a r a c te r s , i s b a s ic a lly hum ble, and i s w illin g to g iv e

up h is in d iv id u a lity , • In The R eturn of the N ative, H ardy draw s th is c o n ­

tr a s t c le a r ly . He t e l ls the rea d er that C lym is one w ith h is en v iro n ­

m en t--" C ly m had been so inw oven w ith the heath in h is boyhood that

h ard ly anybody cou ld look upon it w ithout thinking o f him " (R eturn,

p, 1 9 0 )--a n d that he i s lik ed by and lik e s h is n eigh b ors:

58

Y eobright lo ved M s kind. He had a co n v ic tio n that the want of m o st m en w a s the know ledge of a so r t to r a is e the c la s s at the exp en se of in d iv id u a ls , , , , What w as m o re , he w as read y at on ce to be the f ir s t unit s a c r if ie d (R eturn, p. 194),

Som e tw enty p ages la ter E u sta c ia t e l ls C lym , "I have not m uch love for

m y fe llo w c r e a tu r e s , - S o m etim es I quite hate them " (R eturn, p, 211),

H ardy in d ica te s the dark lad y 's s in g u la r ity in a seco n d w ay. He

a s s o c ia te s h er w ith w itch cra ft. O r ig in a lly H ardy p lanned to m ake

E u sta c ia a w itch and even in the n o v e l's fin a l form , he h as the other

c h a r a c ter s h a lf -b e lie v e that sh e i s one.

E u sta c ia fe e d s th e ir fe a r by open ly d esp is in g "the s o c ia l and

m o ra l stan d ard s of Egdon, " and by d isdaim ng w hat sh e s e e s as th e ir

"stupid and dull outlook on. l ife . " She ev en som ew h at en joys the rep u ta ­

tion of having unusual p o w ers, for sh e b o a sts to W ild eve that she drew

him " a cro ss the heath to h er f ir e . . . m e r e ly to tr ium ph over him a s

the W itch of Endor c a lle d up Sam uel.

Susan N unsuch i s the m o st v eh em en t b e lie v e r in E u sta c ia 's

being a w itch , and h er b e lie f i s e s s e n t ia l to both the tone of the n ovel

and its p lot, for w hen Susan p r ick s E u sta c ia , C lym f ir s t lea rn s the

id en tity of the dark knight and g o es to help r e tr ie v e the w e ll bucket and

to m e e t E u sta c ia . S u san 's fea r p rom p ts the look sh e g iv e s Clym w hen

he v is i t s h er a fter M s m o th er 's death, and that look lea d s to h is

4. . Ruth F ir o r , F o lk w ays in T hom as H ardy (New York, 1931),p. 84.

59

tem p o ra ry a ccep ta n ce of the oth er c h a r a c te r s ' v iew of E u sta c ia . In

th e ir q u arre l, w hich im m ed ia te ly fo llo w s h is v is i t to Susan, Clym

e x p r e s s e s h u m anity 's h o rro r at the unnatural and. the a s s e n te r 's fea r

of the d issen tero . He co m p a res h is w ife to a d ev il (R eturn, p, 371) and

w arns h er not to "bewitch" him again (R eturn, p. 373). • S u san 's fea r

of E u sta c ia and the im a g e sh e m e lts in the f ir e seem to be in part

resp o n s ib le for her death, too, for as Susan s tic k s the im a g e fu ll of

pin s and m e lts it , E u sta c ia g o es to m eet W ild eve whom sh e d e sp ise s

and m is s e s the le tte r from C lym that m igh t p rev en t h er death. ̂ The

w itch m otif i s c en tr a l to The R eturn of the N ative .

H ardy show s the dark lad y 's s in g u la r ity in a th ird w ay. • A s

the la s t chapter poin ted out, each dark lady i s a proud w om an. T his

p rid e i s H ardy's w ay of ren d erin g h er s e n se of ind iv idu al d ign ity through

her p e r so n a lity . . The dark lady w ill not c o m p r o m ise h er own s e n se of

what life should be in ord er to su rv iv e in life as it i s .

• E u sta c ia w ill not s a c r if ic e her d ign ity to the dem ands of life

on the heath . C lym , on the other hand, i s hum ble and fin ds sa tis fa c tio n

in becom in g p art of the heath a s he w ork s as a fu r z e -c u tte r . Her p r id e ,

f ir s t r e v e a le d in the "Queen of Night" ch ap ter, com bin ed w ith C lym 's

hu m ility , r e v e a le d again and again throughout the novel, i s e s s e n t ia l to

the actio n of the p lot and to th e lo v e r s ' even tual tra g ic e stra n g em en t.

5. Ib id ., p. 90.

60

When..CLym's b lin d n ess p rev en ts him from studying, he b eco m es a

fu r z e -c u tte r a g a in st E u sta c ia 's w is h e s . She v is i t s him at w ork one

day and o v erh ea rs him sin g in g . The r e a liz a tio n that he can enjoy w ork

w hich she fin ds so dem eaning both b ew ild ers and a n g ers her: "Even

had you fe lt c a r e le s s about your own a fflic tio n , you m igh t have r e fra in ed

from singin g out of sh e e r p ity for m in e . God I if .I w ere a m an in such

a p o s itio n I w ould cu rsd ra th er than sin g I" (R eturn, p. 289).

Clym cannot understand that h er m o r tif ica tio n i s m o re than

fo o lish p r id e , and he s e e m s blind to the fa c t that h is d estru c tio n of h er

dignity i s one r e a so n h er m anner b e c o m e s " a lm ost apathetic" and her

e y es take on th e " forlorn look" w hich a cco rd in g to H ardy, "whether she

d e ser v e d it or not, w ould have e x c ited p ity in th e b r e a st of any one who

had known h er during the fu ll flu sh of h er love for Clym " (R eturn, p.

290). E u sta c ia r e a l iz e s that th e ir lo v e , h er only r e a so n for e x is te n c e ,

i s being d estro y ed . T his r e a liz a tio n to g eth er w ith h er offended dign ity

p rom p ts her to attend the country dance w h ere sh e m e e ts W ild eve,

dan ces w ith him , and r e v iv e s h is love for h e r . H is ren ew ed love lead s

W ildeve to v is i t E u sta c ia , settin g up the s itu a tion in w hich M rs.

Y eobright v i s i t s E u sta c ia , is not ad m itted , and d ie s on the heath. H er

death, togeth er w ith Susan N un su ch 's a ccu sa tio n of E u sta c ia , lea d s to

the n o v e l's c lim a c tic scen e , G lym 's a ccu sa tio n of E u sta c ia . H ere C lym

stands w ith the other ch a r a c ter s a g a in st h is dark lady.

61

A fter M s v is i t to Susan Nunsuch, Clym con fronts E u sta c ia and

a c c u se s h er of having been ad u lterou s, of d estro y in g th e ir h ap p in ess,

and of being p e r v e r s e ly d e v ilish and cruel® In tM s sc e n e H ardy r e v e a ls

again the a n tith e se s m a n ife s ted in th e ir p e r so n a lit ie s . C lym a c c u se s

E u sta c ia and dem ands that sh e c o n fe ss to h im , but h er stro n g s e n se of

dign ity w ill not a llow her to defend herself® Clym sa y s to her:

" o ® o You have h e ld m y h ap p in ess in the hollow of your hand, and lik e a d ev il you have dashed it downE

"You shut the door-t-you looked out of the window upon h e r - -y o u had a m an in the h ou se w ith y o u --y o u sen t her aw ay to die® The inhum anity - - the trea ch ery --! w ill not touch y o u --s ta n d aw ay from m e --a n d c o n fe s s ev ery w o r d l11

"N ever I I 'll hold m y tongue lik e the v e r y death that I don't m ind m eetin g , ev en though-1 can c lea r m y s e lf of half you b e lie v e by sp eak in g . Y es, I will!! Who of any d ign ity w ould take the trou b le to c le a r cobw ebs from a w ild m an 's m ind a fter such language as tM s ? No, le t him go oh, and think M s narrow thoughts, and run M s head into th e m ir e .I have other c a re s" (R eturn, pp. 3 7 0 -1 ) .

He dem ands that sh e show him her le t te r s and a c c u se s h er , say in g:

"I sh a ll no doubt be g r a tif ie d by learn in g in good tim e w hat a w e ll- f in is h e d and fu ll-b lo w n adept in a c er ta in trad e m y lady i s . "

"Do you say it to m e - -d o you. " sh e gasp ed (R eturn, pp. 2 7 2 -3 ) ,

L ater he w arn s:

"Don't look at m e w ith th o se e y e s as if you w ould bew itch m e aga in ! Sooner than that I d ie . You r e fu se to a n sw er . "

"I w ouldn't t e l l you a fter th is , if I w ere as in n ocen t as the sw e e te s t babe in h e a v e n !"

62

"Which you are. not, "

"C erta in ly I am not a b so lu te ly 9 " she rep lied . "I have not done what y o u su p p ose , <,<, <> But I req u ire no help from your co n sc ien ce" (R eturn, p. 373).

She w ill ren ounce h is love rath er than a ccep t h is pity:

" o o o Instead of hating you. I could , I think, m ou rn for and p ity you, i f you w e re co n tr ite , and w ould c o n fe ss a lh F o r ­g iv e you .I n ever can. « . o "

"Say no m o re . . I w ill do w ithout your p ity . But I w ould have sa v ed you from utterin g w hat you w ill reg ret" (R eturn, p. 373).

. In the end Clym s id e s w ith the a s s e n te r s , and E u s ta c ia 1 s sp ir it b reak s

a s she g iv e s up her love and b e c o m e s p a s s iv e . . Y et even then she r e b e ls

a g a in st the so lid a r ity of nature and so c ie ty , and s t i l l sh e a c c u se s it:

"You ex a g g era te fe a r fu lly , " sh e sa id in a fa in t, w ea ry v o ice ; "but I cannot en ter into m y own d e fe n c e - - i t i s not w orth doing. You a re nothing to m e in the fu ture, and the p a st s id e of the s to r y m ay a s w e ll r em a in untold. . I have lo s t a ll through you, but I have not com p la in ed . Your b lunders and m isfo r tu n es m ay have been a sorrow to you, but th ey have been a w rong to m e . "

"I don't know what you m ean by that. Am I the ca u se of your s in ? " (E ustacia . m ade a trembling" m otion tow ard s him . )

(x "What, you can b eg in to sh ed te a r s and o ffer m e your hand?Good G odl can you ? No, not I. I 'l l not co m m it the fau lt of taking that. . . . How bew itch ed I w as I How cou ld th ere be any good in a w om an that everybod y spoke i l l o f ? "

"O, O, O!" sh e c r ied , breaking down at la st; and, sh ak ­ing w ith sob s w hich choked h er , sh e sank upon h er k n ee s ."Q, w ill you have done I O, you. a r e too r e le n t le s s - - t h e r e 's a lim it to the cru e lty of sa v a g es E I have h eld out long--b u t. you cru sh m e down. I beg for m e r c y - - ! cannot b ear th is any lo n g e r - - i t i s inhum an to go fu rth er w ith th is I " / i t a l ic s m in e /(R eturn, pp. 3 7 4 -5 ).

63

Clym has s id ed w ith the fo r c e s of the u n iv er se a g a in st E u sta c ia the

ind iv idual, and w ith them h e has doom ed h e r . H ow ever, sh e does not

succum b; h ers i s the fin a l act, fo r it i s sh e , not C lym who lea v es:

" T ell a ll, and I w ill p ity you. W as the m an in the hou se w ith you W ildeve ? 11

"I cannot te ll , " sh e sa id d e sp e ra te ly through h er sobbing, "Don't in s is t fu r t h e r - - ! cannot te l l , I am going from th is h o u se . We cannot both sta y h ere , "

O O O 1* 0 O o 0 - 0 o o o

"V ery w e l l - - l e t it be. And w hen you w ill c o n fe s s to the m an I m ay p ity you, "

She flung h er shaw l about h er and w ent d o w n sta irs , le a v ­ing him standing in the room (R eturn, pp» 3 7 5 -6 ) ,

So th e ir lo v e ends as E u sta c ia knew that it m u st, in tra g ed y ,

H ardy's m ethod of e sta b lish in g the a n tith e se s i s quite d ir e c t

in The R eturn of the N ative , but in Two on a T ow er, a n o vel m uch

w eak er in con cep tion and execu tio n than the o th er two n o v e ls under

d isc u ss io n h e r e , h is m ethod i s a bit m o re su b tle . L ike C lym , Sw ithin

is the dark la d y 's o p p osite . He i s "a p a le -h a ir e d s c ie n t is t" whom the

v il la g e r s co n sid er som ew h at p ecu lia r , but who is p art of, th eir so c ie ty .

A lthough V iv ie tte d oes not hate the v i l la g e r s as E u sta c ia did, sh e d oes

fe e l h e r s e lf to be d is tin c t from th em .

In th is n ovel the su p ern atu ra l m o tif i s l e s s im p ortant, but it

rem a in s p r e se n t in c er ta in im a g e s and in the g e n e ra l action of the p lot,

V iv ie tte i s d is tr u s te d by the v i l la g e r s , who cannot u n derstan d her

64

habitual l i s t le s s n .e s s and c a ll her "onnatural" (T ow er, p0 18). ■ When

the r u s t ic s d is c u s s h er m ee tin g s w ith Sw ithin on the to w er, they say ,

!'!£ they g et up in th is tow er ru lin g p lan nards togeth er m u ch lon ger,

th eir p lannards w ill ru le them to g eth er , in m y w ay of thinking" (T ow er,

p. 97). A s Ruth F ir o r p o in ts out, the p h ra se "ruling the p lan ets" is

often u sed to r e fe r to p eo p le w ith unusual know ledge and p ow er, to a

kind of w iza rd ry (p. 101). F u rth erm o re , in the e a r ly p a rts of the n o v e l

V iv ie tte , the o ld er wom an, s e e m s to look down on the in n ocen t Swithin

: w ith e v il in ten tio n s, lik e a p rey in g a n im a l. And in fa c t sh e does b ew itch

him fig u ra tiv e ly by m aking him fa ll in lo v e w ith h er . When Sw ithin s e e s

V iv ie tte a fter h is lo n g .a b sen ce he f e e ls a s C lym and A n g e l do, that h is

dark lady i s "another w om an . . . not the o r ig in a l V iv ie tte" (T ow er,

p. 310), and that he w as tr ick ed into lov in g h er .

It i s V iv ie t te 1 s p r id e and her p a ss io n a te lo v e , com bin ed w ith

, Sw ith in1 s con ven tion a lity , w h ich p rev en ts th e ir love from la stin g . W hen

■Swithin u rg es V iv ie tte to announce th e ir m a rr ia g e , sh e r e fu se s :

She sooth ed him ten d er ly , but cou ld not t e l l h im w hy she fe lt the r ea so n s a g a in st any announcem ent a s y e t to be stron ger than th o se in favour of it . How cou ld sh e , w hen h er fe e lin g had been ca u tio u sly fed by her b roth er L o u is 's u n varn ish ed exh ib ition of S w ith in 1 s m a ter ia l p o s it io n in the e y e s o f the w o rld ? - -th at of a young m an, the sc io n of a fa m ily of fa r m e r s r e c e n tly her ten an ts. . . (T ow er, pp. 2 1 4 -5 ).

P r id e p rev en ts h er from announcing th e ir m a r r ia g e and fro m m a rry in g

Sw ithin again w hen he a sk s her to a fter th ey d isc o v er that their, o r ig in a l

m a rr ia g e w as not v a lid .

65

The c lim a x of Two ou a T ow er d if fe r s from that of The R eturn

of the N ative and is w eak er than it, for V iv ie tte m e r e ly sen d s Sw ithin

aw ay. H ow ever, th e group of s c e n e s w h ich lead to th e ir co m p lete

estra n g em en t ech o es the q u arre l scen e in The R eturn of the N ative.

P r id e and strong love prom p t V iv ie tte to sen d him away, and sh o rtly

a fter he le a v e s she d is c o v e r s that sh e i s pregnant. - She attem p ts to c a ll

him back, but cannot find h im . Her d ilem m a is ca u sed by h er love and

p rid e and by Sw ith in1 s h e s ita n c e , h is w ea k n ess a s a lo v er w h ich p rev en ts

him from announcing th e ir m a r r ia g e h im se lf and a llo w s him to lea v e

V iv ie tte . H ardy in d ic a te s that a l it t le m o re p e r s is te n c e from Sw ithin

w ould have m ade V iv ie tte y ie ld . . It i s the com bin ation of th eir a n ti­

th e t ica l p e r so n a lit ie s w h ich lea d s to th eir tra g ic estra n g em en t, for

w h en V iv ie tte cannot find Swithin, sh e g iv e s up her hope for h ap p in ess,i

ju st a s did E u sta c ia . H ardy's d e scr ip tio n of her sta te of m ind as the

bishop c o m es to p ro p o se to her e ch o es the e a r lie r d e scr ip tio n s of the

te m p o ra r ily broken E u sta c ia : 11 . . . . by the afternoon sh e w as ap ath etic ,

lik e a w om an who n e ith er hoped nor feared " (T ow er, p. 289)° - She too

s e e s the u n iv erse a s having put h er in an im p o ss ib le s itu a tion w hich

fo r c e s h er to b etray her lo v er , and sh e le ts her b roth er m ake d e c is io n s

for h er , p a s s iv e ly a ccep tin g the dem ands of convention he r ep ea ts to

h er: "It /m a r r y in g /th e b ish o p / in v o lv ed a g rea t w rong, w h ich to h er had

quite o b scu red it s fe a s ib il ity . But sh e p e r c e iv e d now that it w as in d eed

a w ay. - C onvention w as fo rc in g her hand at th is gam e" (T ow er, p. 290),

She r e c o g n iz e s that w hat sh e i s doing i s w rong, y e t sh e succu m b s

tem p o ra r ily to the dem ands of e x is te n c e . ̂ A fter she has co n sen ted to

m a rry him , the b ishop t e l l s h er broth er: "Sheer w e a r in e s s and d is ­

tra ctio n have d riven her to m e . • She w as quite p a s s iv e at la s t , and

a g reed to anything I p r o p o s e d - - 11 (T ow er , p. 291). V iv ie tte d oes not

want to m a rry the b ishop any m o re than E u sta c ia w ants to co n sp ire w ith

W ildeve; h ow ever, Sw ithin and C lym lea v e th e ir dark la d ies no c h o ic e .

Sw ithin i s w illin g to abandon th e ir lo v e tem p o ra r ily and, although sh e

i s s t i l l d eep ly in love w ith h im , V iv ie tte i s fo r c ed to a c t a s though she

no longer lo v e s him and to m a rry an other. . E u sta c ia cannot endure the

heath w ithout C lym , so she a g r e e s to m e e t W ildeve w hom she r e c o g ­

n iz e s a s unworthy of her; V iv ie tte , w eak en ed by Sw ith in 's a b sen ce ,

cannot r e s i s t L o m s's in flu en ce , so she a g r e e s to m a rry the B ish op of

M elc h e ste r whom she d oes not lo v e . E ach w om an h ates w hat she m u st

do, but sh e r e a liz e s that th ere is no lon ger hope fo r h a p p in ess, and so

p a s s iv e ly a c ce p ts the so lu tion another m an o ffe r s .

The fin a l scen e of Two on a T ow er ech o es E u sta c ia and C ly m 's

q u arre l s c e n e c lo s e ly , although it i s m uch le s s c o m p le te . In it , Sw ithin

v is i t s V iv ie tte on the tow er a fter not having see n h er fo r f iv e y e a r s . It

i s a s though he is looking at another w om an:

6. Two on a T ow er i s , of c o u r se , one of H ardy's w eak er n o v e ls , and I w ould lik e to b e lie v e that it i s a la p se in a r t is t ic v is io n w hich le ts him sa y of V iv ie tte , "C onvention w as fo rc in g her hand at th is gam e; and to w hat w ill not con ven tion co m p el h er w eak er v ic t im s in e x tr e m e s? "(p.. 290).

67

o o o He w as sh ock ed a t h er w orn and faded a sp e c t . The im a g e he had m en ta lly c a r r ie d out w ith him to the Gape he had brought hom e a g a in .a s that of the w om an he w a s nowtto rejo in . But another w om an sa t b e fo re him , and not the o r ig in a l V iv ie tte (T ow er, p. 310).

L ike C lym , Sw ithin s e e s V iv ie tte a s the other c h a r a c ter s do, and Hardy

points out that b eca u se Sw ithin i s one w ith the c ru e l n atural law s he

stu d ies he cannot at f ir s t s e e that V iv ie tte s t i l l lo v e s h im . And lik e

E u stac ia , V iv ie tte proudly r e fu se s to defend h e r s e lf . She even

e x a g g era te s the te n -y e a r d ifferen ce in th e ir a g es:

Sw ithin ca m e forw ard , and took h er by the hand, w hich sh e p a s s iv e ly a llo w ed him to do.

‘Sw ithin, you don't lo v e m e, ‘ she sa id s im p ly .

'O V iv ie tte £'

'You don't love m e, ' she rep ea ted .

'D on't sa y i t ! 1

'Y es, but I w il l! You have, a r igh t not to love m e . You did o n ce . But now I am an old wom an, and y o u 'a re s t i l l a young man; so how can you love m e ? I do not ex p ect it . . » .You. s c a r c e ly knew m e for the s a m e -wom an, did you?

'Knew y o u - -y e s , of c o u r se I knew y o u ! '

'You look ed a s if you did not. . But you m u st not be su r p r ise d at m e . ■ I belong to an e a r lie r g en era tion than you, r em em b er . '

Thus, in .s h e e r b it te r n e ss of s p ir it did she in f lic t wounds on h e r s e lf by ex a ggera tin g the d iffe re n c e in th e ir y e a r s . . . .

'I sh a ll be g lad to know through your grandm other how you a r e gettin g on, ' sh e sa id m eek ly . 'But now I w ould rather that w e p art. G ood -b ye. 1

68

H ardly knowing what he did he touched her hand and obeyed . He w as a s c ie n t is t , and took w ords l it e r a lly .T h ere i s som eth in g in the in ex o ra b ly s im p le lo g ic o f such m en w hich p artak es of the cru e lty of the natural la w s w hich a re th e ir study. He en tered the to w e r -s te p s and m ech a n ica lly d escen d ed . . . ( T ow er, pp. 3 1 1 -2 ) .

L ike the other ligh t m en, Sw ithin turns from h is dark lady in

the m om en t of c r i s i s . A nd lik e the dark la d ie s , V iv ie tte m ak es the

fin a l act: sh e sen d s Sw ithin aw ay. - So, in th is s c e n e w hich i s both

sh o rter and le s s sa t is fa c to r y than the fin e one in w hich Clym and

E u sta c ia sep a ra te , the ev en ts and m o tiv e s a r e g e n e ra lly p a r a lle l.

Sw ithin r e a c ts w ith d isd a in to V iviettey standing on the s id e of the

a s s en ters a g a in st her; and she does not defend h e r se lf , but m ak es the

b reach co m p le te . The end of th e ir lo y e i s tra g ic a s V iv ie tte , lik e

E u sta c ia , knew that it m u st be.

The a n tith e se s b etw een the dark lady and her ligh t m an a re

e sta b lish e d w ith the m o st su b tlety in T e s s of the D 'U r b e r v ille s . . T e s s 's

fe e lin g of iso la t io n from the oth er r u ra l ch a r a c ter s and from the natural

phenom ena around her w as poin ted out in the la s t ch ap ter . • A n g e l's

grow ing s e n se of unity both w ith the o th er c h a r a c ter s and w ith nature

i s r e v e a le d w hen H ardy d e sc r ib e s h is " rea l delight" in being a com panion

to the d airy fo lk (T e s s , p. 137) and h is grow ing know led ge of the country:

He m ade c lo s e acq u ain tan ce w ith phenom ena w h ich he had . b efo re known but d a r k ly --th e s e a so n s in th eir m ood s, m orning and even in g , night and noon in th e ir tem p era m en ts , w inds in th eir s e v e r a l d isp o s it io n s , t r e e s , w a te r s and c lo u d s, sh ad es and s i le n c e s , ig n e s - fa tu i, c o n s te lla t io n s , and the v o ic e s of in an im ate th ings (T e s s , p. 128).

A n g el m ay seem to be sep a ra ted from the l i f e at T a lb oth ay's dairy, but

he fe e ls h im se lf b ecom in g a p art of it , w h ile T e s s , who s e e m s united

w ith the p a s to r a l life ,, f e e ls that she is sep a ra ted from it . What

sep a ra tes h er from the o th ers i s what a lie n a te s ev er y dark lady from

the ch a r a c ter s around h er , h er sex u a l ex p e r ie n c e and h er stron g s e n se

of ind iv idu al d ign ity . H ardy d e s c r ib e s T e s s as fe e lin g lik e "a fig u re of

G uilt intruding into the haunts of Innocence" (T e ss , p. 101) and sa y s

that at T alboth ay's sh e know s " h e r se lf to be m o re im p a ss io n e d in

n ature, c le v e r e r , m o re beautiful" than the other d a iry m a id s (T e s s ,

p. 170),

T h ere a r e ech o es of w itch lo re in T e s s of the D 'U r b e rv ille s ,

too, and T e s s i s a s so c ia te d w ith w itch cra ft a s E u sta c ia and V iv ie tte

w e r e . In the g en era l a c tion of the th ird , fourth, and fifth se c t io n s of

the n ovel, T e s s p la y s the ro le of dem on or w itch . She i s a dark

. s tran ger who d escen d s into the id y llic v a lle y and in it ia te s a s e r ie s of

m isfo r tu n e s . Two ev en ts h ave sp e c if ic o v erto n es of w itch cra ft. Sh ortly

a fter T e s s a r r iv e s at the dairy , the cow s r e fu se to g iv e th eir m ilk , and

the d a iry fo lk b lam e the p r e se n c e of the n ew com er for i t . D airym an

; C rick la ter c o n s id e rs con su ltin g a conju ror for the f ir s t tim e in y e a r s

w hen the butter w ill not com e b eca u se of T e s s and C la r e 's lo v e . And

w hen the dark s tra n g er le a v e s the v a lle y sh e le a v e s m isfo r tu n e behind:

the d a irym aid s a r e ru ined and the da iry i s no longer p r o sp e ro u s . Then,

w hen T e s s t e l ls C la re of her p a st, he lik e the other ligh t m en, a c c u s e s

70

her of tr ic k e ry , standing w ith the other c h a r a c ter s a g a in st h er and

see in g h er, m o m en ta r ily , a s they d o - -a s a fien d ish and inhum an being.

T e s s 's in ten se love , com bin ed w ith her r e fu sa l to co m p ro m ise

her v is io n of life , c a u se s her traged y . • She i s p r o u d --s h e know s that

she is m o re p a ss io n a te , m o re s e n s it iv e , and m ore in te llig e n t than the

other d a ir y m a id s--a n d she i s d eep ly in love w ith C la re . . The two fo r c e s ,

her love and her p r id e , b eco m e one. In h er love for C lare , T e ss can

s e e no w rong in what he does to h er . ■ When, she t e l ls him about h er p a st

and he r e fu se s to fo r g iv e h er , she d oes not q u estion h is d e c is io n .

The ev en ts w h ich bring about th e ir f ir s t sep a ra tio n cover

s e v e r a l d ays. In the sce n e w hich in it ia te s th e c r is i s , Tefes t e l ls C lare

about A le c . He i s shocked , fe e ls that sh e i s no longer the sam e

w om an,, and c a lls her a tr ic k s te r . C lare judges her a s the other

ch a r a c ter s w ould.

. T e s s a sk s:

"In the nam e of our lo v e , fo r g iv e m e . "

"Q T e s s , fo r g iv e n e ss d oes not apply to the c a s e ! You w ere one p erson ; now you a r e a p oth er. My G od --h ow can fo r g iv e n e ss m ee t such a g r o te sq u e --p r e s t id ig ita t io n as that!"

o O O 0 - 0 0 0 o o o o o

"O, how can it be that you look and speak so ? It fr ig h ten s m e ! Having begun to lo v e 'e e , I love 'ee fo r e v e r - - in a l l ch an ges, in a ll d isg r a c e s , b eca u se you a re y o u r se lf .I a sk no m o r e . Then how can you, O m y own Husband, stop lov ing m e ? "

"I rep ea t, the w om an I have been loving i s not you. "

71

"But who ? "

"Another w om an in your shape" (T e s s , pp0 258-9)°

T e s s , lik e the other dark la d ie s , i s sh ock ed and te m p o ra r ily broken by

h is b etra y a l. H ardy d e sc r ib e s her m uch a s he did E u sta c ia and

V iv ie tte :

She p e r c e iv e d in h is w ords the r e a liz a tio n of h er own a p p reh en siv e foreb od in g in fo r m e r t im e s . He looked upon h er a s a sp e c ie s of im p o ster ; a gu ilty w om an in the g u ise of an in n ocen t one. T erro r w as upon h er w h ite fa c e a s sh e saw it; h er ch eek w as fla c c id , h er m outh had a lm o st the a sp e c t of a round lit t le h o le . The h o rr ib le s e n s e of h is v iew of her so deadened her ap p earan ce that he step p ed forw ard , thinking.

. sh e w as going to fa ll (T e s s , p. 259).°

When T e s s r e a l iz e s that C lare d oes not want her. lo v e , sh e

t e l ls him that she w ill go h om e. • L ike the other two m ajor dark la d ie s ,

she m ak es the a ct of sep a ra tio n . . H ardy sa y s that "a woman, of the

w o rld m ight have conqu ered him . . . /C la r e , through h i s / back

cu rren t of sym pathy" (T e s s , p. 272). T e s s , h ow ever, i s not a w om an

of the w orld . She does not even co n s id er m aking such attem pt b eca u se

she w ill not take n orm al m e a su r e s to keep her husband, for she i s not

a norm al w om an and she does not b e lie v e that C la re can be w rong about

h er . A s a r e su lt , sh e r e fu se s even to q u estion h is a c tio n s and a ll but

su ffo ca tes h er own d ign ity in h er in te n se devotion to h er v is io n of .C lare

as g o d -lik e :

. . .- She took ev ery th in g ,a s her d e s s e r t s , and h ard ly opened h er m outh. The f ir m n e ss of h er devotion to him w as in d eed a lm o st p itifu l; q u ick -tem p ered as she n atu ra lly w a s, nothing

72

that he cou ld say m ade her u n seem ly; sh e sought not her own; w as not provoked; thought no ev il o f h is trea tm en t of her" (T e s s s pp., 2 7 2 -3 ) .

W hen her m oth er, r e p r e se n ta tiv e of ty p ica l, p ragm atic hum anity, ch id es

T e s s for lea v in g C lare, T e ss sa y s that sh e does not r e g r e t the d e c is io n

and te l ls h er m oth er, "I could not help it; he w as so g o o d --a n d I fe lt

the w ick ed n ess of try in g to blind him a s to what had happened! I £ - - i f - -

it w e re to be done a g a in - - ! should do the sa m e . I could n o t - - ! dared

n o t - - to s i n - -a g a in st h im f" (T e s s , p. 289)= The i ta l ic s a r e m ine, and

the p h ra se "to sin" in d ic a te s the nature of T e s s 's a ttitu d e tow ard C lare,

whom she has in v e s te d w ith the d ign ity that i s in a c tu a lity her own.

A n gel i s not, h ow ever, the godly m an T e s s s e e s him to be. It is her

con cep tion of h im ,. the u ltim ate and n atural ou tcom e of the. dark lad y 's

love and h er s e n se of p r id e , w h ich c a u se s h er to b e lie v e that he can be

sinned a g a in st. She lo v e s C lare in ten se ly , sh e r e a l iz e s that she i s a

noble p erso n , and sh e in v e s ts him w ith the g o d lin e ss w hich i s a c tu a lly

her own. H ardy in d ic a te s her m ista k en e stim a tio n of C lare when he

sa y s that "over them both th ere hung a d eep er shade than the shade

w hich A n gel C lare p e r c e iv e d , n am ely , the shade of h is own lim ita tio n s"

(T e ss , p. 2 9 8 ) - -h is a ccep ta n ce of s o c ie ty 's e st im a tio n of T e s s and h is

a b ility to liv e w ithout h er lo v e .

- When T e s s te m p o ra r ily co n fu ses h is e rr o r w ith truth, sh e

a c ce p ts h is d e c r e e that she not co m e to him , a g ree in g to p lay a to ta lly

p a s s iv e r o le . She fo resh a d o w s h er even tual in d ictm en t of the u n iv erse

73

w hich h is d e c is io n r e p r e se n ts , h ow ever, by w arning him : "I a g r ee to

the con d ition s, A ngel; o n ly --d o n 't 'e e m ake it m o re than I can b ea r!"

(T e s s , p= 285)« And she obeys the d e c r e e , refu sin g even to w r ite to

him until i t i s too la te fo r him to rea ch h er in tim e .

• A fter T e s s le a v e s h er p a ren ts ' hom e, she c h o o se s to s ta rv e

rather than se e k help from C la r e 's fa m ily . Hardy sa y s that the m o re

she thinks of ask in g fo r the m on ey C lare le ft h er , the m o re re lu ctan t

she b eco m es about taking it: "The sa m e d e lica cy , p r id e , fa ls e sham e,

w h atever it m ay be ca lled , on C la r e 's accou nt, w hich had led her to

hide from h er own p a ren ts the p ro lon gation of the e stra n g em en t,

h in dered her in owning to h is that sh e w as in want. » . . " ( T e s s , p. 307).

A lthough T e s s 's love and h er p r id e at f ir s t lea d h er to a ccep t

C la r e 's d e c re e and h is judgm ent of h er , sh e even tu a lly r e je c ts both and

lik e e v ery dark lady, p r o te s ts a g a in st the in ju s tic e and in d ign ity of l i f e .

A fter A n gel le a v e s her , sh e i s w illin g to endure su ffer in g and an even

m ore in ten se iso la t io n than sh e knew b efo re , but w hen A le c begins to

court her again , sh e b eco m es so a fra id of w hat w ill happen that she w r ite s

to C lare:

The punishm ent you have m e a su r ed out to m e i s d e ser v e d , in d eed - -I do know that - -w e ll d e se r v e d --a n d you a r e r ight and ju st to be angry w ith m e . But, A ngel, p le a se , p le a s e not to be ju s t - -o n ly a l it t le kind to m e , even if I do not d e se r v e it, and co m e to m e! . . . I am d eso la te w ithout you. . . (T e s s , p. 376).

She has broken h er r e s o lv e and q u estion ed C la r e 's m e r cy , but not h is

74

judgm ent. He d oes not retu rn , h ow ever, and T e s s 's fa th er d ie s , le a v ­

ing h er fa m ily h o m e le s s . A s T e s s stands w orry in g ,ab ou t what i s to be

done,. A le c r id e s up and a sk s her to com e back to h is hom e at T antridge,

offer in g to c a re for h er fa m ily . She r e fu s e s , but he t e l l s h er that she

has no ch o ice b eca u se sh e w ill not a sk fo r help from A n g e l's p a ren ts ,

"You.wisn't, T ess; I know you; y o u 'll s ta r v e f i r s t !" (T e s s , p. 399). He

knows that h er p r id e w ill not a llow h er to s e e k help from them , and he

i s r igh t. A fter he le a v e s , T e s s r e c o g n iz e s the im p o ss ib il ity of her

p o s itio n and c r ie s out a g a in st the c ru e lty of hum an e x is te n c e ;

T e s s rem a in ed w h ere sh e w as a long w h ile , t i l l a sudden r e b e llio u s s e n se of in ju s t ic e c a u sed the reg io n of h er e y e s to s w e ll w ith th e ru sh of hot te a r s th ith er . Her husband, A ngel C lare h im se lf , had, lik e o th ers , d ea lt out hard m e a su r e to her; su r e ly he had! She had n ever b efo re ad m itted su ch a thought; but he had s u r e ly ! N ever in her l i f e - - s h e could sw ea r it from the bottom of h er so u l--h a d she in ten ded to do w rong; y e t th ese hard judgm ents had co m e . W hatever her s in s , th ey w e re not s in s of in ten tion , but of in a d v er ten ce , and why should sh e have been pu nished so p e r s is te n t ly ?

She p a ss io n a te ly s e iz e d the f ir s t p ie c e of paper that ca m e to hand, and scr ib b le d the fo llow in g lin e s :

"Oh, why h ave you tr e a ted m e so m o n stro u sly , A n g e l! I do not d e se r v e it . I have thought it a l l over c a re fu lly , and I can n ev er , n ever fo r g iv e you! You know that I did not in ten d to w rong y o u - -why have you so w ron ged m e? You a r e cru e l, c ru e l in d eed ! I w ill tr y to fo rg e t you. . It i s a ll in ju s tic e I have r e c e iv e d at your hands ! - - T . 11 /I ta l ic s m in e? (T e s s , p. 399).

T h is ou tcry ech o es E u sta c ia 's a ccu sa tio n of C iym . . Just a s T e s s i s m ade

a dark lady p h y s ic a lly and p sy c h o lo g ic a lly in the c o u r se of the novel, so

is sh e m ade one sp ir itu a lly by the tim e it ends. She c o m e s to r e a liz e

75

w hat E u sta c ia knew from the beginn ing, that life i s h e ll is h and love

tr a n s ito r y .

Lake the o th ers , T e s s no longer hopes for h a p p in ess . • She

a sk s for death when, a fter her r e a liz a tio n that A n gel has betrayed h er ,

A le c w arn s that she w ill be h is . She l ie s ag a in st the en tran ce to her

a n c e s to r s ' vau lt and a sk s , "Why am I on the w rong s id e of th is d oor?"

(T e s s , p. 408). She has ren ounced a ll hope for h ap p in ess w hen she

g o es w ith A le c . H ardy d oes not show h er con sen tin g to go, but he sa y s

w hen she next ap p ears in the n o vel that sh e s e e m s "like a fu g itiv e in a

dream " (T e s s , p. 425), and A n gel o b se r v e s that "his o r ig in a l T e s s had

sp ir itu a lly c e a s e d to r ec o g n iz e the body b efo re him a s h e r s - -a llow in g

it to drift, lik e a c o rp se upon the cu rren t, in a d irectio n d is so c ia te d

from it s liv in g w ill" ( T e ss , p. 426). . T h e se d e scr ip tio n s of the s p ir i t ­

l e s s T e s s echo e a r lie r d e scr ip tio n s of broken and ap athetic dark

la d ies who have r e s ig n e d th e m se lv e s to n ev er finding h a p p in ess, and

who look forw ard to no m o re than the r e l ie f death w ill bring .

T e s s 's fu rio u s outcry and h er dream - lik e e x is te n c e in d ica te

that she h as see n what life i s and even what A n gel i s . A fter m u rd erin g

A le c , she a sk s A n gel, "Why did you go a w a y --w h y did y o u - -w hen I

lo v ed you so ? I can 't th ink why you did it . But I don't b lam e you; only,

7. C h a racters b e s id e s the dark la d ies have th is attitude, too, but th ey a r r iv e at it by d ifferen t ro u tes and th eir deaths a re not a c ts of cen su re a s a re th o se of the dark, la d ie s .

76

■ A ngel, w ill you fo r g iv e m e m y s in a g a in st you, now I h ave k il le d h im ? "

(T e s s , p, 432). She no lo n g er a c ce p ts h is judgm ent, but sh e fo r g iv e s

him for m aking it .

. In the end, T e s s and-A ngel have a b r ie f p er io d of joy like that

w hich H ardy ev id en tly sh a red w ith T ryphena, and w h ich both E u sta c ia

and V iv ie tte enjoy; sh e and. C lare liv e togeth er in a d e se r te d m an sion .

H ow ever, T e ss r e c o g n iz e s that th e ir lo v e cannot endure and that life

o ffer s no p erm anen t h a p p in ess . She t e l ls C lare a s she look s out from

the h ou se , "All i s trou b le o u tsid e th ere; in s id e h ere con ten t!" (T e s s ,

p. 439).

. And as the m en com e to take h er to be hanged, T e s s t e l ls

C lare that sh e i s g lad sh e i s to d ie . "Y es, g lad ! T h is h ap p in ess cou ld

not have la s te d . It w as too m uch. . I have had enough, and now I sh a ll

not liv e for you to d e sp ise m e !" (T e s s , p. 445). T e s s know s what each

dark lady ev en tu a lly r e a l iz e s , that sh e cannot fin d p erm an en t joy,, even

in the man, she lo v e s . When sh e r e c o g n iz e s that she w ill not find a f it

hom e in th is u n iv er se , sh e w ants to ex tin g u ish the f ie r y glow that is

her sp ir it and to end h er e x is te n c e fo r e v e r .

THE DARK LADY AS HARDY VIEWED HER

In the c o u r se o f h is c a r e e r as a fic tio n w r ite r H ardy d isc o v e r e d

that the dark Lady, the d is s e n te r , is a w orthy p e r so n and that her v iew

of life a s a c r u e l in d ign ity i s c o r r e c t . H is attitude tow ard h er did not

change sm ooth ly; he u sed her f ir s t a s a v i l la in e s s , then as a p ro ta g o n ist,

changing again and again . H ow ever, h is in it ia l attitude w as co m p le te ly

r e v e r se d , and it w as w ith the dark lady that Hardy f in a lly crea ted

w om en of tra g ic m agnitude. A lthough h is con cep tion of E u sta c ia m ay

be qu estion ed , w ith T e s s the dark lady b eco m es h is tr a g ic h ero in e .

T e s s i s a good w om an who does no e v il y e t i s punished; sh e i s a fin e ,

se n s it iv e , v is io n a r y being who cannot find p ea ce or h a p p in ess in the

w orld and so m u st d ie . By H ardy's d efin ition T e s s i s a tru ly tr a g ic

ch a ra cter : she i s a w orthy p e r so n e n co m p a ssed by in ev ita b le traged y .

. John H ollow ay and D. H. L aw ren ce point out the change in

H ardy's a ttitud e tow ard the a n tith e tica l fo r c e s w hich m o st c r it ic s r e c o g ­

n ize in h is w o rk s. H ollow ay d e sc r ib e s the a n tith eses a s rev ea lin g the

s o c io lo g ic a l and te c h n ic a l ch an ges of the age and sa y s that Hardy

even tu a lly r ec o g n iz e d that the old ord er of life , that o f the W e sse x

fa rm er , w as not only v an ish in g , but "did not p o s s e s s the in n er r e s o u r c e s

77

78

upon w hich to m ake a r e a l figh t for its ex isten ce ,, M He te r m s th ose

c h a r a c ter s who a re not ty p ica l of the country deracine^ uprooted , and

tr a c e s the r e v e r s a l of H ardy8s attitude tow ard th em 0 H ardy a s s e r t s

the old o r d e r 8s ^rew arding u n rew a rd in g n essn in The R eturn of the N ative

2by d estro y in g or changing any r e b e ls in the novel, but in The W ood-Q

lan d ers he r e v e a ls the old o r d e r 's w e a k n e ss . In T e s s the change in

h is attitude is co m p lete , a cco rd in g to H ollow ay, for th is n ovel is the

s to r y of a w om an who "has a w ea k n ess , , , an a lien a tion , a d r e a m i­

n e s s , " and who, although sh e "is at f ir s t deep ly and fu lly se t in the

tra d itio n a l and organ ic life of her ru ra l so c ie ty , , , , fisj a s the n ovel

p ro ceed s , , , s te a d ily d riven out of it , until by the end of the w ork she

4i s a co m p le te o u tca st, " T e s s i s H ardy's pure w om an and she is a ls o

a lie n to the fo r c e of n orm al, ru ra l l ife . She is , a s the n o v e l ends,

d era cin e , and lik e a ll the e a r lie r r e b e ls sh e is d e stro y ed . Her d e s tr u c ­

tion i s p ortrayed , not as an a ffirm a tio n of the old ord er how ever, but

as a denunciation of it ,

L aw ren ce d oes not in ter p r e t H ardy's c a r e e r as H ollow ay d oes,

but he a lso p o in ts out the im p o rta n ce of the change in H ardy's attitude,

1, John H o llo w a y ,. The C harted M irror; . L ite ra r y and C r itic a l E ss a y s (London, I960), p, 53,

2, Ibid, , p, 54,

3, Ibid, , p. 55,

4, . Ib id ,, pp. 1 1 4 -5 .

79

A s Chapter Two in d icated , L aw ren ce tr a c e s the r e v e r s a l in H ardy's

use of a lie n ch a r a c ter s in h is d is c u s s io n o f the c h a r a c ter s he c a lls

a r is to c r a ts , th o se d is s e n te r s w h ose e x is te n c e c r i t ic iz e s the life of the

a sse n tin g country, folk., L aw ren ce sa y s that H ardy's ch a r a c ter iz a tio n

of such p eo p le m o v es from m aking them v il la in s to m aking them

sym p ath etic , until he f in a lly c r e a te s a Jude Faw ley who i s both hero

5and d is s e n te r . Both c r it ic s point out that the a lien , a ty p ica l c h a r a c ­

te r - -w h o se fe m a le v e r s io n i s the dark lady - - chang e s from antagon ist

to p ro ta g o n ist .

H ow ever, although both H ollow ay and L aw ren ce im p ly that the

change in H ardy's attitude w as o rd er ly and sm ooth , the d ates of the

sh ort s to r ie s and n o v e ls ' p u b lica tion r e v e a l that the r e v e r s a l w as not

uninterrupted . M iss A ld c ly ffe , an tagon ist, ap p eared in 1871, E u sta c ia ,

an am biguous p ro ta g o n ist, app eared in 1878, Two y e a r s la te r , "Inter­

lo p ers at the Knap" and " F ello w -T o w n sm en , " sh ort s to r ie s contain ing

dark la d ies as antagonists, ap p eared . Then in 1882 H ardy p u b lish ed

Two on a T ow er w ith it s dark h ero in e V iv ie tte C onstantine, Two

an ta g o n ists ap p eared next, L ucetta F a r fr a e in 1886 and F e l ic e C harm ond

in 1887, . The next yea r the sh ort s to ry "The W ithered A rm " ap p eared

w ith i t s sy m p ath etic dark lady Rhoda B rook , T h ree y e a r s la ter , in

1891, H ardy p u b lish ed T e s s of the D 'U r b e r v ille s ,

5, L aw ren ce , p. 48.

80

One cannot say , then, that H ardy1 s attitude changed sm ooth ly ,

only that he saw the dark lady f ir s t as v i i ia in e s s and f in a lly as h ero in e

and that the r e v e r s a l in h is attitude can be tr a c ed in th o se n o v e ls in

w hich the dark lady i s m o st fu lly d evelop ed , The R eturn of the N ative,

Two on a T ow er, and T e s s of the D 'U r b e r v ille s ,

The dark lady a lw ays v ie w s life a s tra g ic and su sp e c ts that it

o ffer s her no la stin g happinesso M iss. A id e ly ffe r e c o g n iz e s l i f e 's tra g ed y

as d oes E u sta e ia 0 The a s s e n te r s do not s e e it s traged y , h ow ever. E ach

lig h t m an p la c e s stron g fa ith in love w h ile the dark lady r e c o g n iz e s that

although it i s the only jo y life o ffe r s , lo v e is doom ed, E u sta c ia t e l ls

Clym,. "I sh a ll ru in you. . . , K iss m e, and go aw ay fo r e v e r . , . „ It

i s your only chance" (R eturn, p. 224). And la ter sh e sp eak s w ith h o rro r

of a tim e w hen she w ill not be ab le to lo v e C lym . But the m en who p la c e

strong fa ith in lo v e think the w om en 's fe a r s fo o lish . . C lym te l ls E u sta c ia

that i f th ey cannot love ea ch other, th ey w ill say , "I have ou tlived m y

fa ith .an d p u rp ose , " and w ill d ie (R eturn, p. 227). V iv ie tte w arns

Sw ithin that th e ir love cannot endure: "Nothing can co m e of th is , --n o th in g

m ust" (T ow er, p. 106). T e s s know s that love cannot la s t but she cannot

r e s i s t the b r ie f joy it p r o m ise s : "She w alk ed in b r ig h tn ess , but she

knew that in the background th o se sh ap es of d ark n ess w e re a lw ays

sp read . T hey m igh t be reced in g , or th ey m ight be approaching, one

or the oth er, a lit t le e v ery day" (T e s s , p. 223). E ven tu ally Hardy

co n firm s the dark lad y 's v iew of life and w r ite s n o v e ls w h ich .a re tr a g ic .

81

n o v e ls in w h ich tlie dark lady ap p ears a s p ro ta g o n ist and fa c e s the

d ilem m a of a Life w hich can n eith er fu lf ill nor co n so le h er .

• At f ir s t , h ow ever, he a ffirm ed th e a s s e n te r 1 s fa ith in lifers

"rew arding u n rew a rd in g n ess . " In the w oodland settin g the dark lady

i s d is tin c tiv e , and w hen the point of v iew is that of the ty p ica l ru ra l

ch a r a c ter s a s it i s in m uch of the fic tio n , sh e looks e v il and fr ig h ten ­

ing. F rom th is point of v iew , the dark lady i s seen a s a s in is te r ,

w itc h - lik e fig u re , and H ardy u s e s w itc h lo r e to c h a r a c te r iz e her..

When, in The R eturn of the N a tiv e , Hardy f ir s t began to show

life from the dark lad y 's v iew p oin t, the r e s u lt w as am b igu ity . Hardy

at f ir s t m ade E u sta c ia a w itch , a s John P a te r so n 's study of the n o v e l's

co m p o sitio n r e v e a ls :

„ „ . The R eturn of the N ative m u st o r ig in a lly have taken the form of a p a s to r a l n a rra tiv e , uniting the super n a tu ra lism of The R om antic A d ven tu res of a M ilkm aid and the n a tu ra lism of F a r F rom the M adding Crowd and T e ss of the D 'U r b e r v ille s .. . . The f ir s t m ajor d e c is io n in the m aking of the novel in v o lv ed the rev a lu a tio n and tra n sv a lu a tio n of it s b a s ic form .

A t f ir s t H ardy saw E u sta c ia from the a s s e n te r 's point of v iew and

en v is io n ed h er a s e v il and inhum an. "The sp len d id c r e a tu r e who now

d om in ates the n o v e l a s the 'err in g ' h ero in e to Thom a s in 's 'pure' h ero in e

e a r lie r r e c a lle d not the rom an tic p ro ta g o n ist but th e w ick ed and even

d isrep u ta b le an tagon ist. - In h er in it ia l app earan ce, ind eed , sh e w as to

6. John P a ter so n , "The M aking of The R eturn of the N ative , " U n iv ersity of C aliforn ia S tu d ies , x ix x (B erk e ley , I960), p. 147.

82

have su g g e ste d a sa ta n ic cre a tu re su p ern atu ra l in o r ig in , H ow ever,

H ardy's sym pathy w as a lrea d y beginning to m ove from the ru ra l c h a r ­

a c te r s to the a r is to c r a t ic dark lady a s h is v iew of the a n tith e se s began

to change,

P a ter so n d e s c r ib e s th e d evelop m en t of E u sta c ia as h e u r is t ic ,

saying that a s H ardy w rote the n ovel "the im a g e s of the c h a r a c ter s and

the in c id en ts tended to take con tro l and to d ic ta te th e ir own conditions:"

The n ovel w a s.o n the w ay, a s has been seen , to du p licatin g the r e la t iv e ly lim ite d a ch iev em en t of F a r F rom the M adding Crowd, In the heat of i t s d evelop m en t, h o w e v e r ,. Hardy l it e r a lly d isc o v e r e d in the m ajor im a g e r y of the c h a r a c te r s and the in c id en ts of the p lot w hat he had app arently fa ile d to d isc o v er in the s im ila r im a g e r y of F a r F rom the M adding Crowd: the p o s s ib i l i t ie s for th em e, sym b ol, and str u c tu r e .He d isc o v er e d , in the em erg en t P rom eth ean m otif, in the adap tab ility of ch a ra cter , s ce n e and in c id en t to sy m b o lic p u rp o ses , and in the d evelop m en t of the c la s s ic a l fra m e of r e fe r e n c e , th o se a r t is t ic co n tro ls w hich , h ow ever lo o s e ly and in c o n s is te n tly ap p lied , w e re to g iv e the n ovel an advantage in form and v is io n ov er F a r F rom the Madding Crowd, ®

W hen he r e v is e d th e n ovel, changing the dark lad y from a w itch

to the h ig h -sp ir ite d , m a je s t ic "queen of night" whom he c le a r ly a d m ir e s .

Hardy sh ifted the fo cu s of the n ovel and began show ing the dark lad y 's

v iew of life w ith sym pathy. The r e v e r s a l in h is attitude w as not y e t

co m p lete , h ow ever, for although he w as ca re fu l to e m p h a size E u sta c ia 's

" a r tis tic a scen d en cy over the country fo lk am ong whom sh e had been

7, Ibid, , p, 17,

8, , Ib id ,, pp, 1 3 5 -6 ,

83

9cast" and to m ake h er g rea t d ign ity m a n ife st , he had not y e t fu lly

a ffirm ed the dark lad y 's v iew of hum an e x is te n c e . ■ E u sta c ia m ay seem

to be, the h ero in e , but H ardy's v iew of h er i s am b iguous. C ly m 's a s s e n t

i s a s m uch va lu ed a s E u sta c ia 's reb e llio n , and Hardy n ev er c la r if ie s

w hich v iew of l ife i s tru e , who i s p ro ta g o n ist, or w hether or not the

n ovel i s a traged y .

H is sym pathy for the dark lady d evelop ed fu rth er in Two on a

T ow er, w h ere V iv ie tte i s both a d m ired and m ade the s o le p ro ta g o n ist.

V iv ie tte i s a s so c ia te d w ith w itch cra ft and ca lle d unnatural, but th ese

a ccu sa tio n s r e f le c t the country fo lk 's fo o lish n e s s m o re than V iv ie tte 's

u n n atu ra ln ess. ■ W hile H ardy and h is r e a d e r s half sh a re Susan N un su ch 's

su sp ic io n of E u sta c ia , they laugh at the c h o ir 's s im p lic ity w hen it

a ttr ib u tes V iv ie t te ' s b ored l i s t l e s s n e s s to the su p ern atu ra l. T his n ovel

i s to ld from V iv ie tte 's v iew p o in t. H ardy's sym pathy i s fo r the dark

lady, and he t e l ls the rea d er that Sw ithin the fa ir young a s s en ter i s not

w orthy of h er .

H ardy's fin a l co n firm ation of the dark lad y 's point of v iew c o m e s

in T e s s . . F rom the beginning both H ardy and h is r ea d er s s e e the n ovel

from h er point of v ie w . • She i s m is tr u s te d by the a s s e p te r s , but H ardy

m ak es it c le a r that th o se who s e e h er a s e v il a re th e m se lv e s narrow

and in s e n s it iv e . She i s p r e se n ted a s a good and noble p e r so n w h ose

9. . Ib id ., pp. 84-5=

84

e n v iro n m en t--p eo p le , c ir c u m sta n c e , and life i t s e l f - - i s e v il and p e r ­

v e r s e . ■ W hile H ardy u se s w itch im a g e r y and m o tifs to c h a r a c te r iz e

T e s s , he u se s them w ith r e s tr a in t . T hey s e r v e to em p h a size her

sep a ra tio n from the oth er c h a r a c ter s and the "nature" to w hich they

a sse n t . The outcom e of th is , the fin a l n ovel in w hich the dark lady

a p p ears, co n firm s h er v iew of life , show ing that H ardy sh a red her

judgm ent that l ife a s it m u st be liv e d i s a p la ce of ban ish m ent to th o se

in d iv id u a ls who m u st rem a in tru e to th e ir ind iv idu al v is io n of life .

Jude the O b scu re, the only n ovel H ardy w ro te a fter T e s s , i s the s to ry

of another dark r eb e l, a m an who sh a r e s the dark la d y 's tra g ic v iew of

10life and h er doom .

In the th ree n o v e ls c en tered around fu lly d evelop ed dark la d ie s .

H ardy m o v es from see in g the w orld from the point of v iew of th o se

a ssen tin g ch a r a c ter s who opp ose and c en su re her to se e in g it a s sh e

d oes and w ith h er cen su rin g the in ju s t ic e of hum an life . A lthough he

u se s w itch lo re to c h a r a c te r iz e each dark lady, h is p u rp ose changes

until in T e s s w itch cra ft i s only a m o tif w hich show s the dark lady to

be d istin ct from the m o re con ven tion a l c h a r a c ter s who cannot un der­

stand h e r . In The R eturn of the N ative w itch lo re i s u sed to c a s t s u s ­

p ic io n on E u sta c ia , in Two on a T ow er it r e v e a ls the country fo lk 's .

10. B ec a u se m y study i s lim ite d to fe m a le d is s e n te r s , it d oes not d is c u s s Jude the O b scu re. H ow ever, I do s e e a p o s s ib le con n ection b etw een the ch a ra cter Jude and the dark la d ie s . T h ere a r e dark m en a s w e ll a s w om en, and th e ir d eve lop m en t s e e m s to lea d to Jude ju st a s that of the la d ies d oes to T e s s .

85

s im p lic ity , and in T e s s it sep a ra te s the dark lady from th o se around

h er , who a re show n to be narrow and m ean .

In T e s s of the D 'U r b e r v ille s , the la s t n ovel in w hich the dark

lady a p p ea rs . H ardy co n firm s h er v iew of life m o re p o w erfu lly and w ith

g r ea ter a r t is t ic s u c c e s s than he did th o se of the fa ir , a sse n tin g h e r o es

and h e r o in e s . He m o v es from con firm in g the a s s e n te r 's e s t im a tio n of

life to con firm in g the d is s e n te r 's r eb e llio n . A s L aw ren ce sa y s , the

co n c lu sio n drawn from h is n o v e ls i s that the a s se n te r "is a thing,

fin a lly , , , , ugly, undeveloped , n o n d is t in g u ish e d . » , /w h ic h /r e m a in s

, » , f it te d into the com m unity" and "the p h y sic a l and sp ir itu a l in d iv id u ­

a l is t i s a fin e thing w hich m u st fa ll b eca u se of i t s own iso la t io n , b eca u se

1 1i t i s a .sport, not in the true lin e of l ife . " The point of v iew m oves

f in a lly to the dark lady. Hardy a ffirm s h er v iew of life , and the r e v e r s a l

in h is attitude tow ard the a n tith e se s c en tr a l to h is f ic tio n i s co m p le te .

The dark lady, not the fa ir h ero in e of the e a r ly n o v e ls , b eco m es h is

tra g ic h ero in e . She stands for s e n s it iv e m ankind a g a in st the h a r sh n e ss

of an uncaring u n iv er se and a c o m p a s s io n le s s so c ie ty .

11. L aw ren ce , p. 49.

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B eatty , C. J. P . "Tryphena and T hom as H ardy, 11 N otes and Q u e r ie s , XI n. s . , i i i (1964), p . 80.

C arpenter, R ich ard C. T hom as H ardy. New York, 1964.

Cox, H elen . P e r so n a l L etter from th e Toucan P r e s s . N ovem b er 19, 1965.

D avidson , D onald. "The T rad ition a l B a s is of T hom as Ha-rdy's F iction , H ardy: A C o llec tio n of C r it ic a l E s s a y s . • E dited by A lb er t J. G uerard . E nglew ood C U ffs, N .. J . , 1963, pp. 1 0 -2 3 .

D eacon , L o is . H ardy’s S w e e te s t Im age. Ingledene, C hagford, D evon, 1964.

„ T ryphena and T hom as H ardy. B ea m in ster , D o r se t, 1962.

D een , L eonard W. " H eroism and P athos in H ardy's R eturn of theN ative, " N in eteen th -C en tu ry F ic t io n ,. XV (1 9 6 0 -6 1 ), pp. 207-19-

E lsb r e e , Langdon. "The B reak ing Chain: A Study of the D ance in the N o v els of Jane A u sten , G eorge E lio t, T hom as H ardy, and D. H.

. L aw ren ce, " D is se r ta tio n A b s tr a c ts , XXIV, i i i , p. 2476.

F ir or,. Ruth A . F o lk w ays in T hom as H ardy. New York, 1931.

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