A Companion to Thomas Hardy: Wilson/A Companion to Thomas Hardy

Through original essays from a distinguished team of international scholars and Hardy specialists, A Companion to Thomas Hardy provides a unique, one-volume resource, which encompasses all aspects of Hardy's major novels, short stories, and poetry Informed by the latest in scholarly, critical, and theoretical debates from some of the world's leading Hardy scholars Reveals groundbreaking insights through examinations of Hardy’s major novels, short stories, poetry, and drama Explores Hardy's work in the context of the major intellectual and socio-cultural currents of his time and assesses his legacy for subsequent writers Content: Chapter 1 Hardy as Biographical Subject (pages 5–18): Michael Millgate Chapter 2 Hardy and Philosophy (pages 19–35): Phillip Mallett Chapter 3 Hardy and Darwin: An Enchanting Hardy? (pages 36–53): George Levine Chapter 4 Hardy and the Place of Culture (pages 54–70): Angelique Richardson Chapter 5 “The Hard Case of the Would?be?Religious”: Hardy and the Church from Early Life to Later Years (pages 71–85): Pamela Dalziel Chapter 6 Thomas Hardy's Notebooks (pages 86–101): William Greenslade Chapter 7 “Genres are not to be Mixed. ... I will not Mix them”: Discourse, Ideology, and Generic Hybridity in Hardy's Fiction (pages 102–116): Richard Nemesvari Chapter 8 Hardy and his Critics: Gender in the Interstices (pages 117–129): Margaret R. Higonnet Chapter 9 “His Country”: Hardy in the Rural (pages 131–145): Ralph Pite Chapter 10 Thomas Hardy of London (pages 146–161): Keith Wilson Chapter 11 “A Thickness of Wall”: Hardy and Class (pages 162–177): Roger Ebbatson Chapter 12 Reading Hardy through Dress: The Case of Far From the Madding Crowd (pages 178–193): Simon Gatrell Chapter 13 Hardy and Romantic Love (pages 194–209): Michael Irwin Chapter 14 Hardy and the Visual Arts (pages 210–222): J. B. Bullen Chapter 15 Hardy and Music: Uncanny Sounds (pages 223–238): Claire Seymour Chapter 16 The Darkening Pastoral: Under the Greenwood Tree and Far From the Madding Crowd (pages 239–253): Stephen Regan Chapter 17 “Wild Regions of Obscurity”: Narrative in The Return of the Native (pages 254–266): Penny Boumelha Chapter 18 Hardy's “Novels of Ingenuity” (pages 267–280): Mary Rimmer Chapter 19 Hardy's “Romances and Fantasies” (pages 281–298): Jane Thomas Chapter 20 The Haunted Structures of The Mayor of Casterbridge (pages 299–312): Julian Wolfreys Chapter 21 Dethroning the High Priest of Nature in The Woodlanders (pages 313–327): Andrew Radford Chapter 22 Melodrama, Vision, and Modernity: Tess of the d'Urbervilles (pages 328–344): Tim Dolin Chapter 23 Jude the Obscure and English National Identity: The Religious Striations of Wessex (pages 345–363): Dennis Taylor Chapter 24 “... into the Hands of Pure?Minded English Girls”: Hardy's Short Stories and the Late Victorian Literary Marketplace (pages 364–377): Peter Widdowson Chapter 25 Sequence and Series in Hardy's Poetry (pages 378–394): Tim Armstrong Chapter 26 Hardy's Poems: The Scholarly Situation (pages 395–412): William W. Morgan Chapter 27 That's Show Business: Spectacle, Narration, and Laughter in The Dynasts (pages 413–430): G. Glen Wickens Chapter 28 Modernist Hardy: Hand?Writing in The Mayor of Casterbridge (pages 431–449): J. Hillis Miller Chapter 29 Inhibiting the Voice: Thomas Hardy and Modern Poetics (pages 450–464): Charles Lock Chapter 30 Hardy's Heirs: D. H. Lawrence and John Cowper Powys (pages 465–478): Terry R. Wright Through original essays from a distinguished team of international scholars and Hardy specialists, __A Companion to Thomas Hardy__ provides a unique, one-volume resource, which encompasses all aspects of Hardy's major novels, short stories, and poetry* Informed by the latest in scholarly, critical, and theoretical debates from some of the world's leading Hardy scholars * Reveals groundbreaking insights through examinations of Hardy’s major novels, short stories, poetry, and drama * Explores Hardy's work in the context of the major intellectual and socio-cultural currents of his time and assesses his legacy for subsequent writers Content: Chapter 1 Hardy as Biographical Subject (pages 5–18): Michael MillgateChapter 2 Hardy and Philosophy (pages 19–35): Phillip MallettChapter 3 Hardy and Darwin: An Enchanting Hardy? (pages 36–53): George LevineChapter 4 Hardy and the Place of Culture (pages 54–70): Angelique RichardsonChapter 5 “The Hard Case of the Would?be?Religious”: Hardy and the Church from Early Life to Later Years (pages 71–85): Pamela DalzielChapter 6 Thomas Hardy's Notebooks (pages 86–101): William GreensladeChapter 7 “Genres are not to be Mixed. ... I will not Mix them”: Discourse, Ideology, and Generic Hybridity in Hardy's Fiction (pages 102–116): Richard NemesvariChapter 8 Hardy and his Critics: Gender in the Interstices (pages 117–129): Margaret R. HigonnetChapter 9 “His Country”: Hardy in the Rural (pages 131–145): Ralph PiteChapter 10 Thomas Hardy of London (pages 146–161): Keith WilsonChapter 11 “A Thickness of Wall”: Hardy and Class (pages 162–177): Roger EbbatsonChapter 12 Reading Hardy through Dress: The Case of Far From the Madding Crowd (pages 178–193): Simon GatrellChapter 13 Hardy and Romantic Love (pages 194–209): Michael IrwinChapter 14 Hardy and the Visual Arts (pages 210–222): J. B. BullenChapter 15 Hardy and Music: Uncanny Sounds (pages 223–238): Claire SeymourChapter 16 The Darkening Pastoral: Under the Greenwood Tree and Far From the Madding Crowd (pages 239–253): Stephen ReganChapter 17 “Wild Regions of Obscurity”: Narrative in The Return of the Native (pages 254–266): Penny BoumelhaChapter 18 Hardy's “Novels of Ingenuity” (pages 267–280): Mary RimmerChapter 19 Hardy's “Romances and Fantasies” (pages 281–298): Jane ThomasChapter 20 The Haunted Structures of The Mayor of Casterbridge (pages 299–312): Julian WolfreysChapter 21 Dethroning the High Priest of Nature in The Woodlanders (pages 313–327): Andrew RadfordChapter 22 Melodrama, Vision, and Modernity: Tess of the d'Urbervilles (pages 328–344): Tim DolinChapter 23 Jude the Obscure and English National Identity: The Religious Striations of Wessex (pages 345–363): Dennis TaylorChapter 24 “... into the Hands of Pure?Minded English Girls”: Hardy's Short Stories and the Late Victorian Literary Marketplace (pages 364–377): Peter WiddowsonChapter 25 Sequence and Series in Hardy's Poetry (pages 378–394): Tim ArmstrongChapter 26 Hardy's Poems: The Scholarly Situation (pages 395–412): William W. MorganChapter 27 That's Show Business: Spectacle, Narration, and Laughter in The Dynasts (pages 413–430): G. Glen WickensChapter 28 Modernist Hardy: Hand?Writing in The Mayor of Casterbridge (pages 431–449): J. Hillis MillerChapter 29 Inhibiting the Voice: Thomas Hardy and Modern Poetics (pages 450–464): Charles LockChapter 30 Hardy's Heirs: D. H. Lawrence and John Cowper Powys (pages 465–478): Terry R. Wright

A Companion to Thomas Hardy brings together new essays on all aspects of Thomas Hardy’s work by thirty of the world’s most distinguished Hardy scholars. Groundbreaking insights are revealed through examinations of his novels, short stories, poetry, and the often neglected epic-drama, The Dynasts, that Hardy, like many of his contemporaries, considered to be his major achievement. The Companion provides an influential re-assessment of Hardy’s place in both Victorian and Modern literature, with essays that consider his complexity as a biographical subject, probe his ideas and attitudes in relation to their socio-cultural, scientific, and philosophical contexts, analyze his distinctive achievements in the remarkable variety of genres in which he worked, and assess his legacy for subsequent modernist writers.

Comprehensive and authoritative, A Companion to Thomas Hardy offers an unparalleled range of contemporary scholarship on an author whose transitional position between the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries makes him central to the study of both. This Companion provides a seamless overview of the entirety of Hardy’s oeuvre, through historical contextualization and analysis of key works.

Introduces the life and work of the English author, with critiques on his major works and an analysis of his contributions to the field of world literature