"Myth is a dramatic vision of life, and we never cease making myths, accepting myths, believing myths" (Dorothy Van Ghent). All writers incorporate myth in their stories. Since writers dramatize life in their stories, selling myth is their job. But myth is not a set system. It varies from culture to culture, society to society, and person to person; what a writer realizes is that in order to create a believable, inviting space they must construct a plausible mythos in which the event can occur. In a way, this is the magic of literature -- the creation of a believable world from imagination.
What is Hardy's system of myth? In what ways does he create a "dramatic vision of life"?
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Hardy creates a "dramatic vision of life" by making the books realistic, but also tragic and the events all coincided with fate. In Tess they were in a regular England setting and all the events were plausible, but there was also a touch of fate. Tess just happened to find out she was a D'Urbeville so she had to go see Alec, which lead to her "impurity." But in Native this seems to be even more evident, the main characters in the novel always seem to have fate involved, they happen to meet not by panning or decieving on their part, but by fate or misconception. When Eustacia has Damon in the house with Clym Yeobright sleeping, when Mrs. Yeobright knocks on the door, Eustacia thought Clym was getting it but he was just talking in his sleep, which leads to Mrs. Yeobrights broken heart and death, knowing they were both in there, but not the circumstances of what happened. Both novels give a sense of believability from creation because they are realistic events, but the misconception the characters feel that lead to events is what makes it so real to the reader, becuase that is what happens in real life.
ReplyDeleteHardy uses the indifferent attitude of his main characters towards death to “create a dramatic vision of life.” In Tess Tess has an indifferent attitude toward Alec‘s murder. In Far from Madding Crowd Bathsheba is indifferent towards Fanny’s death. In real life when a person dies people are thunderstruck, heartbroken, they feel something. Hardy creates a myth by making his heroines indifferent towards the death of their romantic rivals. Tess practically forgot about Alec’s murder because she was so overjoyed that Angel came back. Bathsheba felt more emotion towards her husband’s indiscretions with Fanny than she did Fanny’s death. Realistically Tess and Bathsheba at least would have felt some emotion towards those deaths, instead of only thinking of their feelings for their husbands. This indifference towards death “creates a dramatic vision of life” because it reminds the reader how unrealistic this indifference is, death is to overwhelming for people to be apathetic towards it.
ReplyDeleteI think Hardy's novels create a mythical sense in them due to the unrealistic events that occur, or unrealistic in our world today. Tess's whole life seems far off and completely impossible, we can't possibly imagine such events occuring now-a-days. She was raped, then later falls in love with that man? Really, can we fathom such an event? Then when Angel returns we find that Tess has killed Alec, her rapist, then lover. How can all three of these happenings occur within the same plot, with the same two characters? This is definately a "dramatic version of life", created by Hardy, possibly to stir up controversey and to be unique in his writing. In Far From the Madding Crowd we read about Bathsheba and her decisions about men, but I can't find it realistic in how naive she is. A blind man could see that Francis "Frank" Troy was a player! He complimented her constantly, even after she told him it made her uncomfortable and to stop. Troy was conceited, doing the sword trick around her, cutting one hair, and killing the catepillar upon her bosom. Yet Bathsheba continues to let him hang around, and even convince her to marry him. Then when she believes him to have died, she lets Boldwood scare her into considering their marriage again. All along she was too stupid to see Gabriel Oak as the level-headed and compassionate shepherd that she could truly confide in and love. This is also a "dramatic version of life" in my opinion. Hardy wanted to grasp his audiences attention, in any way possible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Norma in the sense that the storylines in Hardy's novels seem to be a bit unrealistic. Hardy tends to create unrealistic scenes in his novels such as when Gabriel in Far From the Madding Crowd was looking for work and just happen to save Bathsheba's farm from fire and get hired there. Rarely in life would a person just happen to stumble upon a job in which the love of their life is the boss. Yet Hardy claims that this was just fated to happen, they were fated to come together. Real life doesn't have that many coincidences that happen because of fate, it is just Hardy's attempt to create a "dramatic version of life."
ReplyDeleteHardy's version of myth provides us with a clear veiw of the characters, as well as their emotions with out directly telling the reader what the character is feeling. Thought the scenes from the novel are very relistically invisioned, they are also darker, and more tragic than a novel based strictly on real life situations would be. By creating such a vivd and realistic world, and adding so much forboding, deep, pain, Hardy reaches his readers in a more meaningful way than he might otherwise be able to.
ReplyDeleteHardy creates a "dramatic vision of life" by including fated and coincidential events in his novels. For example in the beginning of Tess, Angel Clare first sees Tess at a the May-Day dance, but does not approach her. A few years later, without intention, Tess becomes a dairymaid at the very farm where Angel Clare is learning the trade. Although the event was accidental it seems to have been previously planned. Another similar example is that at the beginning of Return, Eustacia uses large fires to signal Damon to come visit her. Then towards the end of the novel when Eustacia is deciding if she wants to escape with Damon, Charley sets a fire at Eustacia's not knowing the significance and it signals Damon to come. Again the action seems to have been unconscious, however the reader gets the feeling that it was somehow already arranged or destined to have happened. Thus, Hardy's input of fate or concidence seems to create a sence of drama that deepnes the characters lives making the events seem almost unvelieveable.
ReplyDeleteThomas Hardys myth doesn't really seem like a myth to me. His books are like peeping through the keyhole of a broken society. He writes the truth in a dramatic way so we'll pay attention. Hardy knew that adultery, murder,and depict were part of his culture but it was not the sort of thing one talked about freely back then, so he wrote it down in a myth so people may actually believe it.
ReplyDeleteHardy creates a "dramatic vision of life" by breaking set rules of Victorian society. Hardy's myths tapped into human primitiveness, such as sexual desire, rather than the romantic love that was contrived from Victorian society. In Tess we see this primitive force in Alec when he takes advantage of Tess. And in Far from the Madding Crowd, this primitiveness can be found in the men that fall in love with Bathsheba for beauty's sake only.
ReplyDeleteI really like Norma's post on this blog...I feel like her description of the events from Tess of the d'Urbervilles took the words right out of my mouth. The whole time, all that was going through my mind was "what..really? noooo!" In the Mayor of Casterbridge, when Elizabeth-Jane decided to stop living with Henchard and moves in with Lucetta...Henchard's mistress. That coincidence was just to much for me, and I really could not believe it. Small world I guess. As a whole, the novel was set in Hardy's "dramatic vision of life".
ReplyDeleteWhich gets me to think that maybe it wasn't so dramatic at all? I mean these situations happened in real life, it was just that no one would speak of them. It was unimaginable to acknowledge it was going on.
Gah...but now I'm pulling a Thomas Hardy and contradicting myself.
I feel as though I need to compare the events of Hardy's novels to Final Destination. As weird as this may sound, the "dramatic vision", which can also be used for a source of entertainment, are the far off hardships of the characters that are influenced by fate. In both cases, in Final Destination more evident, there are more than one event to foreshadow the next one or even the end. In Jude the Obscure, when Sue takes Little Father Time to Christminster, he grows angry with Sue because she has too many children. In response to this, he hangs himself along with all of Sue's and Jude's children. One would never expect this to happen. Although these foreshadowing events are present, it is difficult to know they are there until the tragedy has occurred. So, Hardy's way of creating a dramatic vision is through fated hardships that seem like they could never happen to a person in reality. It's what keeps everyone hooked on reading or watching a movie.
ReplyDeleteI really like the comment made by Samantha A that "[Hardy's] books are like peeping through the keyhole of a broken society." It paints a different view of Hardy's novels that I didn't originally consider. With both Tess and Far seemingly driven in a specific direction by Fate, with unrealistic events occuring to conveniently create a desired situation, it becomes difficult to realize that, while compiled together, these events may seem outrageous, they were all based upon actual events occuring in Victorian society.
ReplyDeleteHardy's myth is the compilation of these events, as if the keyhole you look through contains the worst events of all other keyholes, thrown together in one room--contrasting sharply with the pure ideals of the other possible keyholes to look through from which these "impure" events may have been taken.
I agree with Krista in saying that Hardy creates a "dramatic vision of life" by making the characters seem so nonchalant about the events and actions taking place. In mayor people were a little stupified when Henchard sold his family to a sailor passing by, but no one really did anything and everyone just went along with their business. I also think Hardy goes to extremes in using fate throughout the book by making the worst possible things happen. In Tess for example she is fated to have so many horrible events occur in her life. To most readers this is dramatic because it seems as though someones life could not possibly be this awful and so many bad things could not happen to this one undeserving girl.
ReplyDeleteAs others have already stated, Hardy creates a sense of myth through his seemingly normal plots that have dramatic twists. At the point in history when Hardy was published, his books were viewed as scandalous due to there references of subjects not publicly discussed at that time. Today, these novels are not seen as scandalous at all, because the events are never clearly stated, making the reader unsure if it even happened. In Tess, the "rape" at the end of the first phase is never clearly stated. The reader is left wondering if Tess was actually raped or if she was seduced. Hardy adds this drama to his books because he not only wanted to make them interesting, but he felt that these were issues that should be allowed to be discussed in public.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the way Hardy creates a "dramatic sense of life" is by making everything seem coincidental. He feels that life is based on fate and destiny and tries to lead his reader there through events that have no explanation, that just seem to happen at the right place at the right time. For example, in Return of the Native Hardy creates a dramatic sense of life when there is a mistake on the marriage license which does not allow the joining of Thomasin and Wildeve. This allowed for everyone to be connected in the Heath through different loves. It also impacted Thomasin life because everyone thought badly of her as a woman. This dramatic twist allowed for the myth of fate to be created and upheld. Hardy also explores this idea in Tess too, but I feel we have beaten that to death in class.
ReplyDeleteHardy creates a dramatic vision of life by creating realistic books with controversial subjects. Hardy has a discreet way of writing books with similar themes of fate, romance, and loss through various realistic events that he dramatizes. for instance, for the love and loss aspect, Hardy writes of a rape, yet creates the atmosphere of curiosity for the reader. In "Tess," Hardy dramatizes the rape and aftermath through denial, misfortune, and ostracizement, all for the effect on the reader. In order for Hardy's novels to be so controversial, he must spice up his writing with reality by creating real life drama.
ReplyDeleteHardy creates a "dramatic sense of life" by basing his novels on topics and situations that no one else at the time dared to even bring up. The majority of Hardy's novels were criticized so widely because of the use of drama in his works. In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Hardy centers the novel around the purity of a young woman. It is my assumption, based on the wide criticism Hardy received for this, that no other author would include this in a novel that they wrote.
ReplyDeleteHardy's "dramatic sense of life" is what makes his pieces so memorable. His work has lasted through the years, more so then any other author of the time, because he dared to write about what no one else would.
Thomas Hardy creates a "dramatic vision of life" because he tells the truth in every book he writes. Hardy does not sugar coat reality and is not sensitive to what people WANT to hear about life. Thomas Hardy also questions faith and the existence of God, which was very new to the Victorian people. The topics written about are not "traditional" in the eyes of the Hardy critics. Some of these topics consist of sexual love, rape, alcoholism, adultery, murder..etc.
ReplyDeleteHardy's system of myth is to create a story of events without giving a natural explanation as to why they are occurring. Hardy creates a dramatic vision of life by writing about the worst possible things that could happen. For example... In Mayor, when Michael is poor, however content now that EJ has come to join him in his household, Mr. Newson has already passed through with the knowledge that EJ has been dead for years (thanks to Henchard) and the worst possible thing that could now happen to Henchard is if the sailor were to have any ounce of hope or hear any slight whisper of his Elizabeth-Jane. If these incidents were to occur, he would surely return to investigate the matter and of course this is what happened. Hardy's novel's are melodramatics and they are what appear as todays soaps would. Dramatic, the worst bound to occur, romance, death, and so on. Hardy took this initiative in his writing because he was making the shift from the victorian age to the modern age. His writing reflects this and is why his writing gives a "dramatic vision of life."
ReplyDeleteHardy creates a "dramatic vision of life" in his novel by telling a realistic story, but also using tragedy and fate to his advantage. In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Tess finds out that she is a d'Urberville, which leads her to go and persue a marriage to get her name back to her family. This in term causes her to lose her "purity", and chaos ensues. Likewise, in the Mayor of Casterbridge, the minute Henchard's family returns to look for hm, his world is turned upside down by the guilt of his past. These events, both realistic and coincidental, are used by Hardy to create drama and scandal. I agree with Miranda in the sense that these novels are the equivalent to today's soap operas. By filling his novels with drama and scandal, he transcended his time period and gave readers a "dramatic vision of life."
ReplyDeleteThomas Hardy forms a "dramatic vision of life" in his novels by including fate and death very commonly. His books are based on reality, but there are certain twists that involve the reader more to get their attention. For example, fate plays a huge part in Tess of the D'Urbervilles because it helps Tess meet Angel once again after the may day dance. There are many examples of death in Tess of the D'Urbervilles such as when Tess's father dies, when Alec dies, and finally when Tess dies. Also, as Adam said, Hardy fills his books with drama and scandal, which durring his time period gave readers a "dramatic vision of life" and keeps them intrigued throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Allie on this one.. I think Hardy creates a “dramatic vision of life” by breaching the status quo, or as Allie said, the set rules of Victorian society. He spends a lot of time focusing on the social barriers that the Victorian status quo entails, and proposes to the reader that these set rules impede the lives of all involved, and eventually lead to unhappiness. Hardy seems to LOVE writing about fate, and did so endlessly… In most of his books (that I’ve heard people talk about, anyway), he really takes into consideration the events of his character’s lives, and what other events they’ve catalyzed. Most of his protagonists find themselves at a crossroads at least once in his novels, an allegory for fate (yay vocab word!) which symbolizes the mythical entity incorporated within his writing. I also feel like Hardy spends a lot of time elaborating on the setting, not to bore the reader and make them want to tear their eyes out (which is obviously what I felt like doing…), but to take them into another world, to devise an alternate universe in which anything can happen, in order to, as Norma said, “grasp his audiences attention, in any way possible”.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the multitudes of people that said Hardy creates the "dramatic vision of life" by incorporating fate and conicidences into the novels, because they are like all of the "what ifs" in life. In Tess, Hardy brings up the worst possible scenarios. For instance, Tess gets raped when she trusts a man, then gets pregnant from it, and when she finally accepts the child, it dies. It sends not only the character that experiences these traumas on an emotional roller coaster ride, but the reader as well. Hardy makes readers question not only the character's motives and actions, but their own. Like, 'what if I unknowingly befriend a creepy guy like Alec that tries to rape me? Am I going to end up getting hanged for killing him to get rid of me?' These are very rash thoughts, but this is the way that Hardy makes us think.
ReplyDeleteHardy is constantly creating a "dramatic vision of life" every chance he gets in any of his books. This is due to Hardy incorporating the tragedies of his life, into the lives of his characters. For example, when Hardy was a young boy, he was educated by his mother and then went off for schooling, but his education ended at the age of 16 due to his families inability to send him off to a higher education based on their social status. This is much like Jude in 'Jude the Obscure'. Jude wishes to go off to Christminister and learn, but once he gets there, his hopes are destroyed when he is denied acceptance into a university.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie, Thomas Hardy does create a "dramatic sense of life" in many of his novels. I believe that Hardy tries hard to make everything seem like it happens on accident, but really Hardy’s knows what he is doing. This becomes Hardy’s system of myth. This system was shown in Tess of the d’Urbervilles when the text painter just happened to be passing by as Tess was on her way home. He wrote “Thy, Damnation, Slumbereth, Not,” a biblical passage on the side of an old barn. Tess, who was at a difficult point in her life, did not know what to do. She was raped and now pregnant, but had refused to marry Alec causing her to be alienated from society. The painter, who just happened to be walking by at the right time, got Tess to think about her sins. I believe in a way the text painter gave Tess courage to continue on the path she had chosen. This is an example of how Hardy creates a dramatic sense of life, and unintentional puts a little bit of magic in his literature.
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