Now that you know Hardy better, what reasons (from his personal life and personal philosophy) can you find in the inherent contradictions of his works?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Puzzling Hardy
Now that we have spent the last three weeks reading, discussing, and critiquing Hardy's major works, we recognize his complexity. He presents strong, positive female characters, but has them fail miserably. He glorifies Nature and rural life, but only tragic events befall those whose lives are tied to the land. Carpenter states, "Hardy becomes more, rather than less, puzzling the better we come to know him. There must be reasons for these contradictions."
Now that you know Hardy better, what reasons (from his personal life and personal philosophy) can you find in the inherent contradictions of his works?
Now that you know Hardy better, what reasons (from his personal life and personal philosophy) can you find in the inherent contradictions of his works?
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Hardy's life is too complex and is kept such a secret to us that we must infer his reasoning from his novels and poetry. Hardy was not a "touchy" person, he wasn't the type of person who liked to be touched or even doted on. Hardy didn't let many people get close to him. We are confused by the more and more works we read by him, due to his ambiguity, which I believe is on purpose. Hardy wouldn't want himself to be easily studied and figured out, so he wrote with contradictions and confused his readers, in order to protect his secrecy and self. Hardy best showed himself and enjoyed life while writing poetry, our best chance at understanding Hardy is to understand the poems he wrote in the dramatic and life changing times of his life. However, I believe Hardy will still remain quite a mystery to us all.
ReplyDeleteHardy may also seem to contradict himself because the topics that he was writing about were taboo at that time and his publishers did not want him to write them. Because of this Hardy was not able to go into detailed descriptions about some of the events in his novels such as the rape of Tess and her murder of Alec. Hardy instead had to use a lot of imagery and so what happened was not entirely clear to the readers. There are many unanswered questions left in Hardy's novels such as whether Tess but up any struggle at all as she was being raped or if she even wanted it to happen. Because Hardy was forced to be unclear as he was not supposed to talk about certain topics his works can be interpreted in many different ways which is why he appears to have many contradictions.
ReplyDeleteHardy used contradictions in his work to make his novels realistic, more like his life. Hardy “cordially hated” his wife. Hardy’s marriage was a contradiction in itself; he hated his wife but was cordial to her. Hardy wrote of contradictions to demonstrate how love and hate keep the same company. In Tess of the D’Urbervilles Angel loves Tess but at the same time he hates her for her past sins, his feelings are a contradiction. In real life people’s feelings for each other are muddled, people love and hate each other’s different traits. In his life, Hardy cherished the fame he achieved from his novels, but he detested the criticism he received. By demonstrating his simultaneous love and hate for rural life in his novels Hardy is trying to send a message to the public. He is expressing his distaste for the criticism of his novels in hope that the public will view them with an open mind.
ReplyDeleteHardy is not contradicting himself, he is dispalying his feelings toward society. He likes humanity, but he doesnt know how to feel towards where society is going. He doesnt want society to leave the land, so he is showing how much harder life could be, so that people can better understand that their lives, without the technology that was being popularized during that time period.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Beth. Hardy seems to contradict himself because his work appears unclear. Hardy's true meanings may have gotten lost in the editing process. "Hardy had firm opinions which ran against the Victorian current, especially on sex and marriage; but he wanted to be published and read, so he bowed to pressure on more than one occasion." (Thomas Hardy Revisited). Because Hardy's opinions were so strong, publishers made him edit some of his "racy" parts. Hardy was forced to disguise his opinions with imagery and other literary devices. These distortions of his original work may be leading some to see such contradictions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with DSteele999 on this one.Thomas Hardy is showing us his thought process through the intricate weavings of his words. Before evolution came to the front of Hardys mind he knew what he wanted, he knew his religious views and then came Darwin who showed Hardy that there was more to life than what he currently thought. That's why he is more complex as we "get to know him" like evolution Hardy is complex and at times does not make sense.
ReplyDeleteHardy creates contradictions in his work because Hardy himself seems to be a contradiction. Hardy was profoundly impacted after reading Darwin's book, Origin of the Species. This book challenged his past views tied to the church and caused Hardy to try and rationalize the concept of God with the concept of evolution. Another force that influenced Hardy's contradictions is from the pressure Hardy received from the public. Hardy is trapped between getting his novels publishing and communicating his controversial ideas. He often caved in and censored his writing in order to fit public standard, yet his audience criticized his works harshly. These events show a stark divide - the choice between evolution or God; the choice between voicing his own opinions, or pleasing the public. Hardy is constantly being pulled in two opposite directions, resulting in the many contradictions we find in his novels.
ReplyDeleteContradictions are all over Thomas Hardy! For example the subheadings of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge. Tess can hardly be considered a pure woman, like the subheading suggests, having engaged in sexual happenings out of wedlock. Just as Michael Henchard cannot be a man of character as his book suggests, because he fails time and time again, and dies alone with the one wish to be forgotten...
ReplyDeleteThese contradictions are standard with that of Thomas Hardy's life itself. He is at a constant push and pull relationship with the public. Stand up for his beliefs with his risque novels? Or conform and become a victim of society? I guess his idea was to compromise with a little bit of both.
I agree with Norma. After reading the section of Carpenter’s response to Hardy’s writing many reasons for the contradictions in his work due to his personal life and experiences were discovered. Hardy “cordially hated” his wife until her death. Yet, he wrote about his characters finding love and experiencing brief moments of happiness, even though he was miserable. Another example is that Hardy had a phobia of being touched yet most of his books dealt with love, marriage, and sexual desires. The article also explained many other examples that showed the two sides of Hardy. I believe that Hardy wrote this way in order to confuse his readers, and keep them thinking about the novels events and controversial issues long after they finished reading. Hardy began writing novels because he wanted to be famous and make money, and by writing about controversial issues it puts his name out there for everyone to read. However, Hardy’s reasons and contradictions in his work will still remains a mystery to all of us.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Hardy's novels are a reflection of his life and a results of what would happen if he did things he wished he could. As Krista pointed out, Hardy "cordially hated" his wife. With his unhappiness in marriage, he wrote of hardships in his characters' romantic relationships. In both Tess and Jude, it seems as though both characters, along with others, are struggling to find where they are happy. I believe he is describing what he would like to do (leave his marriage), but fears what society will do to him. His fears are described in his novels by the outrageous reactions of society to the main characters' choices. In Jude, Phillotson is almost dismissed of his job because he let his wife commit adultery with Jude. Society refuses to accept Jude and Sue's relationship and they are forced to find anonymity elsewhere. I believe this is what Hardy believes would happen to him if he were to leave his marriage and find another wife.
ReplyDeleteAnother example is his detest for being touched, even on the shoulder. Although Hardy's life is extremely hidden, this plays a big factor in his personality. As I have said before, his novels are a reflections of Hardy's "what if's". It's possible that if Hardy allowed himself to open up to others, all of the tragedies that occur in his novels could happen. They wouldn't ALL happen, but I believe he is making a fictional list of the possibilities and his drawn back personality is his way of avoiding hardship.
I agree with Krista that "Hardy wrote of contradictions to demonstrate how love and hate keep the same company." This is one of the greatest contradictions in existence, but also one of the most prevalent. Hardy's contradictions are not hose of confusion, but of observation and reality as well as possiblities as what Krystal said. I think maybe Hardy's novels are him opening up (with cencorship) to his deepest fears and desires, with the characters living their lives as Hardy could have lived his. What he glorifies is what he loves, and when misery befalls that same love it is life experience taken from either his own life or tragoc events of those around him.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is the ambiguity brought on by Victorian censorship, however that created the cofusion of the contradictions. Unable to explain the controversial contradictions and forced to leave them to interpretation, Hardy may be painted as a character more confusing than was intended.
I would have to agree with Allie that the contradictions in Hardy's life directly relate to the contradictions he made in his writing. Hardy seemed to have many different opinions and values than what society deemed as proper. In Hardy's writing its almost like he's showing us a glimpse of his thoughts because he truly is fighting with himself. Society is telling him whats "right" and how things should be, yet his thoughts seem to be developing faster than time can. For example Hardy starts writing and developing ideas in his books about women's equality.
ReplyDeleteHardy's books were seen as extremely scandalous. Some of content he wrote about was not acceptable, so this also could have played a role in why there are so many contradictions. He wanted his books to be published and read by society.
Hardy is contradictory because he would show something good happen, but then something awful would happen to the people who were trying to get out of their situation, like Tess killing Alec to be with Angel but then dying, or Eustacia and Damon running off together to get out of the heath and both dying. Hardy is stuck between his advanced views of reality and the society's concept of things to not talk of and shun. I think Hardy is trying to show society how people cannot be happy in the society they live in because there are so many judgments and if you try to go against what society wants, then a horrible fate befalls you.
ReplyDeleteBased on the reading on Hardy that was discussed in class, it is still unclear as to why Hardy appears to be so contradictory. However, there were some parts of his life that can allow one to guess where these contradictions could have come from. For starters, Hardy enjoyed writing poetry. Yet in order to be published, he began to write novels. Since he was already writing in a style he disliked, he wanted to at least write about topics of interest. He wrote many of his novels containing hidden meanings about unspoken rules of society. For example, Tess was supposedly raped and had a baby out of wedlock- which made people of the time that were reading this gasp even more than if she had simply been raped. Yet Hardy continued to contradict his beliefs when he changed his novels based on criticism from publishers. He was so desperate to become famous for his writing that he wrote novels (which he hated), but based on the opinions of others, he ended up changing what he wrote! Hardy remains to be a contradiction, because what he writes about and the way he writes it still do not make sense, even to this day.
ReplyDeleteNot only does Hardy write about complex life and situations, he lives them. Hardy is stuck between the Victorian Era morals and his own standards. He is aware that tragedy does strike, as he references Shakespeare and as much as the Victorians would like to disagree and believe they live in a utopia. Hardy also incorporates love and loss into his works because he too experiences love that turns to hate that blossoms once again into love. I believe that Hardy is so complex because he does not understand himself, he does not understand the world, and he does not understand his reasoning, so the only solution is to create exaggerated stories of his personal life to understand his thinking better. He can live through his writing because he can connect to a character that may share an ideal or two with him, as no Victorians understood him complex mind and his understanding of fate.
ReplyDeleteHardy is so contradictory because it is what makes a good story. More often than not people don not want to read a black and white story. Hardy's main contradiction is the one that exists between the struggle to be an individual as well as to belong to a community. Hardy has his own writing style and moral values, yet he still writes to appease publishers and the public. Hardy often presents both sides of the story so that the reader can decide which is morally correct. For example, in Tess, Hardy presents Alec who converts and becomes religious to help heal from painful past memories. Tess on the other hand turns her back on God for having to experience so much suffering. Granted Alec in insincere, Hardy still makes a case for both. After all, what would Hardy be without Opposition which was essentially his claim to fame?
ReplyDeleteI don't think Hardy necessarily contradicts himself or his ideas because in every book he has written he has went against the traditional ideals of Victorian society. Hardy is not turning his back on what he believes and he consistently questions the existence of God through the irony of tragedy and human suffering. For example, in Tess of the D'Ubervilles the main character, Tess, faced tragedy upon tragedy. Between being rapped, committing adultery, having a baby without a husband and murdering her rapist, misfortune followed Tess everywhere. Through these afflictions Hardy made life seem painful, which shows he never contradicted himself or changed his opinions on reality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many here that Hardy's personal life caused him to be so contradictory. His beliefs in religion was close to atheism, so in many of his books, his characters believe in pagan rituals or in superstition. His love of the country, like the prompt states, anyone like that would live through tragedy. I just think that because his personal beliefs were so criticized in the real world, Hardy had to incorporate his frustration toward society into his characters and plotlines. I think that because he believed in women's rights, many of his "stronger" characters are women, who go through traumatizing experiences in order to sympathize with women at the time. I believe that Hardy's only contradictions came from his personal life and his personal beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grace where she says that Hardy doesn't contradict himself because he sticks with his views of things such as religion and society. Hardy uses women in his novels such as Tess of the D'Urbervilles to show these details such as when Tess has a baby out of wedlock and also when she is no longer considered a "pure" woman witch results in her being shunned from society. Hardy makes life seem painful, yet proves that he doesnt change his opinions of society.
ReplyDeleteFrom what we know, literature we’ve read, and opinions we’ve heard, we can easily assume that Hardy was a troubled man. Even though his life wasn’t excruciatingly tragic, he still wore a metaphorical mask over his face and a veil over his soul, ensuring that no one would ever know the real Thomas Hardy. Despite his madness, he really dished out some great novels, I must say. They are filled with contradictions and challenges involving his character’s lives, and I really feel like these are due to his own personal contradictions. I also really feel like he tries to tell us a story through his stories, to help us understand him better and to indirectly reveal himself without causing any vulnerability; the contradictions within his books are the contradictions within himself. Take Tess and Alec for example. There’s no way she really loved him, she simply settled for him because she had nothing else to choose from, and because it was easy. Is this why he was with his wife? I mean after all, Tess and Hardy did (I have to be cheesy and copy everyone else) “cordially hate” their spouses. Hardy’s writing is very complex and hard to understand, and though what others and I have said are all valid points, I want to play devil’s advocate for a minute. I don’t know if we’re completely grasping all of what he is trying to say... and maybe he’s not so depressing after all… maybe.
ReplyDeleteFor example, when Liz wrote “Just as Michael Henchard cannot be a man of character as his book suggests, because he fails time and time again, and dies alone with the one wish to be forgotten...” I generated mixed feelings. I agree that Henchard failed time and time again, but he also took full responsibility for his mistakes. Isn’t that honest, courageous and honorable.. the qualities of a man of character? I’m not saying that anyone is wrong in their arguments, I’m just unsure whether or not we’re gathering the right morals from his writings, and if it’s even possible to answer this question if we don’t truly understand what he’s in fact writing about.
(adding on to the idea that his religious views affected Hardy's works)
ReplyDeleteHardy's idea of fate in life gave way to his philosophical struggle with God. Although Hardy's faith seemed to remain intact, the irony and struggles of life led him to question God and his traditional meaning in the Christian sense. Hardy's religious life seems to have mixed skepticism and spiritism. Hardy frequently conceived of and wrote about supernatural forces that control the universe, more though indifference than anything else. The bleek outlook in many of his novels is reflecting his view of the absence of God. Hardy wants his readers to consider the role of God in certain types of situations along with the universes cruelty.