neilgee
04-09-2011, 04:24 PM
Thomas Hardy quit writing novels after his last novel Jude the Obscure was slated by critics, largely for its perceived lack of morality which was due to Hardy questioning the holy institution of marriage at a time when this was not to be borne by the highly religious society that he lived in.
Although this religious morality was shown to be hypocritical in later years - Victorian society is now known to have had an astonishing number of "kept" women (ie women whose upkeep was paid for by wealthy men who were not their husbands) - when hypocrisy is prevalent it's difficult to rock the boat and Hardy paid the price for doing so.
I just wish this author were still alive so I could tell him that I absolutely loved his last novel. The prose flowed much more freely than in some of the earlier - perhaps, better known - novels like Far from the madding Crowd and The Major of Casterbridge and I actually preferred this to what had hitherto been my favorite Hardy novel Tess of the D'urbevilles (spelling?). Hardy points the way towards the more relaxed divorce laws that we have these days. The passage of time has vindicated the novel's message.
After the experiencing the critic's wrath Hardy concentrated on writing poetry (a medium I don't think he was anywhere near as good at) for the rest of his life. I think he lived about another 15 years after publishing Jude and it's a shame to think of the novels we have missed out on because of the reaction to Jude just being a little too far ahead of its time.
Sad for literature.
Although this religious morality was shown to be hypocritical in later years - Victorian society is now known to have had an astonishing number of "kept" women (ie women whose upkeep was paid for by wealthy men who were not their husbands) - when hypocrisy is prevalent it's difficult to rock the boat and Hardy paid the price for doing so.
I just wish this author were still alive so I could tell him that I absolutely loved his last novel. The prose flowed much more freely than in some of the earlier - perhaps, better known - novels like Far from the madding Crowd and The Major of Casterbridge and I actually preferred this to what had hitherto been my favorite Hardy novel Tess of the D'urbevilles (spelling?). Hardy points the way towards the more relaxed divorce laws that we have these days. The passage of time has vindicated the novel's message.
After the experiencing the critic's wrath Hardy concentrated on writing poetry (a medium I don't think he was anywhere near as good at) for the rest of his life. I think he lived about another 15 years after publishing Jude and it's a shame to think of the novels we have missed out on because of the reaction to Jude just being a little too far ahead of its time.
Sad for literature.