Posted by Allen on July 04, 1998 at 00:40:45:
In Reply to: Re: Hardy's heroines posted by Jamie Wood on June 27, 1998 at 19:12:02:
: There are some good points in all these comments, but aren't we really all in danger of drowning Hardy's real skill by submerging his novels into a discussion which would perhaps be more suitable to Plato.
: Hardy's worst point has to be the way he often uses the the novel format as a vehicle for social comment. 'Tess', the novel and not the character, almost fails to me precisely because the fabric of the novel is overwhelmed by moralising didacticism. Whenever people talk about 'Tess' they seem to take on the same tone as Hardy.
: But surely when people read 'Tess' the thing that brings them back to the novel is Hardy's gift to tell a story; his abilty to evoke the most wonderful of settings. It's the scenes at Talbothays not whether Tess is or Angel Clare is the ultimate victim that delights readers.
: Moralising Hardy's 'Tess' just exacerbates the worst trait of the book.
I think you are exactly right here, although it must also be said that there isn't a Thomas Hardy without his moralizing. But yes, Hardy could tell a good story, and too much discussion of him does seem to emphasize his moralizing. I'm not sure, by the way, if Hardy really was using the novel as a "vehicle for social comment," even if he insisted that he was (of which I know nothing of). I think writers almost always write to give expression of themselves, and their moral positions are a kind of by-product rather than the true aim. This is also why I think reading novels from a political point of view is usually out of context.