The Success of Thomas Hardy's Novel The Return of the Native as a Tragedy

The Success of Thomas Hardy's Novel The Return of the Native as a Tragedy

On the first chapter of this novel Egdon Heath is presented as an

untameable force "unmoved during so many centuries, through the

crisis of so many things, that it could only be imagined to await one

last crisis - the final overthrow". Thus, from the very beginning of

the novel we can expect an outcome of tragic possibilities.

Similarly to ancient Greek tragedies, the action in "The Return of the

Native" takes place during a restricted period of time. Usually, in

Greek tragedies the plot developed within 24 hours, while Hardy limits

himself to the space of 5 books, which represents an exact time of 1

year and a day. Although the novel extends to a 6th book; the main

action and the tragedy itself is developed within the first five

books. As its title indicates, the sixth book, "Aftercourses" was

added to please the readers of the magazine in which his novel was

published, in order to put a more closed end to the series. He

provided them with a happy ending; as Thomasin and Venn end up marred.

However, in its 1912 edition, Hardy included a footnote at the end of

the book in which he stated that it was left to the reader to choose

whichever ending he/she preferred. Ironically, Hardy declared "…and

those with an austere artistic code can assume the more consistent

conclusion to be the true one". By this, Hardy suggests that the real

appraisers of tragedy would conclude on the tragic ending as the most

fitting; consistency being also considered by Aristotle as an

essential element for tragedy. As a result, similar also to

Shakespearian tragedies, which were divided into five acts, the action

in Hardy's novel is set up in the first...

... middle of paper ...

... of place, time and other tragedy conventions; the way the plot

develops with a sense of foreboding in the novel's consequences,

convert this book into a classic of the genre. The relentless mood and

development, the numerous lucky (or unlucky) coincidences that are

later to determine the future of the characters and the way people

continually strive to change the way things are, combine the prefect

ingredients of a tragedy. As often in Greek tragedies, fate plays an

essential role and the people in the novel can't escape it because it

would only keep coming back. Chance seems to dictate the destiny of

the characters, playing around with their lives as if they were mere

pieces on a chess board. The forces of the heath seem to inflict some

sort of control on the characters, fulfilling the Greek tragedy

convention of gods playing around with humans' lives.