The Evolution of Female Characters in Thomas Hardy's Mature Fiction

Bc. Lenka Papšová

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

This thesis deals with the development of three female characters of Thomas Hardy's novels. Hardy's heroines are strong and unconventional and therefore spend much of their lives struggling against the restrictions imposed on them by society. Even though the rigid rules governing a woman’s position in society were beginning to be challenged, women were still presented with a very limited array of options which is reflected also in Hardy's fiction. Women were considered to be either fallen “whores” with no right to happiness or chaste “virgins” whose destiny was to marry a respectable gentleman and from then on serve and obey him for the rest of their lives. The three female characters which are the focus of this thesis are Bathsheba Everdene from Far from the Madding Crowd, Eustacia Vye from The Return of the Native and Tess Durbeyfield from Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Their struggle against the rigid conventions and their “development” from strong independent women to archetypal members of one of the above mentioned groups during their life forms the core of the thesis. Some attention is also devoted to the consequences of the foreseeable failure of this undertaking. These three characters serve as an example showing that the means of coping with a life under the rigid rules and restrictions of the times were very limited for women.

Keywords

Thomas Hardy, women characters, Tess Durbeyfield, Bathseba Everedene, Eustacia Vye, gender, conventions, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Return of the Native, Far from the Madding Crowd, society, marriage, woman's role, chastity

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 23. 1. 2008

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 28. 1. 2008
• Supervisor: Ph.D. Stephen Paul Hardy

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Bachelor programme / field:
Philology / English Language and Literature