The Return of the Native

by Thomas Hardy

Overview

The heather covered English countryside is the
setting for Thomas Hardy's classic moving novel of conflicting
aspirations and tragic destiny. Clym Yeobright returns from
Paris to the village of his birth, with the plan to improve the
lives of the men and women of Egdon Heath. But his plans are
upset when he falls in love with a passionate, discontented
girl who longs to escape from the rural town. Their stormy
relationship explodes in a violent tragedy which changes the
young man's life forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781775417309
Publisher:	The Floating Press
Publication date:	02/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	508 KB

About the Author

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) wrote novels and poetry, much of which is set in the semi-imaginary county of Wessex. His novels include Far From the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge(1886), Tess of the D'Urbervilles(1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). He published his first volume of poetry, Wessex Poems, in 1898 and continued to publish collections of poems until his death.

Patricia Ingham is Senior Research Fellow and Reader at St Anne's College, Oxford. She has written on the Victorian novel and on Hardy in particular. She is the General Editor of all of Hardy's fiction in the Penguin Classics and has edited Gaskell's North and South for the series.

Date of Birth:

June 2, 1840

Date of Death:

January 11, 1928

Place of Birth:

Higher Brockhampon, Dorset, England

Place of Death:

Max Gate, Dorchester, England

Education:

Served as apprentice to architect James Hicks

Read an Excerpt

A SATURDAY afternoon in November was approaching the time of twilight, and the vast tract of unenclosed wild known as Egdon Heath embrowned itself moment by moment. Overhead the hollow stretch of whitish cloud shutting out the sky was as a tent which had the whole heath for its floor.

The heaven being spread with this pallid screen and the earth with the darkest vegetation, their meeting-line at the horizon was clearly marked. In such contrast the heath wore the appearance of an instalment of night which had taken up its place before its astronomical hour was come: darkness had to a great extent arrived hereon, while day stood distinct in the sky. Looking upwards, a furze-cutter would have been inclined to continue work; looking down, he would have decided to finish his faggot and go home. The distant rims of the world and of the firmament seemed to be a division in time no less than a division in matter. The face of the heath by its mere complexion added half an hour to evening; it could in like manner retard the dawn, sadden noon, anticipate the frowning of storms scarcely generated, and intensify the opacity of a moonless midnight to a cause of shaking dread.

In fact, precisely at this transitional point of its nightly roll into darkness the great and particular glory of the Egdon waste began, and nobody could be said to understand the heath who had not been there at such a time. It could best be felt when it could not clearly be seen, its complete effect and explanation lying in this and the succeeding hours before the next dawn: then, and only then, did it tell its true tale. The spot was, indeed, a near relation of night, and when night showed itself an apparenttendency to gravitate together could be perceived in its shades and the scene. The sombre stretch of rounds and hollows seemed to rise and meet the evening gloom in pure sympathy, the heath exhaling darkness as rapidly as the heavens precipitated it. And so the obscurity in the air and the obscurity in the land closed together in a black fraternization towards which each advanced half-way.

The place became full of a watchful intentness now; for when other things sank brooding to sleep the heath appeared slowly to awake and listen. Every night its Titanic form seemed to await something; but it had waited thus, unmoved, during so many centuries, through the crises of so many things, that it could only be imagined to await one last crisis—the final overthrow.


From the Paperback edition.

Table of Contents

Book 1	The Three Women
I.	A Face on Which Time Makes But Little Impression	1
II.	Humanity Appears upon the Scene, Hand in Hand with Trouble	4
III.	The Custom of the Country	9
IV.	The Halt on the Turnpike Road	25
V.	Perplexity among Honest People	29
VI.	The Figure against the Sky	39
VII.	Queen of Night	49
VIII.	Those Who Are Found Where There Is Said to Be Nobody	54
IX.	Love Leads a Shrewd Man into Strategy	58
X.	A Desperate Attempt at Persuasion	65
XI.	The Dishonesty of an Honest Woman	72
Book 2	The Arrival
I.	Tidings of the Comer	79
II.	The People at Blooms-End Make Ready	83
III.	How a Little Sound Produced a Great Dream	86
IV.	Eustacia Is Led on to an Adventure	89
V.	Through the Moonlight	97
VI.	The Two Stand Face to Face	102
VII.	A Coalition Between Beauty and Oddness	111
VIII.	Firmness Is Discovered in a Gentle Heart	118
Book 3	The Fascination
I.	"My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is"	127
II.	The New Course Causes Disappointment	131
III.	The First Act in a Timeworn Drama	137
IV.	An Hour of Bliss and Many Hours of Sadness	148
V.	Sharp Words Are Spoken, and a Crisis Ensues	154
VI.	Yeobright Goes, and the Breach Is Complete	159
VII.	The Morning and the Evening of a Day	165
VIII.	A New Force Disturbs the Current	175
Book 4	The Closed Door
I.	The Rencounter by the Pool	183
II.	He Is Set upon by Adversities; But He Sings a Song	188
III.	She Goes Out to Battle Against Depression	196
IV.	Rough Coercion Is Employed	205
V.	The Journey Across the Health	211
VI.	A Conjuncture, and Its Result upon the Pedestrian	214
VII.	The Tragic Meeting of Two Old Friends	222
VIII.	Eustacia Hears of Good Fortune and Beholds Evil	228
Book 5	The Discovery
I.	"Wherefore Is Light Given to Him That Is in Misery"	235
II.	A Lurid Light Breaks in Upon a Darkened Understanding	241
III.	Eustacia Dresses Herself on a Black Morning	248
IV.	The Ministrations of a Half-Forgotten One	254
V.	An Old Move Inadvertently Repeated	258
VI.	Thomasin Argues with Her Cousin, and He Writes a Letter	263
VII.	The Night of the Sixth of November	268
VIII.	Rain, Darkness, and Anxious Wanderers	274
IX.	Sights and Sounds Draw the Wanderers Together	282
Book 6	Aftercourses
I.	The Inevitable Movement Onward	291
II.	Thomasin Walks in a Green Place by the Roman Road	298
III.	The Serious Discourse of Clym with His Cousin	300
IV.	Cheerfulness Again Asserts Itself at Blooms-End, and Clym Finds His Vocation	304

Reading Group Guide

1. What does Egdon Heath symbolize to you? How does each character relate to the heath? To what extent does the landscape control the actions of the characters or influence them? How do the characters resist or succumb to the landscape? What is the role of urban life in the novel?

2. Discuss Clym's spiritual odyssey. How does it shed light on Hardy's concerns in the novel? Would you describe Clym as idealistic? How does his attitude compare to that of the people of Egdon Heath or that of Eustacia?

3. Why does Eustacia hate Egdon Heath? Is she too headstrong? How much control does Eustacia have over events that shape her life? Over the lives of others? Do you think Eustacia symbolizes human limitation or potential? Do you think her death is a reconciliation of sorts, or not?

4. Discuss the role of fate or chance in the novel. Is Hardy sympathetic to the victims of chance in this novel? To what extent are events caused by the force of a character's personality (e. g., Eustacia), rather than by chance? To what extent do actions produce results opposite from that desired? Do you think there is a connection between this use of irony and the role of fate in the novel?

5. Discuss the novel's opening scene, in which Hardy describes Egdon Heath. How does this establish the emotional tone of the book? How does it foreshadow the action within the novel?

6. Why is Eustacia interested in Clym? How does this set the wheels of the plot in motion? How does this affect the other characters, like Thomasin and particularly Clym's mother? What is Wildeve's role in Mrs. Yeobright's fate?

Editorial Reviews

A collection of Hardy's poetry and non-fiction prose, containing some 200 of his familiar and less-familiar shorter poems organized by theme, as well as Hardy's own prefaces to volumes of his poems, and his essays on fiction, on the "Dorsetshire laborer," and on an 18th- century execution. Includes explanatory notes, and a brief overview of Hardy's life and work. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"This is the quality Hardy shares with the great writers...this setting behind the small action the terrific action of unfathomed nature."
—D. H. Lawrence

From the Publisher

The Return of the Native is the most artistically perfect of [Hardy’] novels to date...his style has gained in power and clarity.”

1878 Graphic (London)

This is the quality Hardy shares with the great writers…This setting behind the small action the terrific action of unfathomed nature.”

D. H. Lawrence

Into the landscape he begins to weave human figures. They are very much alive; have faults and passions, virtues and vices, good luck and tragic mishaps…Hardy arrives at last at the end of his novel…having produced a most charming, original sketch of the lives of quiet people in one nook of England.”

New York Times

The Return of the Native is one of the most remarkable books of the last twenty years.”

1878 Vanity Fair

"Simon Avery has edited Hardy's The Return of the Native with great skill: his footnotes are detailed and extensive without becoming intrusive; his bibliography of further reading selects judiciously from old and new materials; and he gives a generous range of contemporary materials to help contextualise the book. Alongside the unmistakable nineteenth-century concerns present in Hardy's novel, Avery alerts us to less well-known ones, illuminating in particular Hardy's depiction of Eustacia Vye, who can be seen from this edition as a precursor to Sue Bridehead, the proto-feminist of Jude the Obscure. Distinctively too, Avery includes a selection of Hardy's poetry, helpfully breaking down the barrier between Hardy the novelist and Hardy the poet. In all respects, the volume continues the excellent standard of Broadview Hardy editions."

Ralph Pite

"Simon Avery's edition of The Return of the Native, Hardy's first great classic, provides a beautifully balanced, meticulously researched resource. Avery's editorial approach is, in every respect, new and fresh – even in his interpretation of the novel's denouement. Offering a wide range of critical perspectives, the compelling Introduction features a rich collection of viewpoints and critiques in a manner so informative, compact, and stylish that exploration becomes the modus operandi within and beyond the plot. In turn, the appendices at the end of the book complement the contextualising of the Introduction and footnotes. A selection of Hardy's other writings in prose and poetry adds textual weight and structural balance overall."

Rosemarie Morgan