Respond to these quotes from Richard Carpenter's criticism:
"On the whole, Return of the Native, is drawn in broad strokes that indicate its closeness to folk origins. This breadth is at once its charm and its weakness, for it is rich in superstition, myth, and folk characters acting out an elemental tale of love and hate; but it is also overladen with allusion and philosophy, with complex plot, and with attempts at psychologizing."
"As in Far From the Madding Crowd the peasants (Cantle, Fairway, Nunsuch) are a chorus, with all that implies of continuity and comment...Hardy goes beyond his practice in Far by involving these characters and other folk in the action...The folk are thus always there in the novel, reminding us of their permanence (to the Heath) in contrast to the lives of the principal characters (who may desire permanence, but find nothing by tragedy.)"
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I agree with Carpenter's criticism of Return, because Hardy does have, as Carpenter calls it, "a Greek chorus," talked about in Far quote, of villagers that are very pagan oriented in superstition and myth. The peasants and laborers are always popping up and make the background of the heath.
ReplyDeleteWhile Return also has a lot of allusions of the characters motives and complex relationships, with a lot of philosophy about the different relationships. Most of them have alterior motives like, Damon trying to make Eustacia jealous with Thomasin, but Hardy seems to be trying to make a point with their complex relationships and relating it to society.
I agree with Carpenter's criticism to an extent because some of the characters act out of love like Thomasin, Diggory, Clym however others like Eustacia and Damon act out for their own selfish desires such as leaving the heath. However, I do strongly agree that the plot is a complex one filled allusion and philosophy and that the characters behaviors attempt to be explained though psychological terms. I also agree that some characters remind us of their devotion to the heath, such as Clym, but that others who try to leave their native land like Eustacia and Damon only find devastation and end all ties to their relationships.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Carpenter's criticism because I don't feel that Return of the Native was too burdened with allusion and complex plot. The intricacy of the plot made the book more enjoyable and also allowed for greater demonstrations of the folk origins he spoke of. As for the statement pertaining to attempts to psychologizing: I have the strongest disagreement with this because I feel that at no point are any of the characters whimsical actions explained based on their rational inner thinking. The only key time Hardy elaborates on why a character acts as they do is Eustacia because it is necessary to know why she is so charmed with Wildeve. The reader needed to know her thinking and intensions were to escape the Heath. With that exception though, I see very little psychologizing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carpenter’s criticism. Return of the Native is a story full of “allusions and folk characters acting out an elemental tale of love and hate”. The complex net of relationships and make the novel interesting to read but complicated to follow. Hardy’s in some ways does attempt to psychologizing and explain why his characters act and make decision based on rational inner thinking. In Return, he explains how much Eustacia dislikes the Heath and desperately wants to move away. This explains her actions to stop seeing Wildeve and convinces herself to fall in love with Clym even before she meets him. Eustacia believes that Clym will be her ticket out of the Heath, and her want to move overpowers her love for Wildeve, so she marries Clym. I agree with Carpenter’s criticism on Hardy’s novels but the complex plot and tragic ending make his novels interesting to read.
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