Hardy himself says: “My pessimism, if pessimism it be, does not involve the assumption that the

world is going to the dogs … On the contrary my practical philosophy is distinctly Melioristic.”
• What is Hardy's philosophy of life in "the return of the native"? Why can't the main characters
of return of the native be called "rustic characters"?
• What are the themes of "the return of the native" by Thomas Hardy?
• Q: discuss hardy’s concept of tragedy.
• Q: Hardy is known as a great tragic writer his “the return of the native” presents an illustrious
picture of tragedy, comment.
• Q: Hardy is known as a pessimist. Do you agree? Q: discuss hardy’s fatalism?
Ans: Expressions like pessimism and fatalism have unreservedly been used by critics and readers to
describe Hardy’s philosophy of life, and there is no doubt these labels do largely convey his outlook
and his stance. He is deemed pessimist because he considers that man is born to suffer and he is called
fatalist because he thinks that destiny is antagonistic to man and that it governs human life, allowing
very little free will to human creatures and often inflicting undeserved sufferings upon them.
Hardy, however, is not a cynic because he does not regard man as essentially mean and wicked. There,
certainly, are villains in his novels but he believes on the whole that there is more goodness and
nobleness in human nature than evil, and that man is capable of a heroic endurance of misfortune.
Further wise, it is possible to call Hardy a determinist instead of fatalist, because, while fatalism implies
a blind and arbitrary working of some supernatural power, determinism implies the logic of cause and
effect. In Hardy’s novels the logic of cause and effect is as much at work as an arbitrary supernatural
power. Hardy’s conception of life is essentially tragic. As Austin never wrote a tragedy, Hardy never
attempted a comedy. He holds an opinion:
“Happiness is an occasional episode in the general drama of pain”.
Hardy feels that “man is born to suffer” and the glory of man lies in his power of bearing his
catastrophe. It appears that his mind is trained in the Greek literature, which was the first attempt to
project a mighty clash between man’s dreams and realization. Hardy also portrays this conflict, but
with a slight difference. In Greek tragedy, Fate is some of supernatural power holds responsible of the
catastrophe, while in Shakespearean tragedy, man is solely responsible for his actions their consequent
disaster. Hardy combines both these concepts to carve his own view of tragedy. In his stories, destiny
is as much responsible for the disaster, as a character himself.
“The Return of the Native” fully illustrates Hardy’s conception of tragedy.
Aristotle defines ‘a tragedy is a story of a conspicuous man, who falls from prosperity to adversity,
because of his error of judgment i.e. his hamartia and his sufferings, downfall arouses a feeling of pity
and fear in us, thus becomes a source of catharsis’. As it is clear from the statement as well as from the
historical facts, that Greek tragedy was the story of a conspicuous man, related to country life, and
almost same is the case with Shakespearean tragedy. But Hardy sets his tragedy in the rural background.
His story brings forth the downfall of a common man, yet noble. As Clym is a noble man, his innate
kind and loving nature, residing at the Egdon Heath. He is surrounded by the intense figures of common
life, rustics. His mind is a kingdom, filled with his noble aims of educating the rustics, in the true sense
of the word, as author comments:
“He had a conviction that the want of most men was knowledge of a sort which brings wisdom rather
than affluence”.
But striving after high thinking, he still likes his plain living. He struggles selflessly to achieve his high
aims, but he is somewhat unpractical rather, too simple to plan properly for his goals. And his flaw lies
in the fact he goes too far, selflessly but unplanned, for his aims, and thus injures himself, both
physically and spiritually, causing poor eye sight in the first case and tension through disharmony with
his mother and wife, in the second case.
His unpractical nature also comes out when he ‘decides to marry Eustacia’ though she warns him that
she would not make “a good home spun wife” and his mother pronounces her as “an idle voluptuous
woman”. Clym thinks that Eustacia would help in his educational prospects, but she proves to be
exactly the opposite. It’s said, that Eustacia holds the “greatest responsibility” for the tragedy in “The
Return of the Native”, then it would not be wrong.
Hardy also shows the weak power of decision of Clym that he fails to strike a balance between his
duties (to his mother), his ambition (for teaching) and his love (for Eustacia). As the author states:
“Three antagonistic growths had to be kept alive: his mother’s trust in him, his plan for becoming a
teacher, and Eustacia’s happiness”.
And he fails to maintain them, at a time, first inclining totally towards Eustacia and then towards his
mother, and in adjusting his educational plans between them.
According to Hardy, Fate and destiny have always an essential part to play in bringing a catastrophic
end. In the novel under discussion, destiny is disguised in the cloak of “nature” and “co-incidences”.
Chances and Coincidences occur, in Hardy’s novels, too frequently that they become almost unrealistic.
In this novel, the story leads to ultimate tragedy, with the death of Mrs. Yeobright, which is caused by
a number of ironic accidents and co-incidences. It is also the role of chance that the letter of Clym fails
to reach Eustacia, which becomes the cause of her fatal ending death. Thus, Hardy feels:
“Human will is not free but fettered”.
Nature is always considered as a “living agent”, by Hardy, which is always so strong and influential,
that his human characters can never escape from its clutches. “Egdon Heath” also depicts such qualities.
It contrasts with the human existence. Eustacia feels the heath, as her “cross”, her “shame”, and
eventually it becomes a potential cause and the place of her death. Nature is also hostile to Mrs.
Yeobright, as Heath kills her by a venomous creature from its own bosom.

Q: DISCUSS ROLE OF CHANCES AND COINCIDENCES IN “THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE”

Ans:
Is chance the same thing as fate? Different readers disagree on this question. Perhaps it is cruel,
deliberate fate that Eustacia, for instance, has been set down to live on the heath she loathes. It may be
mere capricious chance, however, that Mrs. Yeobright decides to visit on the very afternoon that
Wildeve also decides to come to Eustacia's cottage. In other words, fate seems to rule events according
to some vast pattern, which is beyond human control. Chance seems to intervene in smaller, random
ways, when human beings are trying to act on their own. Many readers, however, feel that chance and
fate is the same thing in this novel. Things “just happen,” without rhyme
or reason, and that in it is the pattern of the universe. Hardy lost faith in orthodox Christianity quite
early in his life. It was mainly because of the advancement and challenges of science to dogma. As a
consequence, he reached a new kind of scepticism. He felt that universe is governed by some blind
chance and not by any conscious power. For this reason chance and coincidences play a very vital role
in all the novels of Hardy. Such a conspicuous influence of accidents, on the course of events, does not
appear in the works of any other novelist. Though Hardy’s characters are responsible for their suffering
yet the role of chance and coincidences often operates as a deciding factor. Hardy feels:
“An impishness of circumstances invades our life and becomes the cause of our undoing”.
In his novel, man is tossed here and there in the ruthless struggle for survival and the stronger one
suffers more as he tries to resist the sweep of chance. Hardy believes that chance is an embodiment of
fate. He feels that fate or destiny is sometimes indifferent, but it is most often hostile to human
happiness. He thinks: “Happiness is an occasional episode in the general drama of pain”.
The hostile of fate, disguises itself in the irony of circumstances, which one finds in the novels of
Hardy. In other word, when the human beings are not themselves responsible for the frustration for
their hopes and thwarting of their aims, fate appears in the shape of chance or accident to contribute to
or to complete, their ruin. Hardy thinks: “Chance is the incarnation of the blind forces, controlling
human destiny”.
There is also an abundant use of chances, accident and coincidences in “The Return of the Native”.
These chances are interwoven with the actions of characters, to bring forth the ultimate catastrophe.
Johnny Nunsuch introduces the first coincidence in the story. He overhears the conversation of Wildeve
and Eustacia, when Wildeve visits her in response to her bonfire. Johnny narrates this incidence to the
Reddle-man. As a result of this chance, Reddle-man becomes activity involved in the affairs of these
two principal characters Eustacia and Wildeve. On the other hand, furthermore, this chance meeting
eventually results in the wedding of Thomasin with Wildeve. At some later stage, during the story,
Christian Cantle meets the village folks, by a sheer accident that takes him to a raffle (lottery). He is
carrying Mrs. Yeobright’s money, which is to be delivered to Thomasin and Clym, in equal halves.
Cantle, by a chance stroke of good luck, wins prize at raffle. Being encouraged by his winning, he
agrees to play the game of dice with Wildeve and loses all the money of Mrs. Yeobright. Then, the
Reddle-man appears and with his luck, wins all the money back and delivers all the money to Thomasin.
Thus, the chance meeting of Cantle with the village folks causes a great misunderstanding and also a
future quarrel between Mrs. Yeobright and Eustacia. “The marriage is not a misfortune in itself. It is
simply the accident which has happened since that has been the cause of my ruin”. Another accident is
the chance meeting of Eustacia with Wildeve, which leads not only to the renewal of bond between the
two but also to the suspicion in the mind of the Reddle-man, who immediately goes to Thomasin and
informs her about her husband’s plans.
The most crucial accidents, however, are yet to come in the novel. At an occasion, Wildeve visits
Eustacia during the daytime. At the same time Mrs. Yeobright comes to reconcile with her son. This
coincidence creates a big complication, as Eustacia fails to open the door, while Wildeve is inside and
when she opens it, Mrs. Yeobright has gone while Clym is fast asleep, just by a chance. Consequently,
each of these four characters has to pay heavily for these accidents, happening simultaneously. On her
homeward journey, Mrs. Yeobright faces yet another accident. She is bitten by an adder and is dead.
Her death results in a fierce quarrel between Clym and Eustacia. Thus, much of the tragedy of the novel
centres s round the closed door, to which a number of accidents contribute.
At a later stage, Wildeve receives a legacy, by a pure chance. This news would have been a sign of
hope in the story, but the future events prove Hardy’s essentially tragic conception of life. Hence:
“There is pervading note of gloom, only momentarily relieved”. The news of legacy brings new
thoughts to Eustacia’s mind. Her meeting with Wildeve encourages her to seek his help in her attempt
to escape from Egdon Heath. Unfortunately, this attempt proves fatal and deadly for both of them.
After the death of Clym’s mother, he first expels Eustacia out of his house but later, he intends to bring
her back to home therefore, he writes a letter to her, but Captain Vye fails to handover the letter to
Eustacia and she decides to escape with Wildeve to Paris, this chance brings her fall. Finally, the nature
also contributes in the contrivance of chance. On the night of Eustacia’s escape, the weather
accidentally gets worst. The night becomes dreadful, because of rain and storm. This desperate situation
of weather adds to the gloomy condition of Eustacia and causes her death.
Thus, Hardy certainly makes his story hard to believe by his excessive use of chance and coincidence.
There are accidents and coincidences in real human life, but they are not so frequent, as in the novels
of Hardy, nor are accidents and coincidences always malicious and hostile to man. A critic says: “The
plot of the novel lacks the terrific and terrifying logic of cause and effect that marks the plots of the
greatest tragedies. That, yet operates the way it does more accidental than necessary”.
But to condemn his use of chance altogether is to misunderstand his view of life. His novels present a
bottle between man and destiny, whereas, destiny appears through chances and coincidences. However,
the realism of “The Return of the Native” is certainly marred by en extraordinary use of the device of
chances and coincidences:
As Shakespeare says:
“Fate has a terrible power; you cannot control it by wealth or war”.
Q: DISCUSS THE ROLE OF EGDEN HEATH IN THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE?
Q: EGDON HEATH IS A PLACE BUT IT PERFORMS LIKE HUMAN CHARACTERS
IN THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE?
Ans:
Huge, forbidding, strange- the wasteland of Egdon Heath is like a stage set for the action of this novel.
It offers wide spaces for movement, but it also has hiding-places for intimate scenes. Its many different
faces reflect or heighten the many different moods of the story. One can believe that the Heath has
many secrets, and has witnessed all possible varieties of human experience. It is a place of long life
and of sudden death, of fertile spring and short, vivid summer. No matter what feeling Hardy wants to
express at any particular point, the heath can offer it up.
Something about Egdon Heath depresses the restless, adventure-seeking characters of the novel,
Eustacia and Wildeve. But it is a comforting presence to unselfish people like Clym and Thomasin. As
you read, notice each character's reaction to the heath; it may say something about his or her inner
nature. The less intellectual country folk simply take the place for granted, just as they take their own
souls for granted.
Does Egdon Heath represent life? Time? The supernatural? Destiny? Readers have suggested these and
other possibilities. Perhaps it is not a symbol for anything, but merely a background, a small universe,
having no meaning, offering no answers. Part of the mysterious appeal of this novel is that Hardy makes
the heath seem so significant, but then never specifically explains his purposes. We must use our own
imaginations to try to understand and feel what the heath finally means. Egdon Heath is the first
‘character’ introduced into the book. The heath proves physically and psychologically important
throughout the novel: their relation to the heath defines characters, and the weather patterns of the heath
even reflect the inner dramas of the characters. Indeed, it almost seems as if the characters are formed
by the heath itself: Diggory Venn, red from head to toe, is an actual embodiment of the muddy earth;
Eustacia Vye seems to spring directly from the heath, a part of Rainbarrow itself, when she is first
introduced; Wildeve’s name might just as well refer to the wind-whipped heath itself. But, importantly,
the heath manages to defy definition. It is, in chapter one,
“A place perfectly accordant with man’s nature.”
The narrator’s descriptions of the heath vary widely throughout the novel, ranging from the sublime to
the gothic. There is no possible objectivity about the heath. No reliable statement can be made about
it. For Clym, the heath is beautiful; for Eustacia, it is hateful. The plot of the novel hinges around just
this kind of difference in perception. Most of the key plot elements in the novel depend upon
misconceptions--most notably, Eustacia’s failure to open the door to Mrs. Yeobright, a mistake that
leads to the older woman’s death--and mistaken perceptions. Clym’s eventual near- blindness reflects
a kind of deeper internal blindness that afflicts all the main characters in the novel: they do not
recognize the truth about each other. Eustacia and Clym misunderstand each other’s motives and true
ambitions; Venn remains a mystery; Wildeve deceives Thomasin, Eustacia and Clym. The
characters remain obscure for the reader, too. When “The Return of the Native” was first published,
contemporary critics criticized the novel for its lack of sympathetic characters. All of the novel's
characters prove themselves deeply flawed, or--at the very least-- of ambiguous motivation. Clym
Yeobright, the novel's intelligent, urbane, generous protagonist, is also, through his impatience and
single-minded jealousy, the cause of the novel's great tragedy. Diggory Venn can either be seen as a
helpful, kind-hearted guardian or as an underhanded schemer. Similarly, even the antagonistic
characters in the novel are not without their redeeming qualities.

Azhar Ud Deen Babar

(M.Phil. English Linguistics)