Drawing on the theoretical work of Deleuze and Guattari and that of Jean Laplanche - particularly his major and as yet still relatively unfamiliar notion of the phantasme - Social Formation in Hardy's Major Novels is an original and groundbreaking rereading of Hardy's four major tragic novels. The readings are sophisticated and yet accessible. The theoretical work is complemented by the use of new and hitherto unregarded major empirical findings that reveal the very heart of Hardy's creative universe.

In the mid- late 1800s and early 1900s, Thomas Hardy produced a plethora of eclectic works that were considered too candid and even sacrilegious for their time. Hardy's publishing of fiction, drama, poetry, and the short story ranks him with Shakespeare, one of few other authors in the English language to write major works in more than one literary genre. Growing up, Hardy apprenticed as an architect but soon realized his true calling was writing. He based much of his work on his homeland and local culture in England, creating the fictional county of Wessex, the setting for most of his works. This companion explores the life of Hardy, examining his career and most important works. Ideal for high school and undergraduate students, as well as readers with a general interest in Hardy's life and works, this book takes a close look at Hardy's unconventional works and why he ultimately decided to abandon novel-writing in favor of his first love-poetry.

- A complex critical portrait of one of the most influential writers in the world- Bibliographic information that directs readers to additional resources for further study- A useful chronology of the writer's life- An introductory essay by Harold Bloom.

No other major author of the nineteenth century has arguably produced as much critical activity as Thomas Hardy. This timely addition to the Critical Issues series explores the various philosophical views of critics, with close textual analysis of Hardy's novels and with reference to his poetry.

In The Ashgate Research Companion to Thomas Hardy, some of the most prominent Hardy specialists working today offer an overview of Hardy scholarship and suggest new directions in Hardy studies. The contributors cover virtually every area relevant to Hardy's fiction and poetry, including philosophy, palaeontology, biography, science, film, popular culture, beliefs, gender, music, masculinity, tragedy, topography, psychology, metaphysics, illustration, bibliographical studies and contemporary response. While several collections have surveyed the Hardy landscape, no previous volume has been composed especially for scholars and advanced graduate students. This companion is specially designed to aid original research on Hardy and serve as the critical basis for Hardy studies in the new millennium. Among the features are a comprehensive bibliography that includes not only works in English but, in acknowledgment of Hardy's explosion in popularity around the world, also works in languages other than English.

This book reads the highly descriptive impressionist writings of Hardy and Conrad together in the light of a shared attention to sight and sound.

This authoritative survey examines how the Victorian middle-classes perceived themselves, through analyses of the literature of the period. Asking how the middle classes distinguished themselves from their forbears, Julian Wolfreys reads in detail major novels by: - Charles Dickens - Elizabeth Gaskell - Wilkie Collins - George Eliot - Thomas Hardy. Wolfreys explores the novelists' constructions of modernity, national identity and their understanding of 'becoming historical' in distinction from that of previous generations. He offers illuminating close readings of texts and examines narratives set in a recent past in order to investigate the role of cultural memory in the making of identity. Also featuring a helpful Chronology and an Annotated Bibliography to aid further study, this stimulating guide encourages readers to reassess the work of key writers of the nineteenth century.