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Life and works of English author Thomas Hardy, famous for Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and known for themes about ordinary country people.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), English novelist and poet, is famous for Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and The Return of the Native. He wrote novels about country people living in Wessex, his name for the rural and quiet county of Dorset in southwest England. Despite success in his novels, he thought of himself as a poet, foremost. He also wrote more than 10 volumes of poetry and short stories. Though Hardy was held in high-esteem, critics attacked him for being a pessimist in his writings, which is evident in Tess D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. Early YearsHardy was a stonemason's son born on June 2 in a Dorset village in Upper Bockhampton. His parents encouraged him to love music and reading. He did learn to play the fiddle. He was educated locally in Dorchester, the county town, and then trained as an architect, aged 22. For a while he worked in architects' offices in London and later in Dorset, where he spent most of his life. He was married twice. The NovelistHardy began writing by his mid-20s. The first novel he actually wrote was The Poor Man and the Lady, but he never published it, making Desperate Remedies, his first published novel when he was 31. Three years later came his first truly popular book, Far from the Madding Crowd. This was the first of his seven great novels, published between 1874 and 1895. His most moving tales are set in the rustic and brooding landscapes of Wessex. Usually his theme related lonely individuals with human weaknesses struggling against a destiny that always overcomes them. Two of these novels, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, remind readers of the tragedies written by Aeschylus and Sophocles. These ancient Greek playwrights wrote about royal families, but the heroes and heroines of Hardy are ordinary people. The PoetDespite the success of his novels, Hardy thought of himself as mainly a poet. At 58 he published Wessex Poems. By 68 he had also written The Dynasts, a long verse play about the Napoleonic Wars. In his 80s, Hardy was still writing lyric poems. Many make ordinary experiences seem rich and remarkable. Works by Thomas Hardy
Sources:Cambridge Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby (1993) Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring (1994)
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