On Thomas Hardy’s Religious Sense in His Works.doc

on thomas hardys religious sense in his works小议托马斯哈代作品中体现的宗教观念【abstract】religion has a profound influence on the works of european and american writers. .from a series works of thomas hardy, clearly we can see the influence of the bible on him .nevertheless, though hardy failed to eliminate the limitation of tragic predestination and religious tradition .by the case study analyzing on the works of thomas hardy ,this paper makes an research on the distinguished religious sense of thomas hardy as well as its cause of formation.【key word】thomas hardy; religious sense; 内容摘要：宗教对欧美作家的文学作品有着深远的影响。从托马斯哈代的一系列作品里，我们可以清楚地看到圣经和宗教对托马斯哈代的影响。然而，虽然哈代没有摆脱悲观宿命和宗教习俗的局限性，但他对人物形象地塑造以及小说意向的组合无疑对社会的伦理道德和基督教义进行了讽刺和抨击。通过对托马斯哈代作品的个案研究分析，本文分析了哈代独特的的宗教观念及其成因。table of contentschapter1.background of thomas hardychapter 2 thomas hardys religious beliefs2.1profile2.2 detailed researchchapter3 case study (1): take jude the obscure as an example 3.1 about the novel 3.2 religious sense in jude the obscurechapter4 case study (2): take the return of the native as an example 4.1about the novel4.2about the religious sense in the return of the native4.3 conclusionchapter5 conclusionbibliography chapter1.background of thomas hardythomas hardy (1840-1928) is one of the greatest english poet and novelist between the 18th century and the 20th century(victorian period).hardy is famous for his depictions of the imaginary county wessex”. hardy is a cross-century literary giant. success has masked the wessex novels left a profound impression. hardys work reflected his stoical pessimism and sense of tragedy in human life.(women especially),and of deep changes of social economy, politics, ethics and custom after the invasion of capitalism into the english countrysides and towns. they exposed the hypocrisies of the capitalistic ethics, law and religion, which inherited the excellent tradition of realistic criticism as well as exploited a road for english literature in the 20th century. hardy kept cracking tragedies of greek and shakespeare with all his life, and was influenced by the skepticism of neoteric scientific ideology, so that his opinion towards life was pessimistic and fated, and he thought that no matter what kind of degree human.so ciety had developed, human being were unable to get rid of the tricks of the fate. this kind of ideology became a big window for hardys writing, and in his works, coincidences were everywhere, natures tinge suffused around, environment served as a foil to the roles, and the roles characters were mixed up with the environment. these were ingenuities exerted by the writer, in addition, hardy had worked as an architect in his early times,so his works were written with a style that could be relished again and again. the scenarioes, characters and sceneries of hardys works were so fine, perfect, compact and harmonic that few writers could compete with him.chapter 2 thomas hardys religious beliefs2.1profilelike so many other major victorian authors, on his early stage, thomas hardy had an important evangelical phase that left a deep impression on his thought. examining the text of a sermon clearly marked by evangelical style and theology that the eighteen-year-old hardy wrote, we can conclude that it provides convincing evidence of hardys already being sympathetic to evangelicalism by october 1858, his taking sufficiently seriously his so-called “dream” of ordination to practice writing a sermon, and, most significantly, his having a personal faith that was both ardent and orthodox”. this new evidence proves important because it requires rewriting the history of the novelists religious belief or beliefs.thomas hardy used to be an architects apprentice in dorchester. at this stage, hardy studied intensively on the bible and further inquired into anglican doctrine on pedobaptism.2.2detailed researchthe hardy of life and work presents his youthful faith as gentlemanly and unimpassioned, more social that religious, and fundamentally different from the evangelical indeed evangelistic zeal embodied in the sermon. this hardy presumably never underwent a classic victorian loss of faith because he never had a sustained, personal faith to lose”. the new evidence paints a very different picture.citing timothy hands 1989 notable book on hardy and christianity, dalziel lists the novelists lifelong connections to the orthodox christianity he was soon to abandon:(1)his familys associations with the established church ;(2)his lifelong love of church music and the language of the bible and the book of common prayer;(3)his continued attending religious services ;(4)his poetrys occasional expression longing for belief (e.g. the oxen).;(5)his conviction that the church was and should remain the social, ethical, and educational center of a community.despite these lifelong connections with the church of england connections much firmer and more numerous than most victorian authors who lost their belief hardy repeatedly articulated both his conviction that the cause of things must be unconscious, neither moral nor immoral, but unmoral, and his hope that this unconscious will was evolving into consciousness would ultimately become sympathetic”. nonetheless, dalziel argues that however far hardy moved from his evangelical sermon of 1858, its three main points remain the central preoccupations of his life: the emphasis on the law as curse, on suffering, and on the saving force of love . she therefore argues that hardy the atheist remained profoundly christian in many ways.however, there are some question remains .if one retains some of the cultural, emotional, and even ethical attitudes of christianity, as so many victorian non-believers did, but does not have any faith in a personal god, much less in the divinity of christ and salvation through him, can these attitudes still be considered christian? wouldnt it be less tendentious and a lot more convincing simply to state that thomas hardy might have wished he could have remained a christian, but that he didnt, or that he always retained many ideas and attitudes associated with christianity (and, of course, with other religions as well) but not the fundamental beliefs that grounded them. such a characterization of hardy would seem more true to the victorian frame of mind that would overemphasizing hardys christian-ness. for me the point remains not that, like so many other victorians, he retained habits of mind associated with christianity after he abandoned it but that he abandoned it for a belief in some unconscious will.chapter3 case study (1): take jude the obscure as an example3.1 about the noveljude the obscure was initially published in abridged form in harper new monthly under the title hearts insurgent between 1894 and 1895, and later published in full in the 1895 edition of hardys works. to say the very least it was poorly received. perhaps due to such fierce criticism it was hardy who? last novel before he took to writing only poetry and drama. it is the story of various illicit unions that form themselves around the central character of jude fawley, the village mason. he is encouraged by phillotson, a schoolmaster, to apply for christminster (representing oxford university), but as in every part of his life he is tormented by rejection. in this novel, bridehead (married unhappily to phillotson) and other chanters have an illicit relationship. however, her contradictory desires prevent their long-term contentedness since she seeks freedom to the cost of love. we learn of the death of sue and judes children at the hands of judes only child by arabella since the latter believes none of them3.2 religious sense in jude the obscurein jude the obscure, hardy shows his views on religion and commitment to the church which were said to have declined in the latter years of his life. (ingham, xxvii) throughout the book hardy displays his feeling that religion is something that people use in order to satisfy themselves by giving their lives meaning. one instance in which hardy clearly displays this is when he writes, it had been the yearning of his heart to find something to cling to. (ingham, 94) in order to bring out this point hardy chooses to create jude as an orphan and has him come from obscure origins. by doing this, he creates a character who is looking for something to give him an identity. as a result of his relationship with mr. phillotson (who leaves for christminster in order to become ordained), he finds religion and feels that he can use it to help him gain an identity. hardy feels that people should shy away from their old ways of thinking and begin to forma new one.in this novel,jude,is a kind-hearted sentimental young man who fell guilty on every hurt of creatures even a earthworm. ironically,every such a religious man like jude failed to get the bless from god. here, hardy is telling a truth to readers :god is indifferent with human beings.chapter4 case study (2): take the return of the native as an example4.1about the novelas one of the master pieces of tomas hardy, the return of the native(1878) is a story of extremes, of all-consuming passions and fierce ambitions, played out in the vast and overwhelming setting of egdon heath. it is a tragedy of ordinary lives: a family quarrel, romantic entanglements and the desire to escape are the elements which are brought together with a life-shattering intensity. here, all life is a struggle for existence and the working of an apparently malign fate drives the story with a tragic inevitability. a foreboding atmosphere dominates most of the novel, and superstition and pagan rites contribute to the sense of the powerful forces which seem hostile to humanity, yet in control of human destiny.like all of hardys work, the return of the native is passionate and controversial, with themes and sympathies beyond what a good victorian would ever admit. a modern and honest novel of chance and choice, faith and infidelities, this dark story asks what is free will and what is fate? what is the true nature of nature, and how do we fit together? can we fit together?a tragedy set in the barren land of edgon heath. our heroine, eustacia, is proud, passionate, cruel, fickle, avaricious, and desperate. she burns every life she touches, never able to find the mad love and exotic world she dreams of. our supposed hero, clym, is modest, steady, plain, moral, and dutiful. he is satisfied returning from paris to the simple comfort of home.when they come together, the heath will come apart. originally released as five books, in classic tragic form, a sixth, tacking on a happy ending, was added by editor and public pressure4.2about the religious sense in the return of the nativethomas hardys characters in the return of the native live in a world governed by a harsh and indifferent ironic god. hardy sees the reigning power of the universe as being essentially unjust and morally blind, as in his poem hap. instead of rewarding the good and punishing the evil, this entity presides over a universe in which suffering abounds in the form of a perverse irony. irony is defined in the oxford dictionary of current english as a situation that appears opposite to what one expects (480), and the critic mary caroline richards elaborates by stating that irony is the issue of an action which is intended to produce one effect (good for the agent) and ends by producing its contrary (disaster for the agent) (part one 272). hardy uses this definition of irony in his works, but m. h. abrams further delineates his style in a glossary of literary terms by classifying his texts in the category of cosmic irony, wherein a deity, or else fate, is represented as though deliberately manipulating evenso as to lead the protagonist to false hopes, only to frustrate or mock them (137). the ironic deity or guiding principle in hardys texts acts as the mockery of potentiality, intention, and promise by unfulfillment (richards, part two, 28). richards argues that hardy follows various laws set up by the universe that act as the source for human ironies.it is the nature of life to dangle pretty prospects before our eyes-inner and outer-and then to snatch them away ; secondly, the indifference of the will to justice; thirdly, the universe manifests not only indifferent but cruelty; fourthly,inner potentiality and practical possibility are all out of step; and finally,a gross lack of correspondence between mans nature and the materials of his life results. (34-35)in hardys fiction and poetry, the indisputable henchmen of this force the ironic deity against mans felicity are change and chance (richards, part two, 25). hardys characters live in a world governed by these twin powers, whose influence all too often is for evil, not for good.throughout the return of the native, bad things always happen to good people. there is a tragic heroine, eustacia, is stifled by her environment in the heath and marries clym yeobright as an escape, despite his mothers disapproval. her former lover, damon wildeve, spitefully marries clyms cousin thomasin in revenge for eustacias rejections of his charms. none of these characters is evil, but much misfortune befalls them before the book concludes. there seems to be no justice for the good or mercy for the mistaken. the critic albert elliot describes hardy as having no desire to explain experience; he wishes only to present it (12). although hardy is often considered a pessimist as a result of his negative view about the possibility for hopefulness in life, he believed that he was merely treating matters of life just as they were (elliot 13). in attempting to represent reality as he saw it, he wrote novels whose plots were heavily influenced by factors of chance and change, often leading to a negative4.3conclusion.hardy did not enjoy witnessing the suffering in the world around him, and felt sympathy for almost all of his characters; the villain has almost no place in his works (richards, part two,24) because to him all of humanity is guided by an outside agency and so have little responsibility for the painful outcomes that occur. there is a tight linking of incidents toward doom (elliot 62) and, although the return of the native concludes with the happier sixth book, the overall tone of the text is an ironic and tragic one. in the return of the native, hardy proves a dismal view of life in which coincidence and accident conspire to produce the worst of circumstance due to the indifference of the will to issues of equity and justice. examples of the workings of this agency abound in the return of the native, but i have selected two major episodes from the novel to demonstrate the workings of chance and change upon hardys characters. the first is the adventures of mrs. yeobrights guineas, and the second her journey across the heath to reunite with her son.a key episode in the novel that hinges upon the element of chance begins with mrs. yeobrights decision to send a gift of guineas. her son, clym, is marrying eustacia against her wishes, and she hopes that, by offering this gift, she and her son can repair their relationship. the other half of the money is to go to her niece, thomasin, who has recently married damon wildeve, eustacias former lover. unfortunately, mrs. yeobright selects as her messenger the inept christian cantle, the village simpleton. this ill-considered decision has major ramifications, and ultimately deepens the rift between herself and her son instead of bridging it. instead of hurrying to the wedding party, christian attends a raffle with his fellow heath men and happens to win. to the simple man, this occurrence is evidence of newly discovered, infallible luck. he declares: to think that i should have been born so lucky as this, and not have found it out until now! (hardy 175). the naive fellow is so sure of his mastery over chancethat he agrees to gamble with damon wildeve using mrs. yeobrights guineas. however, nobody can antipate the actions of hardys ironic deity; here, its henchmen chance and change work against christians supposed luck. he loses the guineas intended for thomasin and recklessly continues the game, betting clyms share in a desperate bid to regain his earlier luck. he moans, i dont care-i dont care! . . . the devil will toss me into the flame on his three-pronged fork for this nights work, i know! but perhaps i shall win yet (hardy 179). instead of withdrawing after losing only thomasins money to her husband, the chance of christians earlier win at the raffle which goaded him into enter the game prods him to believe that he may yet prevail. the element of coincidence at work in this scene is clear to the reader as the two men are playing with dice, symbols of chance and luck. accord ing to the laws of probability, each man has an equal chance of winning with each fresh roll of the die, but chancef avours damon and he wins all of mrs. yeobrights precious guineas.after christian has sorrowfully left, diggory venn, a former suitor of thomasin and damon wildeves rival, reveals that he has been observing the dice game from a nearby hiding place. he has overhead the gamblers, and had watched the drama unfold. he challenges wildeve to extend his winning streak, and the two men play. at first, the game fluctuated, now in favor of one, now in the favour of the other, without any great advantage on either side (hardy 182). however, lady luck soon deserts wildeve. he eventually loses all the coins to diggory venn. venn is unaware that they were to be divided between clym and thomasin, and so presents all the guineas to thomasin. as she did not know the amount of the gift, she does not think to question the precise number of guineas. throu