CONTEXT Flashcards
(12 cards)
When was the novel published (when did hell begin)
1891 late victorian england
whats the subtitle
a pure woman
hardy early life
born in Dorset , he grew up examining rural life which figures prominently in his novel. he used to walk to school and around in general so many of his novels are based around walking and the power of nature
education
· His parents were able to earn enough to send him to a private school allowing him to gain the position of an apprentice with an architect who lived in Dorchester
hardy and industrialisation
· A largely rural country was changing into an urban one, however, Hardy’s Dorset had not new cities and was still rural unaffected by this urbanisation
shift from agricultural to industrial farming (clear from Talbothays to Flintcombe-Ash)
is hardy religious
no - he was a religious skeptic who was encouraged by Charles Darwin ‘origin of species’ 1859 which encouraged his pessimism and almost nihilism
tess of the d’urberville controversy
The novel gained an amount of controversy: he sympathises with the poor and women and became famous for portraying women as victims of the self-righteous rigidity of English social morality as well as heavy sexual portrayals etc
hardy and virginity
the controversial approach to the fallen woman, and sympathising with her. Hardy tied her purity more to her state of mind rather than physical virginity
context of the time
post enlightenment Victorian England
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith.
the development of secularism in 1884
Secularism, in its simplest form, is the principle of keeping religion and government separate, ensuring equal treatment for all regardless of belief or non-belief.
Nietzsche proclaimed ‘the death of God’ in 1884 helping to explain Hardy’s subtle condemnation of religion in the novel and the declining importance of faith during this period
industrialisation
This followed industrialisation that was occurring in British towns, mechanism was also spreading to the untouched rural areas of England including the south
agricultural workers
wages were low due to growth in urban industrialisation
