Dec 30, 2009

The Return of the Native | Characters

Hardy's philosophy of human character as it is articulated in this novel, is a theory of behavior somewhat atypical of this writer's practice. Moreover, the characterization of several representatives of the peasant class exemplifies Hardy's view of traditional, rural culture. Much can be gleaned from an analysis of the three principal female characters and that most enigmatic presence in all of Hardy's work, the reddleman-turned dairyman Diggory Venn.

Mrs. Yeobright and her niece constitute a thesis-antithesis pairing of Victorian propriety. Hardy portrays Mrs. Yeobright as an...