The Return of the Native

Egdon Heath is the fictional part of Wessex (also fictional) in which The Return of the Native takes place. It is a large, uninhabited expanse covered with gorse and heather and few trees. The...

One of the themes of the book is the way in which the natural environment exercises such a profound effect on the people who inhabit it. The fictional setting of Egdon Heath is almost a character...

Hardy uses both third-person omniscient narration, which is when the narrator stands outside the text and explains what is going on to us, and first-person narration from characters within the text...

Eustacia Vye above all is a character who is shown to not fit in with her rural setting. The novel constantly describes her as being a "goddess" or some form of mystical, other-worldly creature,...

Egdon Heath acts as a constant reminder of what is permanent and enduring in this world of ours. The lives of the various characters that take place against its majestic backdrop, on the other...

The above commentator rightly argues about how the characters in Hardy’s novel do not have control over their lives. However, it can also be added in this regard that Hardy’s philosophy of life in...

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The idea of the "rustic" in Return of the Native is central to the novel's theme of man's relationship to nature. Nature, in the form of Egdon Heath, is separate from human life: it's not that it...

Fate and love are arguably two of the most important themes in Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native. The novel famously revolves around the love pentagon of Diggory Venn, Clym Yeobright, Thomasin...

The love triangle is a key element in the plot of this classic work. Let us remember that it starts of with the relationship that Eustacia and Wildeve have enjoyed, and how this relationship is...

Thomas Hardy is classified as neither a romantic nor a realistic writer but a naturalistic one. However, since naturalism is in many ways an outgrowth of realism, Hardy probably aligns more...

It is clear that in this novel, Egdon Heath in some ways is presented as being more of a character than some of the characters themselves. Note the time and space that is devoted to describing...

Thomas Hardy's first chapter of The Return of the Native is devoted to a lengthy description of Egdon Heath suggesting that it is both a natural and an intrinsic force in the lives of the...

It is only possible to write a conclusion after one has written the rest of the essay. An essay normally advances a central thesis or claim and then uses various forms of evidence to support that...

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Clym Yeobright is of course the character who corresponds to the title of the book, as he returns to his native land. However, although Clym is clearly one ofthe major characters, he spends the...

I take it you are refering to the first section of this great novel, in which Chapter Seven is entiteld "Queen of Night." This chapter is key in building up our impression of Eustacia Vye,...

Arguably, the most important scene from Hardy's masterpiece is the one in which Eustacia will not open the door to her mother-in-law. Mrs. Yeobright takes this as her son's rejection of her after...

You might like to consider the way that Egdon Heath is linked to some sort of primeval past in the novel. This effect is achieved through the description we are given of the Heath in Chapter One on...

Clement Yeobright—known as Clym—is a modern man because he is known by his history rather than his age. Thomas Hardy says that many men can be understood simply by knowing their age but that a...

In a crowded field of interesting characters, Eustacia Vye is one of Hardy's most interesting. In common with many of his creations, she is oppressed by the environment in which she lives, so much...

Key to answering this question is understanding the way in which Hardy presents Eustacia Vye as being intimately connected to the malign forces of Egdon Heath. The Heath itself is so important that...

I'm thinking you are referring to Book V, since several of the books contain a "chapter 5", and it is written differently than the other books.Book V is characterized by quick movements...

Thomas Hardy's famous 1878 novel, Return of the Native, is unique for featuring a host of developed characters rather than just one main protagonist. The passage of time has a pronounced effect on...

Thomas Hardy's views on the future of human civilization can be found in his novel The Return of the Native. The novel emphasizes the clash of cultures and values that was occurring during the...

To begin, the residents of the Heath refers to the residents of Egdon Heath in Thomas Hardy’s nineteenth-century novel The Return of the Native. Authors from a more illustrious background might...

The first chapter of The Return of the Native is an extended description of the "vast tract of unenclosed wild known as Egdon Heath". The landscape is always central to Hardy's writing and here he...

The young lady—for youth had revealed its presence in her buoyant bound up the bank—walked along the top instead of descending inside, and came to the corner where the fire was burning. One reason...

Are you merely making an observation from the novel, or are you trying to encourage discussion? If you are arguing that the heath is just as much a character in Return of the Native as the novel's...

To turn the question around a little, if I were to be studying The Return of the Native, I would want to have all the delicious irony traced and elaborated upon prior to my own analyses--and if I...