Thomas Hardy And The Comic Muse

There has long been a tendency to regard Thomas Hardy as a great tragic writer and to ignore or underestimate the value of his comic works. This derives no doubt partly from the fact that comedy as an art form has been consistently undervalued ever since Aristotle dealt with it so slightly and so slightingly. It also stems from the evident inability of some readers and critics to allow an artist a wide scope and multiple voices. Thomas Hardy and the Comic Muse discusses the nature of comedy and the various theories that purport to explain or define it, and examines Hardy’s works — novels, short stories, and poetry — in terms of the categories of farce, humour, satire, and wit. It looks at where and why Hardy made use of these forms of comedy, what his historical sources were, and why this side of his work has been so frequently neglected. It also looks at what insights might be offered by Hardy — both directly and indirectly — to answer the difficult but always tantalizing question: what is comedy? The two subjects, Hardy and Comedy, are counterpointed throughout so that they prove to be mutually illuminating.

Thomas Hardy penned nearly fifty short stories, but in spite of this impressive number, his contributions to the genre have been relatively understudied. Bringing together an international group of scholars, this is the first edited collection devoted solely to Hardy's works of short fiction. The contributors take up topics related to their publication in periodicals, gender and community relationships, and narrative techniques. Taken together, the essays show that Hardy's short stories are important, not only for what they tell us about Hardy as a writer who straddles the divide between the traditionalist and the modernist, but also for how they reflect and inform the period in which he wrote.

Thomas Hardy enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a novelist before devoting his talents to writing poetry for the remainder of his life. This book focuses on Hardy's remarkable achievements as a novelist. Although Victorian readers considered some of his works controversial, his novels remained highly regarded. His novels still appear in the syllabi of courses in Victorian literature and the British novel, as well as courses in feminist/gender studies, environmental studies, and other topics. For scholars, students, and the general reader, this companion helps to makes Hardy's novels accessible by providing a detailed biography of Hardy, plot summaries of each novel, and analyses of the critical contexts surrounding them. Entries focus on the people, cultural forces, literary forms, and movements that influenced Hardy's novels. The companion also suggests approaches for original interpretations and suggestions for further study.

Good Press presents to you the meticulously edited collection of the greatest historical romance novels: Uarda: A Romance of Ancient Egypt (Georg Ebers) The New Abelard: Love in the Times of Cathedrals (Robert Williams Buchanan) Hildebrand: The Days of Queen Elizabeth (Anonymous) Love-at-Arms (Rafael Sabatini) The Making Of A Saint (W. Somerset Maugham) The Cloister and the Hearth (Charles Reade) The Princess of Cleves (Madame de La Fayette) The Forest Lovers (Maurice Hewlett) Malcolm (George MacDonald) Scarlet Letter: Love in the Colonial Period (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The Wild Irish Girl (Lady Sydney Morgan) Sophia (Stanley John Weyman) Paul and Virginia (Bernardin de Saint-Pierre) Memoirs of Emma Courtney (Mary Hays) Powder and Patch (Georgette Heyer) The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (Eliza Haywood) Fantomina (Eliza Haywood) Olinda's Adventures (Catharine Trotter Cockburn) Belinda (Maria Edgeworth) Dangerous Liaisons (Pierre Choderlos de Laclos) Evelina (Fanny Burney) Pamela Trilogy Mary (Mary Wollstonecraft) Jane Austen: Pride & Prejudice Sense & Sensibility Mansfield Park Emma Persuasion Miss Marjoribanks & Phoebe, Junior (Mrs. Olifant) Vanity Fair (Thackeray) Mr. Rowl (D. K. Broster) The Battle of the Strong (Gilbert Parker) Kitty Alone (Sabine Baring-Gould) Sentimental Education (Gustave Flaubert) Lady Anna (Anthony Trollope) The Manoeuvring Mother (Lady Charlotte Bury) Ramona (Helen Hunt Jackson) Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë) The Lady of the Camellias (Alexandre Dumas) The Portrait of a Lady & The Wings of the Dove (Henry James) Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton) Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy) Bel Ami (Guy de Maupassant) The Squatter and the Don (María Ruiz de Burton) Maria Chapdelaine (Louis Hémon) The Four Feathers (A. E. W. Mason) The Miranda Trilogy (Grace Livingston Hill) The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Good Press presents to you the collection of carefully selected historical romance novels which will transport you to the time of Ancient Egypt, Medieval Castles, Renaissance Cities, Regency Social Circles and Parisian Belle Époque: Uarda: A Romance of Ancient Egypt (Georg Ebers) The New Abelard: Love in the Times of Cathedrals (Robert Williams Buchanan) Hildebrand: The Days of Queen Elizabeth (Anonymous) Love-at-Arms (Rafael Sabatini) The Cloister and the Hearth (Charles Reade) The Princess of Cleves (Madame de La Fayette) The Forest Lovers (Maurice Hewlett) Malcolm (George MacDonald) Scarlet Letter: Love in the Colonial Period (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The Wild Irish Girl (Lady Sydney Morgan) The Dark Mile (D. K. Broster) Sophia (Stanley John Weyman) Paul and Virginia (Bernardin de Saint-Pierre) Memoirs of Emma Courtney (Mary Hays) The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (Eliza Haywood) Olinda's Adventures (Cockburn) Belinda (Maria Edgeworth) Dangerous Liaisons (De Laclos) Evelina (Fanny Burney) Pamela Trilogy Mary (Mary Wollstonecraft) Jane Austen: Pride & Prejudice Sense & Sensibility Mansfield Park Emma Persuasion Miss Marjoribanks & Phoebe, Junior (Mrs. Olifant) Vanity Fair (Thackeray) Mr. Rowl (D. K. Broster) The Battle of the Strong (Gilbert Parker) Kitty Alone (Sabine Baring-Gould) Sentimental Education (Gustave Flaubert) Lady Anna (Anthony Trollope) The Manoeuvring Mother (Lady Charlotte Bury) Ramona (Helen Hunt Jackson) Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë) The Lady of the Camellias (Alexandre Dumas) The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James) Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton) Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy) Bel Ami (Guy de Maupassant) The Squatter and the Don The Four Feathers (A. E. W. Mason) The Miranda Trilogy (Grace Livingston Hill) The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Discover the love, passion and heartbreak through the ages in this collection of carefully selected historical romance novels which will transport you to the time of Ancient Egypt, Medieval Castles, Renaissance Cities, Regency Social Circles and Parisian Belle Époque: Uarda: A Romance of Ancient Egypt (Georg Ebers) The New Abelard: Love in the Times of Cathedrals (Robert Williams Buchanan) Hildebrand: The Days of Queen Elizabeth (Anonymous) Love-at-Arms (Rafael Sabatini) The Cloister and the Hearth (Charles Reade) The Princess of Cleves (Madame de La Fayette) The Forest Lovers (Maurice Hewlett) Malcolm (George MacDonald) Scarlet Letter: Love in the Colonial Period (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The Wild Irish Girl (Lady Sydney Morgan) The Dark Mile (D. K. Broster) Sophia (Stanley John Weyman) Paul and Virginia (Bernardin de Saint-Pierre) Memoirs of Emma Courtney (Mary Hays) The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (Eliza Haywood) Olinda's Adventures (Cockburn) Belinda (Maria Edgeworth) Dangerous Liaisons (De Laclos) Evelina (Fanny Burney) Pamela Trilogy Mary (Mary Wollstonecraft) First Love (Mrs. Loudon) Jane Austen: Pride & Prejudice Sense & Sensibility Mansfield Park Emma Persuasion Miss Marjoribanks & Phoebe, Junior (Mrs. Olifant) Vanity Fair (Thackeray) Mr. Rowl (D. K. Broster) The Battle of the Strong (Gilbert Parker) Kitty Alone (Sabine Baring-Gould) Sentimental Education (Gustave Flaubert) Lady Anna (Anthony Trollope) The Manoeuvring Mother (Lady Charlotte Bury) Ramona (Helen Hunt Jackson) Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë) The Lady of the Camellias (Alexandre Dumas) The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James) Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton) Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy) Bel Ami (Guy de Maupassant) The Squatter and the Don The Four Feathers (A. E. W. Mason) The Miranda Trilogy (Grace Livingston Hill) The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)