The Hand Of Ethelberta: The Refinement Of Hardy's Early Views On Love And Marriage

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), was a well-known English critical realist writer in the late 19th century. Being a productive writer, he created fourteen novels, three volumes of short stories and nine hundred poems in all. Hardy began his literary career by writing poems first, but what made him eminent was his novels. He had created a lot of works within seventy years , during which, Nature was a permanent symbolic background and topic, while women were his continuous and important creative inspiration. As we all know, he portrayed a series of typical women characters: they are all beautiful and kind, but with tragic fates. Most of Hardy's novels involve the problem of love and marriage. Furthermore, in his later novels, the protagonists' marriage and their attitudes towards it always form the theme of the novels. Just as we know, marriage is an important content of mode of social life, and is also constrained by the formation of social economy, the development standard of production and culture. By portraying the protagonists' attitudes to love and marriage, Hardy eulogizes their unceasing pursuit of a happy life, discloses their inner world, and whips the society which destroyed people's love.Hardy used his hometown, Dorset, in the South of England, as the background of his Wessex novels. The year 1922 saw Hardy classify his Wessex works as three catalogues: the first, the romantic and fantasy works; the second, the character and environment novels and the third, novels with perfect structure and plot. Hardy emphasizes his creating energy on his later works, namely the character and environment novels, which embody Hardy's excellent achievement in his critical realist novels.The critics home and abroad have made a lot of comments and research on them, focusing their remarks on The Return of Native,The Major of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure...Among them, Tess and Jude were even more known to. Although Hardy's character and environment novels represent his creative climax, the other two catalogue novels were also successful in containing the rich reality factors, especially in his novels with perfect structure and plot, such as The Hand of Ethelberta, one of Hardy's early comic novels. It was a special satirical work in theme and writing tone. In this novel, Hardy molded an unique and successful woman image-Ethelberta (Berta) for the reader. Like most of Hardy's women protagonists, Berta had the similar obscure family history: born in a poor family but with wisdomand beauty. She tried to make her way to the upper society to survive. She had tried a series of means to make a living, such as telling stories and chanting poems by herself, but failed due to the scorns and prejudices from upper society. At the end of the novel, Berta had to marry an old Lord-Mountclere , a 65 years old man to fulfill her life goal.Although Berta had the same obscure birth background, she occupied the much wits and bravery which the other women images lack. She was wise and resourceful, and steadfast in her stand. She had sharp tastes, and managed to attack the upper class represented by her Mother-in-law, Mrs. Patherwin, and her suitors: the great artist Neigh and the noted aristocratic Ladywell. She was good at cheating and mocking them coldly. As to the foxy old Lord, she had a battle of wits, trying her best to get her rights. When Hardy portrayed Berta's growing history: from the little girl with wisdom and sagacity, pursuit of the poetic success, to the woman utilitarian little by little, he took a tight hold of her growing in inner world. What she did and thought about was not only the necessary choice of her pursuit of her future, but also for her people: her ten brothers and sisters, their basic necessities of life, and conditions of being educated and employed. In the last chapter of the novel, Berta was still fighting single-handed, but , after all, she succeeded in controlling the old Lord and stepping into the throne of the Enckworth Court. Her people each were in their proper place.