Слайд 2Thomas Hardy was an English novelist and poet who was born
in Upper Bockhampton, a village to the east of Dorchester in Dorset, England, in 1840 on June 2. His father Thomas (d.1892) worked as a stonemason(каменщик) and local builder. His mother Jemima (d.1904) was well-read. She educated Thomas until he went to his first school at Bockhampton at age 8.
Слайд 3For several years he attended Mr. Last's Academy for Young Gentlemen
in Dorchester. Here he learned Latin and demonstrated academic potential. However, a family of Hardy's social position lacked the means for a university education, and his formal education ended at the age of sixteen when he became an apprentice of James Hicks, a local architect. Hardy trained as an architect in Dorchester before moving to London in 1862.
Слайд 4In London he became a student at King's College. He won
prizes from the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Architectural Association. Hardy was in charge of the excavation (раскопки) of the graveyard of St Pancras Old Church. Hardy never felt at home in London. He was acutely (резко) conscious of class divisions and his social inferiority. However, he was interested in social reforms. Five years later, concerned about his health, he returned to Dorset and decided to dedicate himself to writing.
Слайд 6In 1870, while on an architectural mission to restore the parish
church of St Juliot in Cornwall, Hardy met and fell in love with Emma Lavinia Gifford, whom he married in 1874. Although they later became estranged (раздельно проживающий), her death in 1912 had a traumatic effect on him. After her death, Hardy made a trip to Cornwall to revisit places linked with their courtship, and his Poems 1912–13 reflect upon her death.
Слайд 7She was 39 years his junior. However, he remained preoccupied with
his first wife's death and tried to overcome his remorse by writing poetry.
Слайд 8In 1910, Hardy was awarded the Order of Merit.
Слайд 9Hardy's first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, finished by
1867, failed to find a publisher. He showed the novel to his mentor (наставник) and friend, the Victorian poet and novelist, George Meredith who felt that this book would be too politically controversial and might damage Hardy's ability to publish in the future. So Hardy followed his advice and gave up on trying to publish it. Later, he destroyed the manuscript so that no copies of it exist today.
Слайд 10After he abandoned his first novel, Hardy wrote two new ones
that he hoped would have more commercial appeal, Desperate Remedies (1871) and Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) which he decided to publish anonymously.
Слайд 11Under the Greenwood Tree or The Mellstock Quire: A Rural Painting
of the Dutch School was published anonymously in 1872. It was Hardy's second published novel, the last to be printed without his name, and the first of his great series of Wessex novels. While Hardy originally thought of simply calling it The Mellstock Quire, he settled on a title taken from a song in Shakespeare's As You Like It (Act II, Scene V).
Слайд 12The Hardys moved from London to Yeovil and then to Sturminster
Newton, where he wrote The Return of the Native (1878). In 1885, they moved for the last time, to Max Gate, a house outside Dorchester designed by Hardy and built by his brother. There he wrote The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), and Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891).
Слайд 14It is a tragic novel, subtitled "The Life and Death of
a Man of Character“. It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge based on the town of Dorchester. The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels.
Слайд 15While traveling to the island of Jersey on business, Henchard falls
in love with a young woman named Lucetta. Because of their relationships Lucetta's reputation is ruined. In order to rejoin polite society she must marry him, but there is a problem: Susan unexpectedly appears in Casterbridge with her daughter, Elizabeth-Jane. Susan and Elizabeth-Jane are both very poor. Newson have been lost at sea.
A tidy Scotsman, Donald Farfrae, is passing through on his way to America. But he becomes friend with Henchard and helps him out of a bad financial situation.
Слайд 16In 1921 a silent film The Mayor of Casterbridge was directed
by Sidney Morgan.
In 1951 the novel was adapted as an opera by the British composer Peter Tranchell.
A version of the story was also filmed in 2000 as The Claim, with the setting changed to a town in the American West.
In 2008 Helen Edmundson adapted it into a three-episode radio play for BBC Radio.
Слайд 17The novel was first published in 1891. It initially appeared in
a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper, The Graphic. The original manuscript is on display at the British Library, showing that it was originally titled as "Daughter of the d'Urbervilles."
Слайд 18The book is the last of Thomas Hardy's novels. It began
as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. Its character, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a scholar. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. The themes in the novel revolve around issues of class, education, religion and marriage. It was met with stronger negative outcries from the Victorian public for its frank treatment of sex, and was often referred to as "Jude the Obscene“ (неприличный).
The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield.
Слайд 19After a great amount of negative criticism erupted from the publication
of his novel Jude The Obscure, Hardy decided to give up writing novels permanently and to focus his literary efforts on writing poetry. In 1898 Hardy published his first volume of poetry, Wessex Poems, a collection of poems written over 30 years. After giving up the novel form, Hardy continued to publish poetry collections until his death in 1928.
His verse had a profound influence on later writers, especially Philip Larkin, who included many of Hardy's poems in the edition of the Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse that Larkin edited in 1973.
Слайд 20Most of Hardy's poems, such as "Neutral Tones'" and "A Broken
Appointment", deal with themes of disappointment in love and life, and mankind's long struggle against indifference to human suffering. Using stylistic patterns similar to those that he used in his novels, Hardy sometimes wrote ironic poems, like "Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave". Some, like "The Darkling Thrush" and "An August Midnight", appear as poems about writing poetry, because the nature mentioned in them gives Hardy the inspiration to write. A particularly strong theme in the Wessex Poems is the long shadow that the Napoleonic Wars cast over the nineteenth century, for example, in "The Sergeant's Song" and "Leipzig".
Слайд 21Hardy became ill with pleurisy (плеврит) in December 1927 and died
at Max Gate on 11 January 1928
His funeral was on 16 January at Westminster Abbey, and it proved a controversial occasion because Hardy and his family and friends had wished for his body to be interred (хоронить) at Stinsford in the same grave as his first wife, Emma. However, his executor, Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, insisted that he should be placed in the Abbey's famous Poets' Corner. A compromise was reached whereby his heart was buried at Stinsford with Emma, and his ashes in Poets' Corner..