Thomas Hardy was an English author known for his pessimistic novels of the naturalist school, set in semi-fictional Wessex. He began as an architect before achieving acclaim with Far from the Madding Crowd in 1874. Hardy later turned to poetry and died in 1928, leaving a legacy as a classic Victorian writer.
Thomas Hardy was an English author of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for his pessimistic novels of the naturalist school, including Tess of the D’Urbervilles (19) and Jude the Obscure (20), although later in his career he turned his attentions to poetry. Thomas Hardy set many of his novels in semi-fictional Wessex, which represents the south and south-west of England, and has used his work to address many of the social ills of his era. Although much of it was controversial at the time of publication, Hardy’s work now has a place among the classics of Victorian literature.
Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840 near Dorchester in Dorset, England, a town he would later immortalize in his fiction as “Casterbridge.” Hardy’s father was a stonemason, while his mother made sure he got a good education. At age 16, Thomas Hardy began an apprenticeship with a local architect. He achieved success as an architect, working in Dorset and London, before turning to a full-time literary career in 1874.
Thomas Hardy wrote his first novel, The Pauper and the Lady, in 1867, although he could not find a publisher and later destroyed the manuscript. His next two novels were published anonymously in 1871 and 1872. Thomas Hardy met his future wife, Emma Lavinia Gifford, in 1870, and wrote of their courtship in his 1873 novel A Pair of Blue Eyes, the first published under his name.
Thomas Hardy finally achieved acclaim as a writer in 1874 with Far from the Madding Crowd, allowing him to abandon his career in architecture for one in literature. Hardy began to increasingly criticize what he considered the hypocrisy of his day, shocking Victorian morality. Tess of the D’Urbervilles dealt with a “fallen woman” who became pregnant out of wedlock, while Jude the Obscure, her latest novel, dealt with a couple who chose not to marry, even though they lived together and had children – with end tragic consequences.
After Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy gave up novel writing and turned instead to poetry, publishing several volumes for the rest of his life. He was deeply affected by his wife’s death in 1912 and many of his poems from that year deal with his feelings of grief about him. In 1914, Thomas Hardy married his secretary, Florence Dugdale.
Thomas Hardy died on January 11, 1928 of pleurisy. His heart was buried at his first wife’s grave, while his ashes were buried in Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, Hardy’s unpublished manuscripts and letters were burned by his executors after his death. Hardy posthumously received far more acclaim than he ever received in his lifetime, inspiring later writers and earning his place in the literary canon.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
