Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 – 11th January 1928)
Thomas Hardy lived at 16 Westbourne Grove Villas from 1863 to 1867 ( who also lived briefly at no. 4 Celbridge Place, which later became Porchester Road and in Newton Road). He was an English author of the naturalist movement and he regarded himself primarily as a poet, but to fund his life he also wrote novels. The bulk of his work, which is set in the semi-fictional land of Wessex, delineates characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. Hardy's poetry, first published in his 50s, has come to be as well regarded as his novels, especially after the well known movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Hardy 's first novel, Desperate Remedies was published in 1871 but it was greeted with universal disinterest. Not to be discoureged and the following year, Under the Greenwood Tree was published and it brought Hardy his popular acclaim. As with alot of his fictional works, this novel incorporated real places around Dorset into the mix, including the village school of Higher Bockhampton that Hardy first attended when he was a younger child.
Many other novels followed over the years, including Far From the Madding Crowd, Return of the Native, the Mayor of Casterbridge, followed in 1887 by The Woodlanders and in 1891 by one of his best works, Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
His most controversial book, Jude the Obscure (published 1896) landed him in real trouble as it was seen tas an attack institution of marriage and it almost ended his own marriage with his wife Emma. To his cause and somewhat bemused by the public (and Church) reaction, Hardy started to concentrate on his poetry, producing many collections, including the Wessex Poems ( published 1898).
Emma Hardy died in November 1912 and Thomas was left with guilt and remorse from the after-effects of his earlier novel. He did however channel these feelings and the result was some of his best poetry he had written about his wife for many years.
A few years later in 1914 Hardy remarried, to Florence Dugdale, his secretary since the death of Emma. Thomas Hardy himself died on January 11, 1928 at his house of Max Gate, located in Dorchester.
|
