Sponsoring Committee: Professor Louise M. Rosenblatt, Professor Julian C. Aldrich, and Provost Thomas Clark Pollock THE SOCIAL IDEAS OF THOMAS HARDY by John A. Tallmadge ll Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ir_ the School of Education of New York University NEW YORK UNIVERSITY INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATION The stu e.:t hereby guarantees that no part .of the dir:,:.ertation or document which he has submitted for publication has been heretofore published and (or) copyrighted in the United States of America, except in the case of passages quoted i'rom other published sources; that he is the sole author and proprietor of said dissertation or document; that the dissertation or document contains no matter which, if publsihed, w ill be libelous or other wise injurious, or infringe in any way the copyright of any other party; and that he will defend, indemnify and hold harmless New York University against all suits and proceedings which may be brought ahd against all claims which may be made against Newr York University by reason of the publication of said di",vertstion or document. Abstract of ¥>' THE SOCIAL IDEAS OF THOMAS HARDY The social ideas of Thomas Hardy, as expressed in his sixteen novels and forty-four short stories, are shown in th is th esis to have centered about certain recurrently- treated problemss social stratification, the status of women, B ritish education, and the condition of rural and city labor­ ers. Chapter I traces the origin, development, and crystal­ liz a tio n of Hardy’s social philosophy and shows how his ideas developed from his personal experiences, his reading, and his contacts w ith contemporary social thinkers. Evidence is pre­ sented that even before publication of his first novel, he had arrived at convictions about social problems later stressed in his fictio n . Chapter II deals with many instances in Hardy's novels in which he creates an unfavorable picture of English social s tra tific a tio n . This clearly was for him a fundamental weak­ ness of B ritish society, causing or exacerbating many of the other social i l ls . The novels repeatedly present working class characters suffering oppression by the higher classes, who Ignore th e ir squalid living conditions, and profit by th e ir labor. Lower middle class characters are shown being denied opportunities for education, social and economic advancement. The upper middle class is bitterly criticized by Hardy for enjoying unjustly great prerogatives. The no­ b ility are depicted in the early fiction as selfish hedonists, but receive less criticism in the la te r w ritings. Chapter III shows how Hardy’s novels re fle c t continuing concern for the status of women. He repeatedly chose for his central plot situations which would throw lig h t on the problems of women in Victorian society. His women characters reveal his belief that women, if given opportunities, are as capable as men in most fields. He shows women lim ited in educational and social opportunities, compelled to regard m arriage as their only means of support, and often forced to marry un­ wanted husbands for economic or other reasons. Hardy also in various instances in his fictio n indicated his disapproval of the double standard. Chapter IV shows that Hardy’s novels repeatedly portray the intense individualism of the ru ral workers in sp ite of environmental difficulties, class prejudice, and lim ited edu­ cational opportunities. Much of his fictio n , esp ecially his major novels, presents vivid pictures of ru ral worker’s eco­ nomic and social d ifficu lties. In these works they su ffer especially from uncertainty of employment, a low standard of living, and evictions a t the whims of landlords. In Chapter V, Hardy is shown to have described c ity la ­ borers as more articulate than ru ral ones in making known th eir plight. In Jtie Poor Man and The Lady he deals w ith general problems of labor's rights; in Desperate Remedies and Jude the Obscure, with the human effects of th eir low social sta tu s; and in The Hand of Ethelberta. with the theme of the dignity of labor. C hapter VI deals with Hardy's ideas about the discrimina­ tory ch aracter of the B ritish educational system. His fiction contains many references to widespread illiteracy among the ru ra l m asses, regim entation in normal schools for women, and the lack of train in g and counsel for poor but bright students. Jude the Obscure especially presents his unfavorable views on B ritish education, p articu larly on the university level. Yet the e ig h t b r illia n t school teachers in his fiction show his hopeful view of the future for education. Chapter VII deals w ith Hardy's experiences with editorial bow dlerlzatlons of outspoken social problems, and the prudery which led publishers to censor presentations of social pheno­ mena. H ardy's vigorous fig h t to maintain the original versions of h is works when they were published in book form, and his expressions of disapproval of the limitations placed on the n o v e list, are evidence of the strength of his desire to make known his so cial ideas through his fiction. THE SOCIAL IDEAS OF THOMAS HARDY TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface The Problem...................................................................................................................... .P age 1 Method of Procedure...................................... ........................ .....................................Page 6 Chapter I The Development of Thomas H ardy's Social Ideas about the S ix Problems as Explained under "Method of Procedure," (Biographical S k e t c h ) . , . . ...................Page 17 Chapter II Hardy's Treatment of Problems Involving Rigid Social S t r a t if ic a t io n in Britain. ..................................................................................Page __?1 Chapter I I I Hardy's Ideas Concerning the Position of Women............................................................................Page 155 Chapter IV Rural Laborers and Their L if e . . . . . . P a g e 189 Chapter V Town and City Laborers.................................................................Page 223 Chapter VI Hardy's Views on EnglishE ducation and Its Limitations.......................................................................Page 240 Chapter VII Hardy's Presentation of S o c ia l Concepts and Problems in S p ite of Censorship and Constant Attacks of Mrs. Grundy................................................... . . . . P a g e 262 Chapter VIII Conclusions Page 286 B ib liograp h y Page ^02 -1~ THE SOCIAL IDEAS OF THOMAS HARDY THE PROBLEM The problem o f t h is t h e s is is to trace the development o l , and a n a ly ze the ch a ra c ter o f, th e s o c ia l ideas of Thomas Hardy con cern in g c o n d itio n s in contem porary Britain, as ex p ressed in h is tw enty p u b lish ed volum es of fiction, includ­ in g s ix t e e n n o v e ls and fo r ty -fo u r sh ort sto ries. The s p e c if ic problem s to be answered are these: X. A g a in st what background are the social ideas oi Thomas Hardy p resen ted ? I I . How and when d id Thomas Hardy develop these views? I I I . What a n a ly se s o f B r it is h s o c ia l conditions did he make? IV. What are h is id e a s fo r s o c ia l betterment found in h is f ic t i o n ? V. Is i t p o s s ib le to d efin e th ese ideas more exactly by r e fe r r in g to h is statem en ts made elsewhere? The word s o c ia l in t h is t h e s is i s taken to mean that w hich p e r ta in s to the r e la tio n s h ip s o f people with institu­ t io n s , w ith each o th e r , and w ith s o c ie ty as an organism, i t p e r ta in s to t h e ir p h y s ic a l and m ental contacts. As a p p lie d to f i c t i o n , i t con cern s th ose id ea s of an author w hich d e a l w ith , or im ply the. v a lu es, conditions, and evils r e s u lt in g from such c o n ta c ts o f human beings, such as over­ crow ding in c i t i e s . The word s o c ia l a p p lies to people's r e la t io n s to such i n s t i t u t i o n s as the home, the school or e d u c a tio n , the s ta t e or lo c a l governm ents, group organizations, -2- the law, and th e ir rela tio n sh ip s to social custom s, f o l k lore and to form alized so c ia l patterns. The l a t t e r a r e icnown to have been su b je c ts with which Hardy was o fte n con­ cerned. The word s o c ia l i s applicable to so c ia l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n , or cla ss g ro u p in g s; i t ap p lies to social standards and con­ cepts of m arriage and sex relationships, which are f r e q u e n t ly involved in f i c t i o n . It also deals with en viron m en tal grou p ­ ings or in flu e n c e s such as the position of r u r a l and urban laborers in s o c ie t y in England; i t deals w ith the p o s it io n of woman in s o c ie t y as affected by her r e la tio n to man and her occupation or c a r e e r , and the position of th e p o o r . It a lso concerns p a r tic u la r patterns of a p a r tic u la r s ta g e oi cu ltu ra l developm ent which the writer i s d e s c r ib in g . Since the V i c t o r i a l Age was one of changing s o c ia l p a t t e r n s , these p a ttern s w i l l sometimes deal with tr a n s itio n a l c u l t u r a l stages and c o n f lic t in g or developing phases of th ese s t a g e s . The problem w i l l n ot be to determine the v a l i d i t y of HardyT a o p in io n s ex p ressed or implied. Only th e o r ig in of his ideas and how he a p p lied them in d e fin ite s it u a t io n s i s determined. Only th o se aspects of his so c ia l th in k in g w hich appear in h i s f i c t i o n w i l l be considered, not th o se o f h is nine hundred e ig h te e n sh ort poems, or of h is lo n g poem, The Dynasts. S o c ia l id e a s about conditions he noted in h i s diary, but d id not use in his fic tio n , are not c o n sid e r e d . Less weight i s g iv e n to cases where the p lo t o f the w ork oi 3 - - f ic tio n is e v id e n tly u n r e a lis tic or la id in a period in the past as co n tra sted w ith those where the scene is contemporary. In the novels o f a predom inately rom antic nature, lik e Under the Greenwood Tree or many of the W essex T a les. where there is l i t t l e r e a l i s t i c atm osphere, th ere is le s s lik elih o o d of finding p u rp osefu l s o c ia l c r itic is m than in Tess o f the D 'U r b e rv llle s. which portrayed contemporary action as taking place up to the very year Hardy began w ritin g th is novel, in 1869. It is assumed that the most prominent s o c ia l ideas of an outstanding V ic to ria n w riter o f s ix te e n novels and forty- four short s t o r ie s , which have had a s a le running up to the m illio n s o f c o p ie s, w ill be o f i n t e r e t to students and scholars o f lit e r a t u r e . Secondly, i t is assumed th at the p icture o f V icto ria n l i f e by such a w riter w ill, i f he is shown to have 1 le a r ly defined s o c ia l con cep ts, (as can easily be shown), take on new meaning i f viewed in a new lig h t. Thirdly, the above assum ptions w ill lead to a p o ssib le revalu ation of H ardy's work. The b a sic assumption of this study is th a t, i f f ic t io n a l s itu a tio n s and themes recur fre­ quently enough in an author's works, and w ith enough emphasis, they may be le g itim a te ly considered to r e f le c t h is views of the so c ia l s itu a tio n s and problems they tr e a t. Hardy’ s s o c ia l thinking has not been treated in an organized study; accord in gly, i t has not been adequately emphasized. This stu d y, confined to Hardy's fic tio n to gain -4 - greater unity and fo c u s , i s needed for these reasons: 1. Hardy is one o f th e few V ictorian n o v elists whose works are s t i l l w id ely read "both by c r it ic a l th in k ­ ers and by th e g en era l p u b lic. This fact is a t t e s ­ ted by th e number o f e d itio n s of his works p r in te d in the p a st f iv e y e a r s, by extended sch olarly studies o f h is works li k e those of P rofessors C arl J. V/eber, Lord David C e c il, Albert J. Guerard, and Harvey C u rtis W ebster in the la s t decade, and by the withdrawals from u n iv ersity and public l i b r a r i e s . His works appeal to modern readers partly b ecau se of his r e a l i s t i c ten d en cy, which also in clu d es treatment o f s o c ia l problems of the time; pa.rtly because o f the la c k o f V ictorian sen tim en tality; and p artly b ecau se o f th e ir plot or sty le. 2 . The s o c io lo g ic a l view p o in t in Hardy's n o v e ls, even to the cursory r e a d e r , shows a fearless treatm ent of certain w eaknesses in Victorian society; f r e ­ quently th o se wrongs were not being remedied be­ cause o f the cen so rsh ip o f editors upon novel - w riters c o n sid e r in g such matters as dealt w ith s e x , the rig h ts o f th e w orkers, women's righ ts, the double standard o f m orals, or the condition o f th e poor. T his s tu d y , made a fter a careful co m p ila tio n of a ll the r e fe r e n c e s to social conditions w i l l point out the s p e c if ic so c ia l conditions Hardy wished to Im prove. 3. 'whereas sco res o f s tu d ie s of Hardy's pessim ism ,! h is fa ta lism ,^ and h is determinism, m eliorism , and other p h ilo s o p h ic a l id e a s 0 have been made, h is social thought h a s been overlooked. Although Hardy did have s p e c if ic s o c ia l criticism s which he s ta te d fe a r le ssly and f r e q u e n t ly , he did not d esire to be considered a w r ite r who had a well-rounded p h ilo ­ sophy in th e p h ilo so p h e r 's use of the word. There­ fore, it i s co n sid ered to be Just to study h is social con cep ts as h ith e r to overlooked. 1. Helen Garwood , Thomas Hardy as an Illu stra tio n o f the Philosoohv of Schopenhauer (P hiladelphia, C. of P e n n sy l­ vania P ress, 1S11). 2. Albert P. H lllo t t , F a ta lism in the Works of Thomas H ardy, (Philadelphia, U n iv e r sity o f Pennsylvania P r ess, 1 9 3 5 ). 3 . Harvey C. W ebster, On & D arkling Plain . (Chicago, University of Chicago , 1947) .