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This new, postmodern and incisive exploration of Thomas Hardy offers an exciting and radical reappraisal of the discourses of gender, desire, class, economy, socialization, identity and patriarchy in his fiction and poetry. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e This new edition of Sexing Hardy includes a new introduction and a new bibliography. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e EXTRACT FORM CHAPTER ONE: THOMAS HARDY AND FEMINISM \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Is Thomas Hardy a feminist? Are Thomas Hardy's works feminist? How much do his works reflect and bolster the patriarchal attitudes and beahviour of his era, and how much do they question them? What is the relation between Hardy and the feminists of his time? And what is the link between Hardy's works and the feminism of the early 21st century? \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Thomas Hardy's theme is what you might call 'Wessexuality', 'Wes-sex-mania', Wessexual politics. Hardy's works are sexist, patriarchal and masculinist, and yet they question notions of sexism, gender, identity, patriarchy and masculinism. A text such as Tess of the d'Urbervilles is 'traditional', and follows patriarchal codes and morals. Yet it also questions them, and offers a number of feminist critiques of late 19th century society. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e In his letters, Thomas Hardy proposed feminist views; he wrote to feminists such as the suffragette leader Millicent Fawcett that a child was the mother's own business, not the father's (Collected Letters, 3, 238). One can see these feminist sentiments in, for example, Hardy's treatment of Tess in her motherhood: she works in the fields just a few weeks after the birth, even though she is melancholy (she seems to be suffering a mild form of post-natal depression). Tess further subverts patriarchy by taking her child's baptism into her own hands. 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Margaret Elvy's book, however, uses up-to-date research in the fields of cultural studies, feminist poetics, gay, lesbian and queer theory. This new, postmodern and incisive exploration of Thomas Hardy offers an exciting and radical reappraisal of the discourses of gender, desire, class, economy, socialization, identity and patriarchy in his fiction and poetry. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e This new edition of Sexing Hardy includes a new introduction and a new bibliography. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e EXTRACT FORM CHAPTER ONE: THOMAS HARDY AND FEMINISM \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Is Thomas Hardy a feminist? Are Thomas Hardy's works feminist? How much do his works reflect and bolster the patriarchal attitudes and beahviour of his era, and how much do they question them? What is the relation between Hardy and the feminists of his time? 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The author attacks similar targets: the family, politics, religion, marriage, education and sexuality. Hardy was on fire when he wrote Jude the Obscure - it is a very angry work. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Jude the Obscure, though, contains far more polemic and philosophizing than Tess or any of the earlier novels. The preaching and polemic threatens to undo the narrative, which is nevertheless 'realist', like other Thomas Hardy fictions. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e In Jude the Obscure, Hardy was stretching the novel to the limit, testing the boundaries of what is 'acceptable'. In Jude the Obscure, the things that say 'you shan't' are, variously, God, religion, education, circumstance, chance, nature, and marriage. All of the institutions and 'causes' reside inside the individual, which is what makes the problems they create so difficult to deal with for Sue and Jude. Patriarchy, culture and society are not in some 'out there' space, but in people. Hardy's thoughts on Jude the Obscure, as expressed in the Life and letters, include his desire for a novel about characters 'into whose souls the iron has entered'; a desire to make the story 'grimy' in order to heighten the contrast between the ideal life and the 'squalid real life'; the novel 'makes for morality', Hardy said; and ended up 'a mass of imperfections', a remark many artists have made of their work. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51105675182353,"sku":"NIN9781861712868","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52453444649233,"sku":"NLS9781861712868","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1861712863.jpg?v=1762422934"},{"product_id":"thomas-hardy-s-jude-the-obscure-book-margaret-elvy-9781861712714","title":"Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51212679217425,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51212680888593,"sku":"NIN9781861712714","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52483084583185,"sku":"NLS9781861712714","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1861712715.jpg?v=1751379742"},{"product_id":"crescent-moon-book-of-nature-poetry-book-margaret-elvy-9781861711328","title":"The Crescent Moon Book of Nature Poetry","description":"THE CRESCENT MOON BOOK OF NATURE POETRY \u003cp\u003e An anthology of great nature poems, including the Elizabethan pastorals of Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh and Michael Drayton, and classics of nature mysticism by Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, James Thomson, William Blake and William Wordsworth, among others. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Famous anthology pieces nestle amongst lesser known poems, including some neglected women poets, and American poets such as Amy Lowell and Emily Dickinson. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e The British nature poetry tradition builds on the Greek tradition of bucolic themes. The early poems of the nature poetry tradition in Britain include 'Sumer is y-cumen in', that famous hymn to the rebirth of Spring and warmth. The strength of the mediaeval rhythms continues undiminished. It is (partially) the solidity of the poetic rhythm of 'Sumer is y-cumen in' that makes the poem so successful. The rhymes, too, do not jar, as so they often do in British poetry from the Victorian era onwards. The rhymes of Langland, Chaucer and mediaeval English poets weld their verses together. In Chaucer's famous poem included here the rhyme scheme is as complex as any in troubadour or French Symbolist poetry, but Chaucer sticks to strong, basic end-words: 'blake', 'make', 'wake' and 'shake'. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Just as beautiful as 'Sumer is y-comen in', though less well-known, are the many anonymous poems of nature, of the mediaeval era, of which Lenten is come with love to towne is such a delicious example. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e In nature poetry, whether of the mediaeval epoch or of contemporary poets, notions such as Spring, childhood and paradise fuse. Terms such as idyll, Arcadia, Eden and golden age are different names for a fount of feeling, to do with love\/ nature\/ childhood\/ purity, and which lies at the heart of nature poetry. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e One finds archetypal imagery in the nature poetry included here. There is the wood or forest, for example, such a key part of William Shakespeare's plays. In Sir Philip Sidney's poem from The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, the woods are 'the delight of solitariness'. In Sir Thomas Wyatt's I must go walk the woods so wild, the forest becomes a place of wilderness and banishment (again a common theme in Shakespeare). In Sir Walter Raleigh's 'The Nymph's Reply to the Sheepheard', we find the archetypal (indeed, stereotypical) imagery of the shepherd abroad in the countryside meeting the nymph. By the time of Henry Vaughan's poetry, God and Christianity has infused nature poetry, so that nature becomes subordinated to (and a part of) God's divine plan. But the love of nature continues unabated in the Romantic poets, in Shelley, Browning, and the Wordsworths, up to and beyond Thomas Hardy. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51249151738129,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51249154621713,"sku":"NIN9781861711328","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52348416885009,"sku":"NLS9781861711328","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1861711328.jpg?v=1753684437"},{"product_id":"crescent-moon-book-of-nature-poetry-book-margaret-elvy-9781861718495","title":"The Crescent Moon Book of Nature Poetry","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eTHE CRESCENT MOON BOOK OF NATURE POETR\u003c\/strong\u003eYEdited and introduced by Margaret ElvyGift Book (Pocket Size = 6 x 4 inches)An anthology of great nature poems, including the Elizabethan pastorals of Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh and Michael Drayton, and classics of nature mysticism by Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, James Thomson, William Blake and William Wordsworth, among others. Famous anthology pieces nestle amongst lesser known poems, including some neglected women poets, and American poets such as Amy Lowell and Emily Dickinson. The British nature poetry tradition builds on the Greek tradition of bucolic themes. The early poems of the nature poetry tradition in Britain include 'Sumer is y-cumen in', that famous hymn to the rebirth of Spring and warmth. The strength of the mediaeval rhythms continues undiminished. It is (partially) the solidity of the poetic rhythm of 'Sumer is y-cumen in' that makes the poem so successful. The rhymes, too, do not jar, as so they often do in British poetry from the Victorian era onwards. The rhymes of Langland, Chaucer and mediaeval English poets weld their verses together. In Chaucer's famous poem included here the rhyme scheme is as complex as any in troubadour or French Symbolist poetry, but Chaucer sticks to strong, basic end-words: 'blake', 'make', 'wake' and 'shake'. Just as beautiful as 'Sumer is y-comen in', though less well-known, are the many anonymous poems of nature, of the mediaeval era, of which Lenten is come with love to towne is such a delicious example.In nature poetry, whether of the mediaeval epoch or of contemporary poets, notions such as Spring, childhood and paradise fuse. Terms such as idyll, Arcadia, Eden and golden age are different names for a fount of feeling, to do with love\/ nature\/ childhood\/ purity, and which lies at the heart of nature poetry. One finds archetypal imagery in the nature poetry included here. There is the wood or forest, for example, such a key part of William Shakespeare's plays. In Sir Philip Sidney's poem from The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, the woods are 'the delight of solitariness'. In Sir Thomas Wyatt's I must go walk the woods so wild, the forest becomes a place of wilderness and banishment (again a common theme in Shakespeare). In Sir Walter Raleigh's 'The Nymph's Reply to the Sheepheard', we find the archetypal (indeed, stereotypical) imagery of the shepherd abroad in the countryside meeting the nymph. By the time of Henry Vaughan's poetry, God and Christianity has infused nature poetry, so that nature becomes subordinated to (and a part of) God's divine plan. But the love of nature continues unabated in the Romantic poets, in Shelley, Browning, and the Wordsworths, up to and beyond Thomas Hardy.With an introduction and bibliography. The text has been revised for this edition. A small, pocket size edition, ideal for gifts. Also available in an E-book edition. www.crmoon.com.\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51295709495569,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51295711265041,"sku":"NIN9781861718495","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52453834293521,"sku":"NLS9781861718495","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1861718497.jpg?v=1750768896"},{"product_id":"thomas-hardy-s-tess-of-the-d-urbervilles-book-margaret-elvy-9781861713872","title":"Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles","description":"THOMAS HARDY'S TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES: A CRITICAL STUDY \u003cp\u003e A detailed and incisive analysis of Thomas Hardy's classic 1891 novel, using the latest research in feminism, gay, lesbian and queer theory, and cultural studies. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Illustrated (includes images from the magazine serializations of Tess). Bibliogaphy. Notes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e This edition has been completely revised. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e www.crmoon.com \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Margaret Elvy offers a thorough reappraisal of Thomas Hardy's favourite heroine. Elvy incorporates much of recent Hardy criticism, in which Hardy has been reappraised in the light of materialist, psychoanalytic, gender, poststructuralist and feminist criticism. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a novel of anger, a text which rages against time, God, industrialization, and social institutions such as marriage, Chrisianity, the Church, law and education. What does Tess Durbeyfield do that is 'wrong'? Thomas Hardy explains in the book: ' s]he had been made to break an accepted social law, but no law known to the environment in which she fancied herself such an anomaly.' \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Tess is forced, or is led, or falls into a complex situation by circumstances, confusions, innocence (or ignorance), bad communication and desire. She is 'made' to break 'an accepted social law': it is the same with Eustacia Vye in The Return of the Native, and Sue Bridehead in Jude the Obscure. Somehow, their very existence means transgressions will occur. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Tess Durbeyfield transgresses society, goes against grain. She (unwittingly perhaps) places herself outside of society and the law. She learns that there are different kinds of laws, different sets of laws for different groups of people. She has to learn about social boundaries, and how to keep inside of limits. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e As it's a dramatic novel, Tess learns the hard way. She is seen to be transgressive. The education system fails her utterly, her mother and family also fail to protect her. Though she is proud of her education, it fails her utterly. A note in the Life, Hardy's autobiography, is usually cited in relation to Tess of the d'Urbervilles: ' w]hen a married woman who has a lover kills her husband, she does not really wish to kill her husband; she wishes to kill the situation.' \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e The tragedy of Tess of the d'Urbervilles has been seen as a socio-economic destruction (Arnold Kettle); the result of commercial forces, in the Marxist model (Raymond Williams); the decline of the rural order (John Alcorn, Roger Ebbatson, Merryn Williams); the waste of human potential (Irving Howe); due to the sexual manipulation of two men (feminist critics such as Penny Boumelha, Kate Millett and Rosalind Sumner); or due to the heroine's own moral inadequacies (Roy Morrell); or as the breaking of social taboos (J. 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