"Miss Fancy Day; as neat a little figure of fun as ever I see, and just husband-high." One of the most popular of Hardy's novels, Under the Greenwood Tree is a delightful and humorous depiction of life in an early Victorian rural community. The story delicately balances the concerns of the Mellstock parish choir with a romance between the village schoolmistress and a member of the choir. Hardy thought well enough of the tale to place it among his Novels of Character and Environment, a group with includes his most characteristic work. This freshly reset second edition features a new...
"Miss Fancy Day; as neat a little figure of fun as ever I see, and just husband-high." One of the most popular of Hardy's novels, Under the Greenw...
The resulting text includes revisions by Hardy which have never appeared before in a modern edition The novel is fully annotated and is accompanied by Hardy's map of Wessex and a simplified map of the landscape ofFar from the Madding Crowd. "Textual Notes" include a list of emendations, examples of variant readings from the manuscript to the Wessex edition, and a discussion of the choice of copy text The textual history of the novel is traced in extracts from studies by Richard Little Purdy and Simon Gatrell "Backgrounds" includes substantial extracts from Hardy's correspondence with...
The resulting text includes revisions by Hardy which have never appeared before in a modern edition The novel is fully annotated and is accompanied by...
York Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.
York Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the n...
Full of analysis and interpretation, historical background, discussions and commentaries, York Notes will help you get right to the heart of the text you're studying, whether it's poetry, a play or a novel.
Full of analysis and interpretation, historical background, discussions and commentaries, York Notes will help you get right to the heart of the text ...
This is the story of a young country workman obsessed by his ambition to become an Oxford student, interwoven with his fraught relationships with two women.'
This is the story of a young country workman obsessed by his ambition to become an Oxford student, interwoven with his fraught relationships with two ...
Introduction and Notes by Michael Irwin, Professor of English Literature, University of Kent at Canterbury.
Set in Hardy's Wessex, Tess is a moving novel of hypocrisy and double standards. Its challenging sub-title, A Pure Woman, infuriated critics when the book was first published in 1891, and it was condemned as immoral and pessimistic.
It tells of Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, who learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urbeville. In her search for respectability her fortunes fluctuate...
Introduction and Notes by Michael Irwin, Professor of English Literature, University of Kent at Canterbury.
Introduction and Notes by Norman Vance, Professor of English, University of Sussex.
Far from the Madding Crowd is perhaps the most pastoral of Hardy's Wessex novels. It tells the story of the young farmer Gabriel Oak and his love for and pursuit of the elusive Bathsheba Everdene, whose wayward nature leads her to both tragedy and true love.
It tells of the dashing Sergeant Troy whose rakish philosophy of life was '...the past was yesterday; never, the day after', and lastly, of the introverted and reclusive gentleman farmer, Mr Boldwood, whose love...
Introduction and Notes by Norman Vance, Professor of English, University of Sussex.
With an Introduction and Notes by Michael Irwin, Professor of English Literature, University of Kent at Canterbury.
None of the great Victorian novels is more vivid and readable than The Mayor of Casterbridge. Set in the heart of Hardy's Wessex, the 'partly real, partly dream country' he founded on his native Dorset, it charts the rise and self-induced downfall of a single 'man of character'.
The fast-moving and ingeniously contrived narrative is Shakespearian in its tragic force, and features some of the author's most striking episodes and brilliant...
With an Introduction and Notes by Michael Irwin, Professor of English Literature, University of Kent at Canterbury.
Introduction and Notes by Dr Claire Seymour, University of Kent at Canterbury.
The proverbial phrase 'life's little ironies' was coined by Hardy for his third volume of short stories. These tales and sketches possess all the power of his novels: the wealth of description, the realistic portrayal of the quaint lore of Wessex, the 'Chaucerian' humour and characterisation, the shrewd and critical psychology, the poignant estimate of human nature and the brooding sense of wonder at the essential mystery of life.
The tales which make up Life's Little...
Introduction and Notes by Dr Claire Seymour, University of Kent at Canterbury.
With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Claire Seymour, University of Kent at Canterbury.
Under the Greenwood Tree is Hardy's most bright, confident and optimistic novel. This delightful portrayal of a picturesque rural society, tinged with gentle humour and quiet irony, established Hardy as a writer.
However, the novel is not merely a charming rural idyll. The double-plot, in which the love story of Dick Dewey and Fancy Day is inter-related with a tragic chapter in the history of Mellstock Choir, hints at the poignant disappearance of a long-lived and...
With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Claire Seymour, University of Kent at Canterbury.
