Character is destiny,Destiny is character in Hardy' novels

Name :-Darshangi K. Andharia 

Paper no:-405 Thomas Hardy as a novelist

Topic :-Character is Destiny, Destiny is character in Hardy'novels

Sem :-IV Part:-II

Year:-2012-2013

Submitted to,

Dr.Dilip Barad 

Dept. Of English

M.K Bhavnagar University

Bhavnagar

                         Hardy is realistic writer. And his all novels are full of chance and incidents. With the help of that he has created all his novels and his all novels are tragedy. He uses blunt character, impulsive nature, gothic atmosphere, fatalistic view. And his novels are giving visual effects and strong imageries with the help of Nature’s description. He gives theatrical and dramatic image with suspenseful narrative techniques. He also uses irony in his novels.  He uses cosmic irony in his novels. It is mode of philosophical excretions. Its features are like mis- marriages of person, person’s desire and opposite outcome.

                        Reasons for characters tragic fall is there destiny and some times its characters own faults and lapses. Character is equal to destiny and sometimes characters plays their role to destroy or for their tragic end. In Hardy’s work he shows only dark or bad sides of their life that is why he looks like pessimistic writer and works are full of pessimism.

Characters which determine something to do and their destiny is fatalism which makes them fatalists.

Tess of D’Urbervilles

                       In The novel “Tess of D’Urbervilles” how chance and incidents plays their role for Tess’s tragic fall. There are so many reasons for her fall they are like historical process – Alec is the agent of society and symbolic representation of Satan in him. Angel Clare is too much idealist and his attitude which makes her murderer. Tess has innate power to struggle but her actions without thought makes her unable to do and reasons for her fall.

                      What is character is Destiny? Characters are puppets in the hand of destiny and they will come in the net of destiny. While characters are doing something and it creates their destiny it is destiny is character.

                      From the beginning when Prince dies and Tess feels that she is responsible for his death and to clear her mistake she want to do work in D’Urbervilles house. This is chance and incidents which play their role in her life. Then her father’s death is also comes under destiny’s role and she works for her family.

                     She was aware about Alec’s nature though she went in woods with him all alone. Her firmness and give birth to a child these all are her faults. It comes under Destiny is Character.  Second time Alec comes in her life which is destiny’s role in her. If he will not come than she will not goes again at his house.

                     And Angel realizes his mistake later on when Tess becomes murderer of Alec. These all are destiny which creates tragedy. Feeling to guilt that I am impure which her fault her characters lose is. Her letter to Angel Clare sleeps under carpet whish is also coincidence which plays its role that on the wedding night. When she thinks that Angel has understand everything and he accepts her but it was her fate which was not with her and he doesn’t accept her. Sorrow’s death also predestined because he dies and Angel thinks that Tess is single woman.

                   When she went to meet Angel’s parents at their home and overhears his brothers and Mercy chant’s talking about their life and she leave his home without meeting his parents.

The Mayor of Casterbridge

                   In this novel also Hardy has use chance and incidents and accidents also.

                  Novel opens with auction scene in which Henchard sells his wife and daughter in drunkard situation. How can we think or believe that one can sell their family in drunken situation. But it was in his destiny that he always does such things like this but on particular day Newson who is a sailor comes and bought them in 5 pound. This is his destiny which makes or creates his tragic fall the novel. On the other day he realizes that what he has done one day before. Even he tries to find them and this process is worthless. He can’t come across when he was finding them but suddenly after 18 years he meets his wife.

                  In between those 18 years he becomes mayor and when he comes to that Susan is hear in casterbridge he frustrate when reality come across. Even every thing was ok at that time Furmity woman comes in the town and Henchard feels bad because only she was the only one who knows what Henchard has done with his daughter and wife.

                 Trough out the novel we were thinking that Newson is dead but he comes in the middle when Henchard love Elizabeth Jane a lot after knowing that she not his child. Henchard is a man of mood. Which is his character’s or reason for his character’s fall.

                  Relationship with Lucetta and Farfrey which is also improbable but it happens in his novel. And at the end when Elizabeth Jane comes to know about reality that Henchard was her mother’s first husband she tries to care for him but when her marriage with Farfrey she accept the gift given by her father but that bird dies which was given as a gift by her step father.

                   That was predestined by Hardy that when character will accept each other then destiny will come in between. Henchard dies at that time.

The Return of the Native

 

                  In this novel also he has used effect of chance and incidents to forward his work in beautiful manner. With portraying only dark side of the Nature and how atmosphere makes the effect of menace and through darkness of Heath Hardy has given picture of impulsive nature of the character. What actually they wants and what happens with them because of location of Heath.

                 Eustecia wants glorious life and when Clym arrives into Heath at that time. Eustecia thinks that she will marry with him and go out side the heath but Clym wants to open a school in heath and because of Eustace’s desire which makes the destiny. Thomasin marriage with Wildeve is also the example of destiny plays role in their life.

               They all are living in heath but they can’t understand the nature of heath and they all suffers in the novel. Death happens in heath: - Wildeve, Eustecia and Mrs. Yoebright they die in the novel because of their destiny which can’t give them chance to out or build their own character.

The Well Beloved

              Hardy has presents role of destiny in the life of character. From the beginning of the novel there is the description of Jocelyn’s age .He is 20 and he loves Evise Caro but he leaves her for Marcica and at the end third Evise leaves Jocelyn for Marcica’s son. Destiny gives them pain of suffering. The excessive use of chance/accidents is considered as a flaw from the artistic point of view. It makes plot crossing the limits of probability and possibility. It makes it impossible.

            Such incidents do play a role in every human beings life but real life has happy co-incidents as well.