Good Little Thomas Hardy - Preface - 1 Modernity

Sep 20, 2026

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A scholarly study of Thomas Hardy’s writings, examining why the author is widely read through schools, universities, and popular media. It critiques overconfident claims portraying Hardy mainly as a Victorian man of ideas and a social critic, and instead focuses on restoring readers’ freedom to judge. The text begins by addressing Hardy’s treatment of modernity across novels, short stories, and their dramatic dates, tracing how settings, references, and time gaps shape contemporary interpretation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

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Pages207

Reading Time5 h 19 min

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Preface

1 Modernity

Good Little Thomas Hardy

C.H.Salter GOODLITTLETHOMASHARDY To H.H.O.C.,K.P.A.D.,A.R.L.M.and L.G.T. Contents Preface 1 Modernity 2 The Social Critic 3 Ideas 4 Invention 5 The Good Short Titles Notes Appendix:The Dynasts Index 这1 27 53 99 141 162 167 194 198 C.H.Salter 1981Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1981978-0-333-29387-4 All rights reserved.No part of this publication may bereproduced or transmitted,in any form or by any means,without permission First published 1981 byTHE MACMILLAN PRESS LTDLondon and BasingstokeCompanies and representativesthroughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-05582-1(eBook) ISBN 978-1-349-05584-5 DOI10.1007/978-1-349-05582-1 Good Little Thomas Hardy C.H.Salter M Good Little Thomas Hardy # Preface Hardy is now widely read,in schools and universities and by thegeneral public,and is seen on films and television.Apart fromhis merits,the reasons for this may be the brevity of his novelscompared with other Victorians,his intelligibility withoutknowledge of the period,and our nostalgia.Signs and perhapsadditional causes of this interest are the numerous editions ofhis works and of books about him,informative,critical,andhack.By informative I mean particularly the notes in the NewWessex edition of the novels,1974-5;the collection of the pre-faces and essays in a single volume of Personal Writings;theedition of the Literary Notes I and“1867 Notebook”;ProfessorPurdy's Bibliographical Study:and Mr Pinion's HardyCompanion.But these have been accompanied by excessiveclaims for Hardy as a Victorian man of ideas and social critic,and elaborate accounts of his art,some of which simply ignorehis inferior work.In what follows I have tried to restore to thereader his freedom to respond to Hardy in what,to Hardy,canbe the only right way -simply.This has resulted in a largelynegative and destructive approach,even in my final,more posi-tive,chapter:I hope I have shown my kindness for my subjectobiter,and that some of my evidence may be useful to thosereaching different conclusions.My title is,of course,taken fromJames's letter to R.L.Stevenson(19 March 1892). I would like to thank Irene Elsey for typing my illegiblemanuscript on top of all her other work. # I Modernity The actual dramatic dates of the main actions of most ofHardy's novels and short stories are long anterior to the dates ofpublication,and often vague.Under the Greenwood Tree s"intended to be a fairly true picture...of fifty to sixty yearsago”;The Return happens “between 1840 and 1850”;TheTrumpet Major about 1805;The Mayor about 1850;The Wood-landers both about 1858 and about 1865.Of the Wessex Tales"The Three Strangers”is"fifty years ago”;“A Tradition ofEighteen Hundred and Four"explicit in the title;"The Melan-choly Hussar""ninety years ago”;“The Withered Arm”1825;"Fellow-Townsmen”"five-and-thirty years ago”;and"The Dis-tracted Preacher”"founded on certain smuggling exploits thatoccurred between 1825 and 1830”;of “Interlopers at the Knap”we only know they interloped “some few years ago”.In Life'sLittle Ironies,there is modernity in“An Imaginative Woman”in denying that Trewe is symboliste or décadent;in referencesin 'For Conscience'Sake”to an"utilitarian theory of moralsense”and to "the century's decadence”;in“On the WesternCircuit"in calling Raye an“end-of-the-age young man”;but themain action of “The Fiddler of the Reels”is contemporaneouswith the Great Exhibition;and all the actions in“A FewCrusted Characters”begin fifty years before the date of publica-tion:Lackland left the village thirty five years before he re-turned,and“it is now a dozen or fifteen years”since he re-turned.The date of“A Changed Man”is 1849 or 1854,theDorchester cholera epidemics,and that of“The Waiting Supper”"fifty years ago”.“The Grave by the Handpost”,"Enter aDragoon”and“A Committee-Man of 'the Terror'”date to theNapoleonic Wars,"Master John Horseleigh,Knight"to the six-teenth century,and "The Duke's Reappearance”to Monmouth'

FAQs

Why is Thomas Hardy widely read according to the preface?

Hardy is widely read for reasons such as the brevity and accessibility of his novels, his intelligibility without specialized period knowledge, and the large number of editions and books about him, including informative scholarly notes and collected prefaces.

What concern does the author raise about how Hardy is often presented?

The author argues that excessive claims overstate Hardy as a Victorian man of ideas and social critic, and that some accounts of his art ignore his weaker work or give an imbalanced picture.

How does the text discuss “modernity” in Hardy’s fiction?

It traces how the dramatic dates of Hardy’s stories often predate publication and can be vague, then shows how modernity appears through specific references, themes, and occasionally more contemporary settings relative to the time of writing and reception.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Aria