Thomas Hardy, Time and Narrative A Narratological Approach to his Novels

Thomas Hardy, Time and Narrative is the first book-length study of all Hardy's fourteen novels from narratological perspectives. It examines how his development of thematics and characters over a quarter of a century is matched by a corresponding development of narrative devices and techniques, and his handling of time. As a transitional writer between the fragmenting Victorian and advancing Modernist periods, Hardy's key role is here reinforced in technical as well as in thematic terms, and exposure of the internal workings of his novels helps towards a fuller appreciation of their achievement. Featuring constant change, Hardy's novels question convention, stress discontinuity and multiplicity of focus and genre, while inconsistent narrators force the reader into a pivotal position, and devices of simultaneity and epiphany, chronotope and coincidence project an intense awareness of time. Overall, this study aims to underline the need for a healthy balance between the rival claims of content and expression.

Ken Ireland has lectured for The Open University, taught numerous courses for the Universities of Cambridge, UEA and London, and published two books, many articles and conference papers.

List of Tables
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations and Editions
Introduction
1. Trainspotting in Wessex: Temporal Transparency in Desperate Remedies
2. Seasonal and Serial Time: Under the Greenwood Tree and A Pair of Blue Eyes
3. By Sword or by Crook: Cross-Plotting in Far from the Madding Crowd
4. Comic Rhythms and Narrative Tangents in The Hand of Ethelberta
5. From Jewels to Furze: Transience and Permanence in The Return of the Native
6. Martial Music: Time-Signatures in The Trumpet-Major
7. Ancient & Modern Revised? Conflicting Values in A Laodicean
8. The Better Heaven Beneath: Revenges of Time in Two on a Tower
9. Legacy Issues: The Power of Temporal Ellipsis in The Mayor of Casterbridge
10. Sylvan Time and Natural Semiotics in The Woodlanders
11. Phases of Life and Cycles of Time in Tess of the d'Urbervilles
12. Temporal Janus: Retrospects and Prospects in Jude the Obscure
13. Triple Time: Avices and Devices in The Well-Beloved
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Glossary
Index