CONDITION OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN HARDY'S NOVELS: SPECIAL REFERENCE IN ‘TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES
Keywords:
Ambiguity, Feminist, Hardy, Miserable, Misogynist, PatriarchyAbstract
Thomas Hardy was one of the most popular Novelist of Victorian age. His writings are reflective of the great movement from the Victorian to the modern age. He focuses on social problems like unjust marriage law, superstition, inequality, proprieties, orthodoxy and patriarchy by his Novels. Hardy tried tirelessly in order to change the male dominated society and to bring out the desired changes for the mutual benefit of women as well as man. The Victorian society of that century was rigid and uncompromising one towards women. Friendship between man and women was not acceptable in that time. Live in relationship is a social crime.
Thomas Hardy showed his sympathy to the women in Victorian age that faces problems of unhappy marriage life, divorces, deception in love, merciless fate, hypocrisy, mistreatment and orthodoxy. Hardy tried to change the views of male-dominated Society for the benefit of women through his Novels.
In his ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ Hardy tries to sketch pathetic condition of women. She suffers a lot in her life from the birth to last breath of life because of honest love, scarifies and faithfulness. Female protagonist of Hardy’s novels became the victim of patriarchal society. They face suppression, maltreatment, wife-selling, domestic violence, sexual harassment in their life. The condition of women was very pathetic; they had neither freedom of speech nor freedom to work according to their choice. They were used for physical pleasure. This situation was very accurately depicted by Thomas Hardy in his novels.
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