Member John Clegg in his talk at the October meeting gave an outline of Thomas Hardy’s life and endeavoured to solve the mysteries of this complex character who was such a successful writer yet had such a disastrous private life.
His novels show a deep understanding of human nature, especially feminine nature, John said, but this was not shown in his treatment of his two wives, Emma and Florence.
What comes through most clearly in the novels also is his hatred of the class system which affected him in his upbringing and subsequent career. In Victorian England it was hard to break out of the station into which you had been born. It was a struggle for Hardy, the son of a builder and stonemason, to become a qualified architect.
It was only when his novels were successful that he was able to revel in his celebrity status.
Despite this, Hardy was a solitary character which comes through in his work, especially the later poems, written after the death of his first wife Emma.
John’s talk gave us much food for thought about the writer and his life.