摘 要

托马斯•哈代，十九世纪英国批判现实主义作家，在小说中给予了女性角色前所未有的关照。无论是其第一部成名之作《远离尘嚣》，标志其创作走向成熟的《还乡》或是最为家喻户晓的《德伯家的苔丝》，皆以女性人物的命运起伏为线，其笔下的女性形象不落凡俗，个性鲜明，具有浓厚的反叛意识。

本文试以《远离尘嚣》《还乡》《德伯家的苔丝》三部作品为研究对象，以文本细读为研究方法，解读三位女主人公对各自梦想的不懈探寻及其最终的幻灭。论文首先阐述了游苔莎、苔丝、芭丝谢芭三人分别对巴黎，对爱情、对独立的极致追求，梳理其渴望从起源到破灭的曲折过程并举以实例加以论述。后综合人物性格缺陷，维多利亚时期陈腐宗教思想、阶级偏见和传统价值取向及哈代本人思想的干预共三个层面反思了其对女性自我实现之路的压迫，分析了悲剧原因，旨在为哈代笔下女性人物形象分析提供些许借鉴。

关键词：游苔莎；苔丝；芭丝谢芭；世俗观念

Abstract

Thomas Hardy, great critical realist writer of the 19th century, gives unprecedented concerns for female characters in his novels. His first masterpiece Far from the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native that marks his maturity in writing or the most renowned Tess of the D’Urbervilles all revolve around the meandering fate of female characters. Moreover, female roles presented in his work possess distinct temperament and strong rebellious consciousness against conventionality.

Taking three masterpieces mentioned above as object of research and textual close reading as method, this thesis dwells on the unswerving pursuits of three heroines for dreams and ultimate disillusionment. Firstly, the paper illustrates inexorable hankering of Eustacia, Tess, Bathsheba for Paris, true love and independence respectively, retrospects twists and turns in their craving courses from origin to ruin with specific examples. From disposition flaws of characters, fusty religion, class bias and traditional values in the Victorian era and the intervene of Hardy’s own concepts, it then introspects the represses women saddle on their path to self-realization and pinpoints reasons for their miseries so as to provide references for studies on female characters in Hardy’s works.

Key words: Eustacia; Tess; Bathsheba; conventionality

Contents

1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 3
   1. Domestic research on Thomas Hardy 3
   2. Overseas research on Thomas Hardy 4
3. Faces Launching a Thousand Ships 5
   1. Eustacia: decency 6
   2. Tess: true love 7
   3. Bathsheba: independence 9
4. Compromises to Conventionalities 11
   1. Conventionalities of social rank 11
   2. Conventionalities of love 12
   3. Conventionalities of marriage 13
5. Conclusion 15

References 16

Acknowledgments 16

Faces Launching a Thousand Ships in Hardy’s Works

Introduction

Thomas Hardy is exalted as one of the most prestigious novelists at the end of the 19th century. Bombarded with epochal changes in the Victorian era, Hardy’s novels are also brimmed with transitional characteristics, which endow his masterpieces ever-lasting charm. Different from male-dominated novels prevailing at that time, Hardy takes up the gauntlet and places his spotlights on the clash between feminine unremitting pursuit and their tragedy-destined fates. Moreover, rather than chaste and obedient images, female characters he molded swell with rebellious spirit and strive to shrug off shackles of conventional demands on a fair lady. Far from the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native and Tess of the D’Urbervilles are three crucial novels of Hardy and dispositions of which have distinctive traits. Probing into the persistent pursuit of Eustacia, Tess and Bathsheba for Paris, true love and independence respectively is conducive to fathom women’s needs and desires more comprehensively. Meanwhile, their ultimate disillusionment that tallies with Hardy’s consistent style contributes to explore his tragedy consciousness and contradictions in his thinking. It also provides readers with a bird’s-eye view on British invidious social environment and entrenches prejudices towards women.

This paper aims to address the following questions: What are the unique ultimate ambitions of the three well-known heroines created by Hardy: Eustacia in The Return of the Native, Tess in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Bathsheba in Far from the Madding Crowd? How do these three ladies pursue for their own supreme aspiration? What kind of result do they procure? Why do their chases all end up in a tragedy? In other words, what are the lurking reasons spell the reverse of their initial objective? How does the disillusionment of their pursuits embody Hardy’s pessimism?