摘 要

自然为万物伊始，在文学作品中自然的身影随处可见。然而，不同历史时期，抑或不同作家的作品中，自然扮演的角色又大相径庭。在浪漫主义诗歌中，自然是诗人思想和感情的源泉;对传统英国小说而言，自然通常作为故事的背景存在;而在二十世纪现代主义文学作品中，自然又常常与人物联系在一起。托马斯·哈代生活在英国传统文学向现代主义文学转型的时期，在他的主要小说作品中，自然的地位举足轻重:它常常预示着故事的结局，影响着小说情节的发展，甚至成为某些作品中真正的主角。

哈代最著名的小说是”性格与环境”小说，通过大量描写威塞克斯的环境，他把有限的威塞克斯乡村环境与无限的宇宙空间相联系。本文旨在以生态批评为指导思想，来分析《还乡》中的景观描写。通过探讨小说中人物与景观的关系，得出人物的命运取决于与环境的亲疏关系，从而揭示了哈代的自然生态观。

关键词：托马斯·哈代；；性格与环境；景观；生态观

Contents

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………...1

2. Demonstration……………………………………………………………………4

2.1 Symbolized landscape………………………………………………….……….5

2.1.1 Egdon Heath………………………….. ……………………………….……..5

2.1.2 Weather……………………………………………………………....….…….7

2.1.3 Reddle…………………………………….………….…………………..…....9

2.2 Metaphorized landscape……………………………………..…………...…....10

2.2.1 Heath…………………………….................................................….…..…....11

2.2.2 Fire…………………………............................................................…….......12

2.2.3 Insects………………..............................................................................…….14

2.3 Personified landscape……..............................................................................…14

2.3.1 Furze roots, rushes and fleshy fungi……......................................………......15

2.3.2 Flock of birds……………….............................................................………..16

1. Conclusion………………………………………………………………...........16

Works Cited………………………………………………………………..............19

Bibliography……………………………………………………………….............20

An Analysis of the Landscape of Thomas Hardy’ s The Return of the Native

1. Introduction

Thomas Hardy is an outstanding British realist writer of the nineteenth century, and also an accomplished poet. His novels can be divided into three categories: character and environmental novels, romance and fantasy novels and love conspiracy novels. Among them, the first category is the most important, such as Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886). The Return of the Native as one of his influential novels, left a deep impression on readers. These works show the advanced ideas of the times, thus, the old Victorian ideas faced a challenge. At that time, too many people criticized him. His character and environment novels, are mainly by describing the hero and the heroine's struggle, pursuit, disillusionment, reflecting the pursuit of a better and ideal life, as well as the severe conflict between man and the environment (including interpersonal) in the process, which of a rich and profound social meaning and philosophy. Hardy considers the honest presentation of reality as the basic principle of his literary creation. He did not like to praise nature as romantics, called on people back to nature, and as a manifestation of aversion to human society. The main concern of his work is not nature, but human beings. Therefore, he was not satisfied with the appearance of things, but “explore deep reality hidden under the surface of things”(Hardy 185). For him, nature is not something worthy of envy, but he admired the human spirit of indomitable and human's ideal.

Foreign researches on Thomas Hardy have been started with the publication of Hardy's novels. The related works are full of knowledge and skills, involving the artistic techniques, performance skills, aesthetic thoughts, and the author's life and thoughts. In 1894, Lionel P Johnson published the book of The Art of Thomas Hardy. He was the earliest commentator of Hardy's research. In 1928, Virginia Woolf published On Thomas Hardy's Novels, pointing out that the death of Hardy made the British novel community leaderless, and only he deserved this title. In 1936, D .H. Lawrence published The Study of Thomas Hardy, a study of the characters' emotions and inner world in the novel. Two famous writers highly praised Hardy's novels and further promoted the progress of Hardy's research. Subsequently, research books on Hardy continue to appear. In 1972, The Life of Thomas Hardy by Hardy's wife Florence Emily Hardy was considered one of the most detailed and reliable sources of Hardy's research. Many other researchers have also discussed the relationship between Hardy's novels and modern society. For example, David J. De Laura's Modern Sense of Pain in Hardy's Late Novels (1967) and F. B. Pinion's Thomas Hardy and Modern Society (1974); there are many scholars who study women in Hardy's novels from the perspective of feminism, such as Kathleen Rogers's The Woman by Thomas Hardy (1975) and Rosalind Myers's The Wessex Women in Hardy's Novels(1979). Some scholars also study Hardy's novels from the perspective of psychology. For example, in Thomas Hardy: A Psychological Novelist, Rosemary Sumner pointed out that the separation of human nature by modern civilization is the root that causes the tragedies of characters. Foreign Hardy research is still constantly expanding and deepening.