Thomas Hardy

A character analysis of the famous poet in order to understand and analyse the poems from the iGCSE Literature Hardy Collection.

?
  • Created by: L Lawliet
  • Created on: 18-05-13 17:34

Personality

Role

  • Upset because of the loss of his wives (as seen in Neutral Tones, On the Departure Platform, The Going and The Voice).
  • Bitter as he grows older (as seen by I Look into My Glass)
  • Compassionate (as seen in Drummer Hodge)
  • Miserable with life in general (as shown by how he misses/ is upset by his wife; how he is disheartened by Darwinism in the Darkling Thrush; how he is bitter about his aging as in I Look into My Glass and how he is disgusted by human selfishness as seen in The Convergence of the Twain).
  • The Narrator (often omniscient): Neutral Tones, I Look into My Glass, Drummer Hodge, On the Departure Platform, The Convergence of the Twain, The Going and The Voice).
  • Adopter of a persona: The Pine Planters.
  • Accusatory: this is whether it be Time for making him age or his wife for leaving him or humans for building the Titanic and challenging nature.

Development (Growth & change)

Other information              

  • The poems about his wives often are about coming to terms with his loss.
  • Often, by the end of the poems, he's made some emotional progress, such as in The Going, he finally accepts that his wife's death wasn't her fault.
  • However, sometimes he reaches no decision (as in Neutral Tones) or he's just commenting on events that happen to him (as in I Look into My Glass).
  • Sometimes, the development is not with him, but within the story/message he is trying to put across, such as in Drummer Hodge.
  • He often uses imagery of a miserable and deathly scene to represent his emotions.
  • Many of his poems have a bitter tone.
  • He likes to blame problems he faces on other people or other things.
  • His poems often have a main meaning or message. They were also very much inspired by events in his own life or events happening around him.

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar English Literature resources:

See all English Literature resources »