A Spacious vision: Essays on Hardy

by Phillip & Draper R. P. (editors) Mallett (Editor ), Ronald P. Draper (Editor )

A collection of essays on Thomas Hardy by J.B. Bullen, R.P. Draper, M. Irwin, T. Johnson, D. Kramer, P.V. Mallett, M. Millgate, R. Morgan, R. Schweik, R. Sumner and D. Taylor. Poems are also included by A. Thwaite, J.P. Ward and S. Curtis.

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 1994

Reviews

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this book for a long time and went back to it after another re-reading Hardy's Return of the Native. Of course, with any reading of Hardy you pick up on something that you might have glossed over before. I love reading the experts in A Spacious Vision to understand some things about the women in Hardy's literature. I have an opinion of his attitude of pre-destination for those "cursed' with alluring desirability, and I got some more insights with the experts' comments. Also, especially in this tale, the countryside is a major character, so seeing the critics comments is enlightening as they portray Hardy's development of "Wessex" in connection with his own life. I love to re-read Hardy, and I like his psychological interpretations as to characters' motivations and how that affects coincidence. The characters frequently have unimportant occurrences which turn into major conflicts and lead up to serious climactic events. It is fun to make casual studies like this with the input and thoughts of literary scholars.