ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Only rarely does physical nature appear to Hardy to be of any assistance to human beings. He is quite consistent in showing how, either by its Indifference or its malice, nature hinders the plans of man and makes him miserable.

Detailed explanation-2: -Writing in a Post-Darwinian era, Hardy tends to depict nature as an omnipotent but unconscious force that tragically rules human life according to non-human considerations. Thus he inserts a distance of motive and purpose between human and the natural world.

Detailed explanation-3: -Nature is the important element in Hardy’s novels and especially in “Tess” nature serves as a living character and not for the background of the novel. Nature is not more friendly, almost in all of his novels, rather cruel and crashing. Hardy confines himself only to the dark aspects of nature.

Detailed explanation-4: -Hardy’s narrative voice depicts the natural world in the same way the appearance of different individuals are described, and vice versa. This technique removes the sense of authority from human hands, placing humans within the natural world rather than ruling above it.