ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Hardy named the area “Wessex” after the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom that existed in this part of that country prior to the unification of England by Æthelstan. Although the places that appear in his novels actually exist, in many cases he gave the place a fictional name.

Detailed explanation-2: -In Far From the Madding Crowd, Hardy used the term ‘Wessex’ for the first time to signify his geographical territory, thus establishing his preferred subject matter: country people in a rural landscape living “between custom and education, between work and ideas, between love of place and experience of change”.

Detailed explanation-3: -The resulting novel, Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), introduced Wessex for the first time and made Hardy famous by its agricultural settings and its distinctive blend of humorous, melodramatic, pastoral, and tragic elements.

Detailed explanation-4: -Where are Thomas Hardy’s novels set? Thomas Hardy’s novels are set in the fictional county of Wessex, which was his collective name for the counties of southwestern England. Hardy knew this part of the country well, as he himself grew up in the county of Dorset.

Detailed explanation-5: -Tess of the d’Urbervilles takes place in Wessex, a region encompassing the southern English county of Dorset and neighboring counties Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, and Devon. The setting consists of more than the location, however, particularly in this novel.