Hardy and friendship

Greenslade, William

Abstract

This chapter argues that, as with many writers, the experience of friend and friendship for the poet and novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is intimately bound up with the development of the faculty of the creative imagination and the pursuit of the writerly vocation. It examines formative influences on the writer (in particular Horace Moule), the importance of London-based circles of writers, artists and scientists, the role of Dorset-based friendships founded on shared enthusiasm for local culture, and the significance of his relationships with educated, artistic, women, prompted by a Shelleyean mix of idealism and desire. The chapter also identifies key moments in Hardy’s career when he could look to friends for trenchant, public, defence of his own writing in the face of hostility from reviewers of his work.

• Publication Date: Feb 6, 2013
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 22-31
• Book Title: Thomas Hardy in Context
• ISBN: 9780521196482
• Keywords: Thomas Hardy, friendship
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/934954
• Publisher URL: http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/literature/english-literature-1900-1945/thomas-hardy-context?format=HB
• Contract Date: Jan 31, 2012