How well does Thomas Hardy's novel

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Susana Corona Cruz

GCSE English Coursework

How well does Thomas Hardy's novel "The Return of the Native" succeed as a tragedy?

On the first chapter of this novel Egdon Heath is presented as an untameable force "...unmoved during so many centuries, through the crisis of so many things, that it could only be imagined to await one last crisis - the final overthrow". Thus, from the very beginning of the novel we can expect an outcome of tragic possibilities.

Similarly to ancient Greek tragedies, the action in "The Return of the Native" takes place during a restricted period of time. Usually, in Greek tragedies the plot developed within 24 hours, while Hardy limits himself to the space of 5 books, which represents an exact time of 1 year and a day. Although the novel extends to a 6th book; the main action and the tragedy itself is developed within the first five books. As its title indicates, the sixth book, "Aftercourses" was added to please the readers of the magazine in which his novel was published, in order to put a more closed end to the series. He provided them with a happy ending; as Thomasin