Return of the Native - Notes.

CHAPTERS 4-5

Summary

Mrs. Yeobright meets the reddleman, Diggory Venn, outside the
Quiet Woman Inn. He tells her that Thomasin is in his van. When
she finds her niece, Mrs. Yeobright learns that Thomasin's
marriage has not taken place. Mrs. Yeobright takes Thomasin and
goes into the inn to confront Wildeve and find out what has
happened to the wedding plans. The aunt is not satisfied with
Wildeve's explanation, but he privately maintains to Thomasin that
he still intends to marry her.

The group of heath people from Rain barrow arrives, putting an
effective end to the conversation of Mrs. Yeobright, Thomasin, and
Wildeve. They have come to greet and serenade the newlyweds.
Irritated, but tolerating their rambling attempts at singing and
talking, Wildeve treats them to a drink of mead (beer). The group
departs in high spirits. By the time they leave, Wildeve discovers
that Thomasin and her aunt have left. Wildeve sees the bonfire lit
by Eustacia and believes it is a signal for him. He immediately
starts off towards Mistover Knap.

Notes 

Mrs. Yeobright proves herself to be a noble-hearted woman with
"great strength of character," who is unafraid to speak her mind.
When she learns that Wildeve has not married her niece, she goes
into the inn to demand an explanation of the wily Wildeve.
Originally not in favour of the marriage to the extent that she had
publicly disapproved of it in church, now that she has become
resigned to it, she is quite indignant about the fact that her young
niece has been held up at the altar. She has no hesitation about
speaking her mind.

Although not much detail is given about Wildeve, Hardy presents
him in a negative light in these chapters. In the beginning, Mrs.
Yeobright was opposed to her niece marrying him, probably for
good reason. Now, he has not carried through with the wedding
and does not give an adequate explanation as to why. Although he
privately tells Thomasin that he still plans to marry her, he has
created questions in the reader's mind about his sincerity and his
character. At the end of chapter 5, he is seen hurrying to see
Eustacia Vye, which sheds more negative light on his actions.

Another interesting character is the reddleman, Diggory Venn. He
is by profession an itinerant seller of reddle, red chalk used to
brand or mark sheep. He always happens to be at the right place, at
the right time, whether it is to deliver Thomasin safely to her aunt
when required or to gamble and win back what he considers
Thomasin's inheritance. Whatever his real motives are, he is
usually around to lend a helping hand.

CHAPTERS 6-7

Summary 

Johnny Nunsuch is wearily and reluctantly tending the bonfire as
commanded by Eustacia. The latter walks to Rain barrow to gaze at
the "Quiet Woman" and then comes back to look at the bonfire in
front of her house. Wildeve signals his approach by means of a
stone thrown into the water; Eustacia hurriedly sends the boy away
with six pence. She is pleased that Wildeve has come, but she is
upset that he will not state that he loves her. They part on a
mutually dissatisfied note and without any commitments to each
other.

Eustacia's beauty and her bloodline are described at length. Her
parentage and the reason for her being transplanted from
Budmouth, which she loves, to Egdon, which she hates, are cited.

Notes 

Wildeve and Eustacia meet again, and it is obvious that they have
been lovers in the past. Wildeve says to her, "You give me no
peace. Why do you not leave me alone?" She feels triumphant that
she has summoned him to her side; she also is delighted that he has
not carried through with his marriage to Thomasin. Despite these
successes, Eustacia is not successful in wringing an admission of
love from him.

They indulge in verbal and emotional fencing, neither of them
wishing to commit themselves to any declaration of love. It seems
as though both of them are more in love with the idea of love than
with each other. Ironically, both of them accuse each other of
infidelity. They part on a note of mutual dissatisfaction, knowing
that they use one another and probably always will.

Hardy is eloquent about the strange and unconventional beauty of
Eustacia Vye, "the raw material of a divinity." Her physical beauty
is wild, for she has "pagan eyes," dark black hair, and lips with the
corners as clear cut "as the point of a spear." She is mysterious and
inexplicable, the "Queen of Night, born to reign on Egdon, like a
rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear." Ironically, she hates Egdon and its
nature; her fiery soul longs for the shallow and hollow beauty and
vanity of Paris. With a restless soul and a depth of emotion,
Eustacia wishes to fulfil her one great desire, "to be loved to
madness."

Whatever she is and does, Eustacia never practices self-delusion,
admitting to herself that the only reason she loves Wildeve is "for
want of a better object" on the gloomy heath. Ironically, Eustacia is
very much a part of the setting, a parallel to Egdon Heath in her
dark beauty and wild emotions. It is on the heath that Eustacia is
first seen, and it is here where she is last seen alive.

CHAPTERS 8-9

Summary 

Clasping his sixpence, Johnny Nunsuch starts off for home.
Frightened by a strange light, he returns to the bonfire and
Eustacia. Not wanting to intrude on Eustacia and Wildeve, he
retraces his steps. In his terror, he slips and falls right at the feet of
Diggory Venn. The child lets slip that Eustacia is meeting
Wildeve. After the departure of Johnny, Venn returns to what he
has been doing and then reads an old letter from Thomasin
rejecting his offer of marriage. It is this thwarted love that has
plunged him into the reddle trade. The next evening Diggory,
eavesdropping on Wildeve and Eustacia, manages to overhear their
conversation. Wildeve wants Eustacia to go away to America with
him, but she does not wish to commit herself. Venn decides to call
on Eustacia as soon as possible.

Notes

The chance meeting between Johnny Nunsuch and Diggory Venn
is a fateful coincidence. Terrified of the red figure beside the fire,
the lad tries to flee, but it is no use. Fate has decreed otherwise.
Down he comes tumbling, sixpence and all, right at the feet of the
reddleman. Then the reddleman is innocently informed about the
meeting between Wildeve and Eustacia, and that there will be
another one the next day. The next evening, Venn cannot resist
eavesdropping on the couple.

Hardy mentions that the reddleman was the favourite bogeyman that
Wessex mothers used to threaten their erring children: "the
reddleman is coming for you." Because the reddleman cannot
escape from his red colour, it is almost like he is a caricature of
Satan.

CHAPTERS 10-11

Summary

Venn calls on Eustacia, but she cannot be persuaded to give up
Wildeve, despite his telling her that he has seen and overheard
them at Rain barrow. Venn goes to Mrs. Yeobright and asks for her
niece's hand in marriage, informing her that though he himself has
proposed to Thomasin and been rejected, things are different now.
Mrs. Yeobright rejects his offer.

Mrs. Yeobright meets Wildeve and lets him know that he is not her
niece's only suitor. Wildeve is still unwilling to commit himself
and rushes to meet Eustacia to ask her if she will commit herself to
him, but she refuses to do so.

Back at home, Captain Vye mentions that Clym Yeobright is
returning home from Paris at Christmas.

Notes 

At the end of Book One, the stage is set for the arrival of the
protagonist and Eustacia's attraction to him. Wildeve earlier
recognizes that Eustacia hates the heath. She agrees with his
observation and says that the heath is "my cross, my shame, and
will be my death," words that clearly foreshadow her tragic end on
Egdon. To such a person, any whiff of fresh air on the heath must
be a godsend; that he comes directly from Paris is even more
meaningful.

It is ironic that the resourcefulness of Venn backfires. He is neither
able to dissuade Eustacia from playing fast and loose with
Thomasin's chance of a happy marriage, nor does Wildeve
withdraw from his involvement with Eustacia, even after knowing
that Thomasin has another suitor. It is also ironic that the arrival of
Clym should coincide with the disillusionment of Eustacia after
hearing that Thomasin, a "socially inferior woman," has rejected
Wildeve.

New facets of Eustacia's character are revealed here. At first,
Wildeve becomes dearer in her eyes when another woman intends
to marry him, but that Thomasin has supposedly rejected him
comes as a shock to her. "What a humiliating victory! What was the
man worth, whom a woman inferior to herself did not value?"
Eustacia is perverse enough to want something only so long as it is
unattainable and conceited enough to think that she is much better
than Thomasin. She is also petty enough to change her evaluation
of Wildeve based upon Thomasin's rejection of him.