Reading Hardy's Landscapes locates the essential energy of the novels in the descriptive details as much as in the story. The emphasis is on the author's habits of vision and imagination. It is instinctive in Hardy to locate his tales between the huge abstractions of time and space and the minute particularities of nature - a leaf, a minnow, a gnat. His human dramas unfold in a landscape and are part of that landscape, caught up in larger patterns of movement and change.

"Hardy was a landscape novelist, who painted enduring pictures of a real outdoor world that formed the stage upon which his characters lived out their tragic lives. Incorporating extracts from Hardy's poems and novels such as Return of the Native, Far From the Madding Crowd and Under the Greenwood Tree, this book consists of a series of walks through Hardy's landscapes. It allows the reader to appreciate not only the beauty and wonder of the natural world but also the unique contribution that Thomas Hardy has made to our ability to interpret that world. Hardy's landscapes are at once specific and general; based on real places and scenes, but purposefully distanced and disguised. The author argues that Hardy's Wessex is actually a very narrow territory and in doing so he calls into question a number of accepted identifications of Wessex locations and proposes new ones. Follow in the footsteps of Jude, Tess and Clym and live and breathe the very essence of Thomas Hardy's world."--Publisher's description.

Examining representations of physical and metaphorical landscape in Charlotte Bront1/2, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, Henson explores the way gender attitudes are expressed, both in descriptions of physical and metaphorical landscape and in the idea of nature, through the gendered voices of the narrators. Henson looks at the influence of changing aesthetic theory, arguing that factors such as scientific enquiry and industrialization changed the representation of landscape and of Englishness in these 'realist' novels."

The wide-ranging and lively essays in Reading Thomas Hardy will appeal to anyone interested in Hardy. Specialists and Hardy enthusiasts will find a showcase for the work of many of the world's leading Hardy scholars. Subjects covered include Hardy the writer and Hardy the man, individual texts and wider themes, and Hardy's relationships to other artists. Whether presenting new research, embodying the best of traditional approaches, or challenging the reader with new interpretations, all the papers are authoritative and accessible.

Examining representations of physical and metaphorical landscape in Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, Henson explores the way gender attitudes are expressed, both in descriptions of physical and metaphorical landscape and in the idea of nature, through the gendered voices of the narrators. Henson looks at the influence of changing aesthetic theory, arguing that factors such as scientific enquiry and industrialization changed the representation of landscape and of Englishness in these 'realist' novels.

Paul Hardy shares the delights and beauty of working with a medium that is versatile, exciting and inspiring. This colourful, practical guide illustrates the techniques of applying pastel to a variety of paper surfaces, from field sketching and composing a painting to painting skies, trees, water and reflections. Step-by-step demonstrations show the reader how to paint a series of landscapes from a moody moorland pastoral scene to a gently flowing river, aglow with the warm colours of autumnal trees. The artist is rewarded as fields, trees and flowers spring to life when pastel is applied to paper.

In The Ashgate Research Companion to Thomas Hardy, some of the most prominent Hardy specialists working today offer an overview of Hardy scholarship and suggest new directions in Hardy studies. The contributors cover virtually every area relevant to Hardy's fiction and poetry, including philosophy, palaeontology, biography, science, film, popular culture, beliefs, gender, music, masculinity, tragedy, topography, psychology, metaphysics, illustration, bibliographical studies and contemporary response. While several collections have surveyed the Hardy landscape, no previous volume has been composed especially for scholars and advanced graduate students. This companion is specially designed to aid original research on Hardy and serve as the critical basis for Hardy studies in the new millennium. Among the features are a comprehensive bibliography that includes not only works in English but, in acknowledgment of Hardy's explosion in popularity around the world, also works in languages other than English.

Through original essays from a distinguished team of international scholars and Hardy specialists, A Companion to Thomas Hardy provides a unique, one-volume resource, which encompasses all aspects of Hardy's major novels, short stories, and poetry Informed by the latest in scholarly, critical, and theoretical debates from some of the world's leading Hardy scholars Reveals groundbreaking insights through examinations of Hardy’s major novels, short stories, poetry, and drama Explores Hardy's work in the context of the major intellectual and socio-cultural currents of his time and assesses his legacy for subsequent writers

An exploration of the way English literature has interacted with architectural edifices and the development of landscape as a national style from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century. Analyzing texts in relation to cultural artefacts, each chapter demonstrates the self-conscious production of English consciousness as its most enduring history.

As a writer who achieved major eminence in both fiction and poetry and whose engagement with these genres encompassed the period of transition from Victorianism to Modernism, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) enjoys a unique position in English Literary History. Michael Millgate, University Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Toronto is widely recognized as the world's foremost Thomas Hardy scholar. His contributions to the study of Hardy over more than three decades include his recently 'revisited' biography, the seven volume edition of Hardy's collected letters, and the influential critical study Thomas Hardy: His Career as a Novelist. In Thomas Hardy Reappraised, editor Keith Wilson pays tribute to Millgate's many contributions to Hardy studies by bringing together new work by fifteen of the world's most eminent Hardy scholars. These essays address questions of biblical and literary allusiveness, cultural, historical, and philosophical context, narrative and poetic theory and practice, as well as Hardy's place in the modern world and his influence on younger writers. Together, the contributors offer one of the most significant reappraisals of Hardy's work to have appeared since Michael Millgate helped to transform Hardy studies. They offer graphic testimony to Hardy's enduring popularity and importance. Contributors: Pamela Dalziel Mary Rimmer Dennis Taylor Barbara Hardy U.C. Knoepflmacher Marjorie Garson Ruth Bernard Yeazell Simon Gatrell J. Hillis Miller George Levine Jeremy V. Steele William W. Morgan Samuel Hynes Norman Page W. J. Keith