THE WORLD OF WOMEN, LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN THOMAS HARDY’S THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

Abstract

Fundamentally, Hardy’s approach in his novels is oriented around love and passionate feelings. The feelings most often dominate the protagonist and she/he becomes helpless because the main character is usually made up of weaker emotional fiber. Keeping this in view Hardy builds his stories around love, marriage, double moral standards, and the conflict between duty and desire. The plot of The Return of the Native has been constructed on similar lines so at the heart of the novel lay a love story, courtship, and marriage. The novel in its thematic and structural approach is conditional and much in keeping with the Victorian people’s fascination with the theme of love and marriage. This novel describes the love and marriage choices. The conflicts that the characters face are not religious, philosophical, or intellectual; these are moral conflicts as they remain mired in marital choices. The significance of love and marriage in the novel is obvious from the fact that the story begins with the failure of a love marriage between Damon Wildeve and Thomasin Yeobright.