The Return of the Native (1878)

Though set in a small space (Egdon Heath in the fictional county of Wessex) and short time (a year and a day), this novel addresses the broad social and intellectual upheavals of the Victorian age. Much of this turmoil is embodied in the character of Eustacia Vye, the novel’s wild and wilful female protagonist. Eustacia is a sympathetic but ultimately tragic figure, the epitome of what the narrator calls the “irrepressible New.”

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction Thomas Hardy: A Brief Chronology A Note on the Text The Return of the Native Appendix A: Prefaces and Maps The Preface to the 1895 Wessex Novels Edition The Postscript added to the 1912 Wessex Edition From the General Preface to the Novels and Poems (1912) Map of Egdon Heath (1878) Map of Wessex (1895) Appendix B: Contemporary Reviews From The Athenaeum (23 November 1878) Hardy’s response to the Athenaeum review (30 November 1878) From W.E. Henley, The Academy (30 November 1878) From the Saturday Review (4 January 1879) From the Spectator (8 February 1879) From the New Quarterly Magazine (October 1879) From Havelock Ellis, “Thomas Hardy’s Novels,” Westminster Review (April 1883) Appendix C: Philosophical and Political Contexts Positivism: from Auguste Comte, System of Positive Polity (1851−54; trans. 1875−76) The Individual and Freedom: from John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859) The Woman Question: from John Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies (1865) and John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (1869) Hedonism and Modernity: from Walter Pater, Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873) Appendix D: Scientific Influences From Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology (1830−33) From Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) From Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Biology (1864−67) From Thomas Hardy, A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873) Appendix E: Other Writings by Hardy A Selection of Hardy’s Poetry Hap At a Bridal Neutral Tones Nature’s Questioning An August Midnight The Dead Man Walking By the Barrows The Roman Road The Moth-Signal The Oxen Welcome Home The Graveyard of Dead Creeds Domicilium From “The Dorsetshire Labourer” (1883) From “The Profitable Reading of Fiction” (1888) From “Candour in English Fiction” (1890) From The Life of Thomas Hardy (1928; 1930) Appendix F: The Play of Saint George Appendix G: Arthur Hopkins’s Illustrations for the Monthly Serialization of Belgravia (1878) Select Bibliography

About the Author :
Simon Avery is Principal Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Westminster.

Review :
“Simon Avery’s edition of The Return of the Native, Hardy’s first great classic, provides a beautifully balanced, meticulously researched resource. Avery’s editorial approach is, in every respect, new and fresh—even in his interpretation of the novel’s denouement. Offering a wide range of critical perspectives, the compelling Introduction features a rich collection of viewpoints and critiques in a manner so informative, compact, and stylish that exploration becomes the modus operandi within and beyond the plot. In turn, the appendices at the end of the book complement the contextualising of the Introduction and footnotes. A selection of Hardy’s other writings in prose and poetry adds textual weight and structural balance overall.” — Rosemarie Morgan, University of St. Andrews “Simon Avery has edited Hardy’s The Return of the Native with great skill: his footnotes are detailed and extensive without becoming intrusive; his bibliography of further reading selects judiciously from old and new materials; and he gives a generous range of contemporary materials to help contextualise the book. Alongside the unmistakable nineteenth-century concerns present in Hardy’s novel, Avery alerts us to less well-known ones, illuminating in particular Hardy’s depiction of Eustacia Vye, who can be seen from this edition as a precursor to Sue Bridehead, the proto-feminist of Jude the Obscure. Distinctively too, Avery includes a selection of Hardy’s poetry, helpfully breaking down the barrier between Hardy the novelist and Hardy the poet. In all respects, the volume continues the excellent standard of Broadview Hardy editions.” — Ralph Pite, Bristol University