Thomas Hardy, selected poems: context links

Helpful material on:

Biographical background of Thomas Hardy

• Tess of the d’Urbervilles
  • Timeline
  • Biographical background
    • Early Life
    • Becoming a novelist
    • Fame as a novelist
    • Later life and out put

Social / political context of Hardy’s poetry

• The world of Victorian writers 1837 -1901
  • Making sense of the tangible world
    • Characteristics of Victorian Britain

Religious / philosophical context of Hardy’s poetry

• The world of Victorian writers 1837 -1901
  • Making sense of the intangible world
    • Religion in Victorian England
    • Determinism and free will

Understanding poetry

• Recognising poetic form
  
  • Historical aspects
    
    • Pastoral poetry in brief
  • Stylistic aspects
    
    • Dramatic monologues
    • The hymn
    • The lyric
    • The ode
• How poetry works
  
  • Scansion
    
    • Syllables and stress
    • Metrical feet
    • Regular metre
    • Rhythm

Literary context of Hardy’s poetry

• Romanticism
  
  • Romanticism and beauty
    
    • Romanticism
    • Landscape and the picturesque
  • Romanticism and rebellion
    
    • Traditional view of the nature of humanity
• Tess of the d’Urbervilles
  
  • About the text
    
    • Hardy’s Wessex
• Features of Victorian literature
  
  • The role of fiction
    
    • Victorian perceptions of poetry

Further study on Hardy’s poetry

• Tess of the d’Urbervilles
  
  • Resources and further reading
    
    • Websites
    • Books
• Critical approaches to literature
  
  • Close reading (new criticism)
  • Contextual reading
  • New approaches since the 1970s
• Tips for successful study
  
  • How to…
    
    • Plan an essay
    • Approach passage based questions
    • Write a good English exam answer
      
      
      
      
      
      
       

 

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