The Woodlanders, by Thomas Hardy
The Woodlanders, by Thomas Hardy
First published in 1887
Edition: First Edition 2007
Publisher: 1st World Library
Number of pages: 496
Source: Amazon.de
Summary: Boy A loves Girl B, Girl B loves Boy A. Girl C also loves Boy A, but is mostly ignored. A and B were as good as married when an incident depraves A of his property, making B unreachable for him since B, while not born in a high family, has received an A+ education and is therefore socially higher than A. The marriage is cancelled. Dr. D takes interest in B because of her refinement, even though he is a bit meh about her social standing. B's father arranges a marriages for D and B. B is not happy because she knows D is a serial adulterer, but Father's Word is Law. Obviously, this is not going to end well. Spoiler: It doesn't.
Legend: Boy A = Giles Winterborne, Girl B = Grace Melbury, Girl C = Marty South, Dr. D = Dr. Edgar Fitzpiers
My review:
I went into this knowing nothing about the author and what was supposed to be happening since the copy amazon sent me didn't feature a blurb on the back. Note: I'm German and while Thomas Hardy might be literature canon in the English-speaking world, he is not in the German-speaking world. This is an experiment for me, reading a novel that is not contemporary with no prior knowledge of author, times and circumstances, and I am keeping this review on a very subjective and personal level.
The main characters are not likeable; Grace with her education-induced superiority complex towards Giles, Giles who just gives up, Grace's father for never listening to his daughter until the very end, Fitzpiers who openly cheats first on his fiancée and then his wife and doesn't seem to feel very bad for it...
In fact, the only character I felt sympathetic towards is Marty South who loves Giles and knows he does not and will never love her, so she decides to keep it low. Nevermind the fact that she would have, on a rational basis, been the 'perfect match' for Giles - it is clear that Giles loves Grace and that does not change, so speaking of Marty as a perfect match for Giles is cruel of Grace. In the end, it is only Marty who is faithful to him, with Grace going back to Fitzpiers even though he only came back to her because his lover died.
And this right here is why it was not enjoyably for me to read this novel. I will admit that it might be a good book, might even have been a shocking, new, boundary-breaking book in its time, but that does not mean that I cannot say I did not enjoy reading it. I had so many issues with Grace's education being only an accessory for her to be married into a family higher on the social ladder, with both Mrs. Charmond and Grace herself getting the most backlash after Fitzpiers' cheating escapade (oh, Mrs. Fitzpiers' husband cheated on her, the poor girl, what a humiliation for her, what a shame!; Mrs. Charmond, how DARE she, she is to be blamed the most), with Grace's father encouraging her to go back to Fitzpiers when he's back in town...
I can acknowledge that the novel criticises the fact that a cheating husband who runs away with his affair is not enough to warrant a divorce ("not cruel enough"); I appreciate Grace's father's outburst at the outrageous utterances of a drunk Fitzpiers who implies that he wishes for Grace's death so he can be with his lover; I admit that society most probably was just like this. I still have ill feelings for the novel as a child of my time, which is unfair, of course.
"The Woodlanders" is a good novel insofar as it shows social hierarchy at that time and resulting problems for the people, offers social criticism and was certainly a 'shocker' in its time. However, I could not enjoy reading it because I felt that after all, it promotes the thought that if a man cheats, it is okay and the women are either to blame (the woman he cheated with) or reflected on badly (the fiancée/wife); but a woman who dares love another if her marriage is unlucky, even if her husband does the same, is a piece of filth.
First published in 1887
Edition: First Edition 2007
Publisher: 1st World Library
Number of pages: 496
Source: Amazon.de
Summary: Boy A loves Girl B, Girl B loves Boy A. Girl C also loves Boy A, but is mostly ignored. A and B were as good as married when an incident depraves A of his property, making B unreachable for him since B, while not born in a high family, has received an A+ education and is therefore socially higher than A. The marriage is cancelled. Dr. D takes interest in B because of her refinement, even though he is a bit meh about her social standing. B's father arranges a marriages for D and B. B is not happy because she knows D is a serial adulterer, but Father's Word is Law. Obviously, this is not going to end well. Spoiler: It doesn't.
Legend: Boy A = Giles Winterborne, Girl B = Grace Melbury, Girl C = Marty South, Dr. D = Dr. Edgar Fitzpiers
My review:
I went into this knowing nothing about the author and what was supposed to be happening since the copy amazon sent me didn't feature a blurb on the back. Note: I'm German and while Thomas Hardy might be literature canon in the English-speaking world, he is not in the German-speaking world. This is an experiment for me, reading a novel that is not contemporary with no prior knowledge of author, times and circumstances, and I am keeping this review on a very subjective and personal level.
The main characters are not likeable; Grace with her education-induced superiority complex towards Giles, Giles who just gives up, Grace's father for never listening to his daughter until the very end, Fitzpiers who openly cheats first on his fiancée and then his wife and doesn't seem to feel very bad for it...
In fact, the only character I felt sympathetic towards is Marty South who loves Giles and knows he does not and will never love her, so she decides to keep it low. Nevermind the fact that she would have, on a rational basis, been the 'perfect match' for Giles - it is clear that Giles loves Grace and that does not change, so speaking of Marty as a perfect match for Giles is cruel of Grace. In the end, it is only Marty who is faithful to him, with Grace going back to Fitzpiers even though he only came back to her because his lover died.
And this right here is why it was not enjoyably for me to read this novel. I will admit that it might be a good book, might even have been a shocking, new, boundary-breaking book in its time, but that does not mean that I cannot say I did not enjoy reading it. I had so many issues with Grace's education being only an accessory for her to be married into a family higher on the social ladder, with both Mrs. Charmond and Grace herself getting the most backlash after Fitzpiers' cheating escapade (oh, Mrs. Fitzpiers' husband cheated on her, the poor girl, what a humiliation for her, what a shame!; Mrs. Charmond, how DARE she, she is to be blamed the most), with Grace's father encouraging her to go back to Fitzpiers when he's back in town...
I can acknowledge that the novel criticises the fact that a cheating husband who runs away with his affair is not enough to warrant a divorce ("not cruel enough"); I appreciate Grace's father's outburst at the outrageous utterances of a drunk Fitzpiers who implies that he wishes for Grace's death so he can be with his lover; I admit that society most probably was just like this. I still have ill feelings for the novel as a child of my time, which is unfair, of course.
"The Woodlanders" is a good novel insofar as it shows social hierarchy at that time and resulting problems for the people, offers social criticism and was certainly a 'shocker' in its time. However, I could not enjoy reading it because I felt that after all, it promotes the thought that if a man cheats, it is okay and the women are either to blame (the woman he cheated with) or reflected on badly (the fiancée/wife); but a woman who dares love another if her marriage is unlucky, even if her husband does the same, is a piece of filth.