Thomas Hardy, an English writer in the19th century, used his Wessex series novels to make his hometown follow his name and spread all over the world. Hardy's most accomplished works are a series of novels called "Wessex novels". Wessex is an ancient name for Dorset and its vicinity. His novels show a quiet scene in the English countryside.
Under the Green Forest (1872) describes an idyllic life similar to a paradise, which is an ideal social life in the author's mind. Away from the hubbub (1874) also describes the bright and quiet rural life, but there is a tragic mood. The author has begun to understand that the happy rural life in modern society is just an illusion.
In The Return of the Native (1878) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), he no longer fantasizes about rural life, and the demise of traditional society is inevitable. Both novels highlight the ruthlessness of fate to people.
Evaluation of Wessex's novels:
Hardy's novels all shine with humanitarianism, and the hero in the novels is often a symbol of kindness. Tess and Jude, although one is an agricultural worker and the other is a stonemason, are both concrete manifestations of his "benevolence" thought.
Although Tess was abandoned by Clay and suffered a great blow both materially and spiritually, she forgave Clay's behavior and silently waited for his return. Although Jude strongly accused the society and wholeheartedly hoped to transform the society with kindness, his ideal could not be realized in the face of cold reality.
Hardy's novels are full of pessimism. The tragedy of mankind is arranged by providence. No matter how hard people try and resist, they cannot escape the tragic fate.
His novels also embody fatalism in the arrangement of plot and structure, and every step leading to the hero's tragedy is written as an inevitable event. He even used mysterious omens and curses to render the inevitability of tragedy.