Ｔｈｅ Ｃｏｎｔｒａｓｔｉｎｇ Ａｎａｌｙｓｉｓ ｏｆ Ｔｈｒｅｅ Ｈａｒｄｙ’ｓ Ｈｅｒｏｉｎｅｓ ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ Ａｎ Ｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔ－Ｐｅｒｓｏｎａｌｉｔｙ－Ｄｅｓｔｉｎｙ ａｉｎ Ｌｉ

【Abstract】This paper aims to reveal Thomas Hardy's deep comprehension and profound sympathy with female under the limitation of male-power tradition. According to the environment-personality-destiny main line， my paper proceeds with theoretic discussion， systematical analysis and thorough dissection on five selected heroines in Hardy's novels.

【Key words】female characters; environment;personality;tragic fate;Matters of gender

【中圖號(hào)】I0【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)示碼】A【文章編號(hào)】1005-1074(2008)11-0099-01

1Living Environment

The female characters in Hardy's novels are always accompanied with inharmonious circumferential environment. Their existing conditions are difficult and make people worried. Bathsheba Everdene， a weak young lady， operates and manages a farm. The natural disaster and man-made calamity may take place at any time. In case of losing the farm， she will drop into the lowest social class， so the pressure that she faces could imagine. Eustacia is put in the Egdon Heath， a place of gloom and solitude， which is also unalterable. Living in such an environment， Eustacia always feel constrained， depressed， boring and lonely. Tess' family is as poor as a church. And under the pressure of poverty， she has to seek help from the rich Mrs. D'Urbervilles， whom they believe to be a relative. Seduced by Alec D'Urbervilles make her lose chastity. She becomes people's laughingstock.

2Personalities

Different environment can not only mold different characteristics， but also influence differently on the same person. Bathsheba is a country girl who is looking forward to pursuing independence.Hardy molds her as a person with complexities and various characteristics， who expresses different facial expressions in different situations. In The Return of The Native， Eustacia is a female hedonist who has the over-sensitive tendency put forth studiously by Hardy. She has a courageous treacherous personality， pride and self-willed， warmly free， disregarding the custom morals and not followed the prevalence. Tess is an ideal female image in Hardy's mind， and he gives her all the fine qualities that workwomen have beautiful， pure， kind， unpretentious， tolerant and fortitudinous and resilient.

3Tragic fate

Hardy attributes the reason for his tragedy to the fault of environment and fate. The clash of character and environment results in the character's tragedy. Fate creates character's tragedy without rhyme or reason. The characters' fates are always suffered by the control of environment and their resistance will fail no matter how they persist. The heroines in Hardy's novels have a common characteristic——lack of self-awareness which is another reason for their tragedies.

4References

1Bayley， John.An Essay on Hardy[M].Cambridge: Cambridge University Press，1981

2王桂琴.“哈代的女性觀透析”[J].襄樊學(xué)院學(xué)報(bào)，2003，24(1):66-70