H05015 NOTES AND QUERIIES - 2/6/05 - HARDY FORUM ARCHIVES ____________________________________________________________________________

FALLEN WOMEN IN THE NOVELS (2)

INFLUENCE OF DARWINISM (2)

CHANNEL FIRING COMMENTS

UNSUITABLE STUDENT QUERIES

HARDY IN CURRICULA (3)

 

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From: nataliefagan20@hotmail.com

Subject: Fallen Women in the Novels

Date: February 6, 2005 12:10:44 PM PST

could any body tell me more about the notion of the fallen woman. I am examining the two novels Far from the Madding Crowd and Return of the Native.

Could it be interpreted that Thomasin would have been looked upon as a fallen woman if she refused to marry Wildeve after thier engagement.

Many thanks!

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From: NHardyboy@aol.com

Subject: Re: Fallen Women in the Novels

Date: February 6, 2005 12:52:02 PM PST

No; a "fallen woman" is an unmarried woman who has lost her virginity and who usually becomes a prostitute or/and drifts into poverty. Fannie Robin of "Far from the Madding Crowd" fits the "fallen woman" bill more closely than does Tamsin, and Tess of course fights against this label. The worst that could be said of Tamsin if she broke the engagement vow is that she's a jilt--that's committing a social sin, but there's none of the stain of being called "fallen."

Regards,

Paul Niemeyer

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From: christinebeanoconnor@yahoo.co.uk

Subject: Influence on Darwinsism

Date: February 20, 2005 10:55:59 AM PST

Hi,

I'm writing a dissertation on the influence of Darwinism in Thomas Hardy's novels. Does anybody know of anywhere that I may find information on this subject? Any ideas would be really appreciated. Thanks. Christine.

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From: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu

Subject: Re: Influence on Darwinism

Date: February 20, 2005 4:17:56 PM PST

Christine, you should find some material on Hardy and Darwin in the Forum archives at:

http://www.yale.edu/hardysoc/Welcome/Forum/Searchable%20Archives.htm

Betty Cortus

hardycor@owl.csusm.edu

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From: schweikr@localnet.com

Subject: "Channel Firing"

Date: February 20, 2005 5:58:00 PM PST

Hardy-L can check Bill Morgan's poetry page and

see the comments on poems posted there. But, if there are

any out there who want to access those pages but who

find it difficult to do so, would you please contact me privately?

When Bill Morgan posts a poem on his "Poem of the Month" it

usually gets a flurry of responses and, then, people assume that

the discussion is over. In this case, not so. I've just posted a

message to the POTM in which I raise questions about comments

made by Bill, by Philip Allingham, and by Carolyn McGrath. You

may respond to my criticisms of one or more of the three, either by

way of agreement or disagreement, either to Bill's POTM or to this

Forum--or, preferably, both.

But, I should add, at least one of my comments is really in the form of a more

general question about how, and why, readers respond to literary works which

involve nonsensical and contradictory situations (dead people speaking,

and sitting up in covered coffins for example). In that posting, I assumed

that most readers accept such contradictory and conflicting presentations.

For further details, please check Bill Morgan's poetry page, and, again, if you have

problems doing so, please (as I mention above) write to me privately.

But, to those remarks I've raised in my posting on "Channel Firing," I

might just add one further question here. Recently I published a

study of Hardy's The Well-Beloved--"'Only a Sketch After All': Hardy's

Depiction of Pierston's Art in The Well-Beloved," The Thomas Hardy

Journal, 18.2 (May, 2002), 47-56, in which I commented on the contradictions

and inconsistencies in Hardy's treatment of Pierston's art. In that study I assumed

that readers of the novel, once made aware of its contradictions and

inconsistencies, would be less likely to take it seriously as a work about

sculpture or of art in general.

However, I make no such assumption about the inconsistencies in Hardy's "Channel

Firing," and, indeed, suggest that there is a literary form that has at its

core precisely a justification of such contradictions and inconsistencies. Why, then,

are the contradictions and inconsistencies in The Well-Beloved not part of

such a literary form? Or are they? Have I somehow failed to see the signals

that Hardy might have used to justify the contradictions and inconsistencies

in The Well-Beloved that I think I see in such poems as "Channel Firing"?

Unlike Walt Whitman, I don't blithely assume that if I contradict myself, "well,

then I contradict myself." It seems to me that there is some important difference

between the contradictions in "Channel Firing" and those in The Well-Beloved

that is fundamental to our understanding how literature works. What, I wonder,

are they? Or am I wrong in one, or another, or both of my comments?

Bob

Robert Schweik

University Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus

Department of English

State University of New York

Fredonia, NY 14063

USA

schweik@fredonia.edu

schweikr@localnet.com

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From: Rosemarie.morgan@yale.edu

Subject: Re Unsuitable Student Questions

Date: February 20, 2005 8:05:07 PM PST

Greetings all:

I wonder why students (as below) feel that others (such as TTHA ) should be doing their research for them?

Surely if they are bona fide students they have bona fide supervisors to guide them through their bibliographies?

We-- at TTHA - receive these kinds of "know of anywhere that I may find information on this subject" queries every day, every week, every month ( not always on the Forum -- more often by private email) yet not one of us has been appointed academic supervisors to these students.

TTHA provides a comprehensive scholarly resource (bibliographies, poetry discussion groups, full information on the novels, the dramas, the current affairs and life and works of Thomas Hardy) -- most of it freely available to students. For serious upper level scholars membership is recommended. TTHA- with its 21 scholar-directors -- worldclass scholars from across the globe -- works industriously and constantly, night and day, to provide a free research resource for all Hardy students and lay readers.

Surely, the whole idea of becoming a student, taking on this thing called "study," is that one takes it on?

Here we are ! TTHA --.

Study our resources.

With every good wish,

Rosemarie Morgan

President: TTHA

> Hi, I'm writing a dissertation on the influence of Darwinism in

>Thomas Hardy's novels. Does anybody know of anywhere that I may find

>information on this subject? Any ideas would be really appreciated.

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From: waller1001@comcast.net

Subject: research

Date: February 22, 2005 6:41:28 PM PST

What specific topics concerning Thomas Hardy are higher Educational Institutions covering in their curriculums?

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From: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu

Subject: Research Project

Date: February 24, 2005 6:48:38 AM PST

Dear All,

The following message, sent to me privately, was actually meant for the list.

Betty

 

Hey, my name is Davis Waller and I am a student at Woodward Academy

researching Thomas Hardy as part of a semester-long research assignment. It

would greatly assist me in my research if any professors or students who

study Thomas Hardy as part of their college curriculum could respond with

any outstanding lines of research currently being performed on Hardy's work

at their college or university. Overall, I am looking for information

concerning the curriculum of a Professor teaching Hardy at a college or

university. Thank you, Davis Waller

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From: Rosemarie.morgan@yale.edu

Subject: Re: Research Project

Date: February 27, 2005 1:38:32 PM PST

Dear Davis --

The following will provide a good start:

http://www.yale.edu/hardysoc/Syllabi/syllabi.htm

Good Luck!

Rosemarie

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