The Return of the Native: Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet. "The Return of the Native" illustrates the tragic potential of romantic illusion and how its protagonists fail to recognize their opportunities to control their own destinies. Tempestuous Eustacia Vye passes her days dreaming of passionate love and the escape it may bring from the small community of Egdon Heath. Hearing that Clym Yeobright is to return from Paris, she sets her heart on marrying him, believing that through him she can leave rural life and find fulfilment elsewhere. But Clym has dreams of his own, and they have little in common with Eustacia's. Their unhappy marriage causes havoc in the lives of those close to them: Damon Wildeve, Eustacia's former lover, Clym's mother and his cousin Thomasin.