Year
2012
Degree Name
Master of Arts (Research)
Department
School of English Literatures and Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Mayabadi, Farzaneh, Thomas Hardy, John Stuart Mill and Feminism, Master of Arts (Research) thesis, School of English Literatures and Philosophy, University of Wollongong, 2012. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3633
Abstract
This study will investigate the relations to liberal feminism of Thomas Hardy’s novels Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). I argue against those who believe Tess and Sue are victims, introducing them as proto-feminists by reading these two novels along with John Stuart Mill’s liberal feminist arguments. This study is consolidated by demonstrating how Hardy’s tragic novelistic form in these two works is connected to feminist content. The death of the female protagonists shows the difficulty of accommodating liberal feminist ideas within late Victorian society.
FoR codes (2008)
2005 LITERARY STUDIES
Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.