General Drama Of Pain eBook

<p> This motivational analysis of the protagonists in Thomas Hardy&rsquo;s three most widely read novels&mdash;<em>Tess of the d&rsquo;Urbervilles, The Mayor of Casterbridge</em>, and <em>Jude the Obscure</em>&mdash;highlights an often-overlooked aspect of his art. Bernard J. Paris shows Hardy&rsquo;s genius in creating imagined human beings. He demonstrates that while Hardy tends to blame external conditions for his characters&rsquo; painful fates, their downfalls are due to a very complex combination of cosmic, social, and psychological factors.</p><p> Hardy&rsquo;s characters are usually discussed primarily in thematic terms.&nbsp;The characters are are so richly portrayed, Paris argues, that they can be better understood independent of Hardy&rsquo;s interpretations, in motivational terms and he utilizes the psychologist Karen Horney&rsquo;s theories to recover Hardy&rsquo;s intuitions. The characters are full of inner conflicts that make them difficult to fathom, but the approach Paris employs explains their contradictions and illuminates their troubled relationships&mdash;shedding light on these expertly crafted imagined human beings.&nbsp;</p><p> This psychological approach to Hardy&rsquo;s characters enables us to understand his characters and gain insight into the implied authors of the works. In addition, the approach shows Hardy&rsquo;s authorial personality.&nbsp;We can see that Hardy treats some defensive strategies more sympathetically than others. Given his view of life as &ldquo;a general drama of pain,&rdquo; resignation, like that of Hardy&rsquo;s character Elizabeth-Jane, is the strategy he prefers. &nbsp;</p>