Thomas Hardy, Femininity and Dissent

Drawing on aspects of Foucauldian feminist theory "Thomas Hardy's Women: Femininity in Crisis" offers detailed readings of six critically under-valued novels: "Desperate Remedies", "A Pair of Blue Eyes", "The Hand of Ethelberta", "A Laodicean", "Two on a Tower" and "The Well-Beloved", demonstrating Hardy's appreciation of how individuals negotiate the forces which shape their sense of self. Tracing his interest in the evolutionary debate and the woman question, this book reveals a politically engaged rather than a pessimistic Hardy.;The book is aimed at departments of literature (courses on Thomas Hardy); womens studies, and feminist theory.