The Use of Folklore in Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native

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The Use of Folklore in Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native

Folklore is the study of culture, customs and beliefs based on the tradition of a society. In Victorian England an interest in folklore emerged with the official creation of The Folk-Lore Society, which published a journal and held meetings and lectures regularly. Although Thomas Hardy included folklore in his writing, there is no evidence of his affiliation with this society.

Thomas Hardy's preoccupation with folklore came from his life and experience with rural life. As Hardy scholar Herbert B. Grimsditch writes, Hardy was born in Dorsetshire, and, as has been said, has spent most of his life there, and so knows the rural nature well, and exhibits in the light of prevalent customs, folk-lore and superstitions in a way which shows the thorough mastery of medium rarely attained by any other than a native (Grimsditch 74-5). Grimsditch theorizes that the customs and folklore in Hardy's work exist as a means to idealize this Victorian landscape and its characters.

In The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy illust...

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