No other major author of the nineteenth century has arguably produced as much critical activity as Thomas Hardy. This timely addition to the Critical Issues series explores the various philosophical views of critics, with close textual analysis of Hardy's novels and with reference to his poetry.

Abbreviations and a Note on the Text
Aknowedgements
Introduction: Dwelling on Hardy
Apprehension, Suspension, Abstention: Desperate Remedies (1871)
Distortions and Transformations: Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) and A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873)
Being and Dwelling: Far From the Madding Crowd (1874),The Return of the Native (1878) and Two on a Tower (1882)
Uncommon Events: The Trumpet Major (1880), A Laodicean (1881) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
Confessions of the Other:The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895)
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Julian Wolfreys is a Professor of Modern Literature and Culture with the Department of English and Drama at Loughborough University, UK. The author and editor of numerous books and articles, his most recent publications are Writing London III: Inventions of the City (Palgrave) and Transgression: Identity, Place, Time (Palgrave).