Perception, Class and Environment in the Works of Thomas Hardy

Roger Ebbatson is Visiting Professor at Lancaster University and Emeritus Professor at University of Worcester, UK. He is the author of numerous books, including Literature and Landscape (2013) and Landscapes of Eternal Return (2016).

“Perception, Class, and Environment in the Works of Thomas Hardy is a fresh intervention in Hardy studies which successfully establishes that Hardy attempts, in his fiction and poetry … . The book is densely packed with novel perspectives on Hardy’s oeuvre … . This is a must-read for any serious Hardy scholar, for innovative and new readings of his work.” (Oindrila Ghosh, BAVS Newsletter, Vol. 25 (1), 2025)

• 1. ‘The Bride-Night Fire’: Hardy & the Voice of the Folk.- 2. A Pair of Blue Eyes: The Cliff-Scene and the Literary Sublime.- 3. Moments of (Technological) Vision.- 4. ‘The Withered Arm’ and History.- 5. (Un)Binding the Sheaves: Selfhood and Labour in Tess of the d’Urbervilles.- 6. ‘The Open’:  Hardy and Jefferies.- 7. The d’Urberville Family Portraits: Faciality and Identity.- 8. Tess of the d’Urbervilles and the Fin de Siècle.- 9. Wayfaring.- 10. Hardy’s Lyric Voice: ‘Beeny Cliff’.- 11. ‘The Face at the Casement’: Window Patterns in Hardy’s Poetry.