Abstract
The lottery of birth weighed heavily on Hardy’s mind during his early years in London; more than anything else it conspired to create his literary poor-man-and-the-lady complex. The hereditary ‘hap of birth’ in general gave him food for deeper thought in ‘Discouragement’, a poem which engaged his intermittent attention from 1865 to 1867, if not earlier. It may have been stimulated originally by lines in Hamlet (i.iv, 23–6), and cannot be excluded from the larger incidence of ‘Crass Casualty’ in ‘Hap’ (1866). Where was the Providence of his Christian faith, he must have asked himself.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Hardy’s tribute) Life 311/334; (translation readings) Lennart Björk, The Literary Notes of Thomas Hardy, Göteborg, 1974, pp. 185, 195 (text) and 399, 409 (notes; cf. entry 243).
Copyright information
© 1990 F. B. Pinion
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pinion, F.B. (1990). Supplement. In: Hardy the Writer. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230389458_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230389458_21
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-38876-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-38945-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)