The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (Egdon Heath)

 

The Return of the Native

by Thomas Hardy

(Egdon Heath) 

Egdon Heath is the fictitious name given by Hardy to Shadland Heath which is an area of moorland between Dorchester and Bournemouth in Dorset in England. It is the background for the whole of Hardy’s novel The Return of the Native. The novelist views the place in its historical perspective. “It is pleasant” says the novelist, “to dream that some spot in the extensive tract whose south-western quarter is here described may be the heath of that traditionary King of Wessex––Lear which is the place described in Shakespeare’s tragedy of that name.

The novel opens with a description of Egdon Heath. It is the place which had existed even prior to Roman and Norman conquests of England. It presents a face upon which time has made no mark and civilization has never been its ally. It nature is dark and except in summer it is hateful of day light.

Because of the vividness of its description it has been suggested that instead of being only the background for human drama Egdon Heath is a living identity that makes its contribution as an active agent in that drama. It has its own character. Night falls here earlier than anywhere else. Furze -cutting has been the traditional occupation of its favorite inhabitants and they have never been ambitious. “Looking upward”, writes Hardy about the place, “a Furze-cutter would have been inclined to continue to work: looking down he would have decided to finish his faggot and go home”. Since night falls here earlier lighting bonfire in the evening has been the customary practice of the people of this place. It is only when March approaches that there is some visible change on the face of Egdon. Egdon then shows “its first faint signs of awakening from winter trance. The awakening was almost feline in its stealthiness” and the sound of bumblebees that “flew hither and thither in the thickening light, their drone coming and going like the sound of a gong”.

The powerful influence of the Heath is pervasive. The Greek drama with the unities of place and purpose is enacted here. The rustic characters, as in a Greek drama, provide the chorus and they are free to comment on the behaviour and action of the major characters. Civilization is the villain and it comes to disturb the placid quality of its unruffled life. Those who love it and surrender to its charms are its chosen sons and daughters and those who are against and hate it cannot escape its powerful hold.

What is most hateful to Egdon is the onslaught of civilization on it. From this point of view Wildieve is the only villainous character in the novel. It is he who plays havoc with his modern ideas and disturbs the peaceful life of its inhabitants. The hateful point from Egdon’s point of view is that Wildieve being himself married plays sexual politics with Eustacia who is herself married to Clym.

But apart from the reddleman Egdon Heath is much better represented by its simple folk consisting of low characters like Timothy Fairways, Olly Dowden, Willy Orchard, Christian Candle and others. They are the true representatives of Egdon for they represent the eternal life of Egdon. Characters like Clym, Wildieve, Euastcia may come and go but these low rustic characters have been living there forever. These low characters maintain the traditions, customs, superstitions, the simple and unadorned ways of their living and their archaic and their unsophisticated low expressions and their rustic language keeps Egdon eternally alive, living and animating.