Because of his versatile authorial role, Thomas Hardy succeeds in generating his own regional mythology through the creation of fictional Wessex.  Through the establishment of literary Wessex, Hardy rearticulates the role of the regional writer in depicting his subject.  Half realism, half local mythology, the author’s works depict a Pre-Industrial England with largely Old World values that is threatened by modern ideology.

By studying two of his major novels, Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Return of the Native, the literary enthusiast can better understand Thomas Hardy’s scholarly ability of combining local folklore and tradition with decidedly modern ideologies, for instance the fascinating tension between his modern femme fatale heroines and his anarchronistic rural settings. This notion is further demonstrated through the various pagan images present throughout his major works.   A major theme in Hardy’s novels is the tension between the Pre-Industrial pastoral world and the Post-Industrial concepts of individuality.  Thomas Hardy is perhaps the most successful author to address these two seemingly contradictory ideas: he quite brilliantly preserves pastoral Dorset culture while incorporating modern ideology.  This rare combination of ideologies enables the author to critically explore the gradual modernization of the English countryside at the end of the 19th century.

The creation of the fictional region of Wessex enabled Thomas Hardy to create his own distinctive regional mythology. Hardy’s region is largely inspired by the Dorset of his youth and is the setting of most of his major novels. However, the author’s formation of Wessex has its roots in Medieval History; the region was essentially based on the six counties that composed the old kingdom of West Saxon. Hardy's desire to preserve the pastoral values of his Wessex appealed to the Edwardians sense of nostalgia for a Pre-Industrial past and even today encourages thousands of literary enthusiasts to explore Hardy country; the development of the Hardy Tourist Industry allowed thousands of literary enthusiasts to explore Wessex firsthand.

The realistic depiction of rural life in the southwest county of Dorset has certainly turned Thomas Hardy into an English literary legend. His acute awareness of detail no doubt gave him the ability to artistically paint a vivid visual image of the lush landscape in his readers’ minds. He weaves together vibrant stories that straddle between an era of Old World customs and values of the Victorians and their ancestors with the coming era of modernity in the twentieth-century. The mythological construction of Wessex enables Hardy to successful blend these two distinct worlds. This connection to the past is also represented through his use of small town superstitions strongly believed by its rural and oldest inhabitants, along with the pagan symbol that call back to the times before Christian domination. All of this, paired with his unusually strong and independent female characters makes for a wonderful tension between the old and the new. This tension provides a complex basis for fans to grab hold of something and desire to understand it in present time; thus, the development of the Hardy tourist industry well before Hardy’s own death. There is something for everyone in Hardy’s novels- natural landscapes, love stories, death, superstition and a historical basis, that can capture any reader’s mind and imagination: making him one of England most well-renowned authors.

© Copyright Clare Keating & Katie Hickey 2007