Pagan symbols frequently appear throughout all of Hardy's writing. The incorporation of these pagan superstitions and practices is one of the many ways Hardy is able to distinguish characteristics between the country folk of rural Wessex with histhoroughly modern characters attempting to distance themselves from the Old World lifestyle.. In an essay detailing Hardy’s use of paganism in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Charlotte Bonica says that part of the reason for Hardy's incorporation of these pagan elements  is because he believes that there is an “innate and inescapable human need to make sense of the universe in humanly understandable terms” (Bonica 849). Hardy uses nature and the ideas of paganism as a source of finding life's meaning.. Bonica sees this combination of nature and paganism as an alternative belief system. She says “At the heart of the country people’s paganism is the tendency to see congruence between two events and situations in their own lives, and phenomena in the natural world” (850). Examples of this are when the dairy workers at Talbothays in Tess suspect that the butter is failing due to a presence of two lovers at the dairy. The cawking crow on Tess’s wedding is also viewed as a bad omen. In The Return of the Native, Susan Nonsuch creates a wax fetish doll of Eustacia. Believing that she is only evil, Susan destroys the doll in hopes of harming Eustacia on the night of Eustacia's death. Since Hardy allows these pagan superstitions to prove true, it “suggests for them that paganism is, in Hardy’s view, an appropriate way of comprehending existence” (851). Thus, it is possible that Hardy is suggesting that paganism and a relationship with nature offers his modern characters a replacement for their Christian beliefs.

Some of the following are examples of Paganism present in Hardy’s Tess of the D”Urbervilles and The Return of the Native:

Mummers Play –

The Mummers Play takes place in The Return of the Native. Here, Eustacia persuades one of the boys participating to allow her to play his part for him at the Yeobright’s home. Her participation in the play allows her to catch a secret glimpse of Clym Yeobright after he has recently returned to Egdon from his years on the continent.

A Mummers Play is a folk drama that was popular throughout parts of Great Britain and is performed, traditionally, during the Christmas season. It is based on the legend of St. George and The Seven Champions of Christendom. These plays were originally mime shows – the name originated from the Old English word, mum, meaning silence. All of the performers are disguised as “Guisers,” and are thus dressed up and masked. It is this masking that enables Eustacia to secretively scope out the new man in town, Clym. The dialogue of the plays was added later, but was rarely written down. Rather, the plays were passed on by word of mouth. The main characters of the play were St. George, Captain Slasher, the Turkish Knight, The King of Egypt, Doctor and sometimes Father Christmas. There were also several Men at Arms who challenged St. George to a duel. In the duel, St. George is killed. The doctor arrives and is able to resurrect the dead.

James Frazer was the first person who popularized the theory that the Mummers Play had pagan origins. His theorized that this imitation of death and resurrection mimicked the death and re-birth related to winter and spring. Since a fertility goddess was often sacrificed in order to be re-born in the spring, he believed that the play originated from these pagan beliefs and themes. However, evidence of the play dates only as far back as the 18th century with small recording during the 17th century. It is believed that the Mummers Play existed much before the 17th century, however most historians generally dismiss the theory that it contains pagan origins due to a sizeable lack of evidence.

To find out more about the Mummers Play, click here.

Stonehenge –

The ruins of Stonehenge play a large role at the end of Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It is the symbolic ending of Tess’s tragic story – her final place of symbolic sacrifice for her love for Angel Clare. Hardy’s decision to end the novel at Stonehenge not only gives the novel a dramatic and un-forgetful ending, but it also supports the thesis that Bonica provides in her essay concerning Hardy’s modern characters’ desires to see paganism as an alternative for a wholly Christian belief system.

Stonehenge is estimated to be 3100 years old and it’s purpose is still unknown. Only educated guesses can be proposed as to the original purpose of the site. Many speculate that it was a temple made for worship of ancient Earth deities, such as a Sun God of some kind. Some also believe that it was the sacred site for the burial of high ranking society members. Either way, it is easy to believe that it must have been a place to mark significant events.

For information on the construction of Stonehenge, visit www.stonehenge.co.uk.

There are several theories as to who built Stonehenge. John Aubrey made a connection between Druids and Stonehenge about three centuries ago. However, it is very likely that the Druids were not associated with Stonehenge at all. Julius Ceasar and other Roman writers have written that there was a strong Celtic priesthood present in Britain during the time of Roman invasion in 55 BC. Its most likely that these Celts were not Druids since they are known to have worshipped in forest temples. Also, Stonehenge itself would perhaps have already been in ruins by the time the Romans arrived. For more information about Stonehenge’s location, click here. For more information about theories regarding Stonehenge, visit www.britannia.com/history/h7.html.

Maypole and May Day –

The May Day celebration is one of the earliest scenes in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It is here that readers are first introduced to Tess’s character. Hardy’s presents her as a young, innocent girl taking part in the town celebration.

The origin of May Day certainly has pagan connections and is related to Druids living in the British Isles. May 1st was the second most important holiday of the year for the Druids because it was believed that this day marked the half way point of the year. They called this holiday Beltane- the birth of new fire. This is associated with worshiping the sun for fertitlity purposes. This celebration of pagan fertility for the growing season was extremely important to the ancient Celts.
Since the spring time was a popular feast month for the Romans, the tradition of May Day continued once the Romans arrived in Britain. Romans devoted a large portion of their worship to Flora, the goddess of flowers. Thus, because of her, there would be a five day celebration which was called Floralia. These two traditional celebrations merged together, combing the customs of each. Thus, the birth of the May Day, so well known today, was born. May Day has been celebrated throughout Britain, although it does not have the same amount of popularity as it held centuries ago.

The maypole arose as a figure in the May Day celebrations when the Druids were first celebrating the tradition. Maypoles are typically made from trees which are thought to be linked to the days of the Ancient New Year’s rites for May 1st. Trees have always been associated with life and nature's fertility in locations throughout the world and can be found in many spring festivals dating back to many ancient civilizations.

A maypole dance is simple a folk dance that originated in Western Europe, most notably England, Sweden and Germany. Dancers form a circle and dance around a tall pole (usually made of a wood and perhaps originally a tree). The pole is decorated with garlands, painted stripes, flowers and flags. In some dances, the dancers will hold a colored ribbon and let the ribbon twist around the pole as they move around the pole.

© Copyright Clare Keating & Katie Hickey 2007