Oxford World's Classics: Two on a Tower - Softcover

Hardy, Thomas

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9780192836410: Oxford World's Classics: Two on a Tower

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192836412 ISBN 13: 9780192836410

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks, 1998

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Published in 1882, his ninth novel, Two on a Tower is Hardy's most complete and daring treatment of the theme of love between characters of different classes and ages. Viviette, the married lady of the manor, is nine years older than Swithin St Cleve, the 20-year old `Adonis-astronomer', a `lad of striking beauty, scientific attainments, and cultivated bearing', the orphaned son of a curate who married the daughter of a family of farmers. The story of their love, both complex and remarkable, involves adultery and accidental polygamy. On publication some reviewers considered the novel to be immoral, and one suggested that the treatment of the Bishop of Melchester might be regarded as a `studied and gratuitous insult aimed at the Church'. This sensational tale is informed throughout by the astronomical images and reflections which were preoccupying Hardy at the time of the book's composition. This is the first critical edition of Two on a Tower. Based on a study of the manuscript and Hardy's revised printed versions, it presents a text in which many variants make their appearance in print for the first time.

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About the Author:

Thomas Hardy was a poet and novelist of the naturalist movement. He trained as an architect. He was a religious man who was also deeply influenced by Darwin and fascinated by ghosts and spirits.During his lifetime, he was best known for his novels. His stories combine nuanced description of natural surroundings with the sense of impending moral crisis. He claimed that poetry was his first love, though, and in recent years his poetry has received much critical acclaim.

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