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MonkeyNotes-Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
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KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
Egdon Heath, which forms the setting of the story, is in reality a
string of heaths between Dorchester and Bournemouth. It is not
only the setting of the tale, but seems to dominate the plot and
determine the characters. Some writers cite the heath as the
protagonist of the novel, and D. H. Lawrence considers it is the
most important "character" in the book.
The characters can be classified into groups according to the
various ways in which they react to the Heath. Clym Yeobright is
the product of Egdon, and its shaggy hills are friendly to him.
Eustacia is filled with a great hatred of this monster that holds her
back from the indulgence of her fiercer passions. Wildeve thinks of
it as a place to flee from. The reddleman is the spirit of the heath
and is helped constantly by it. Thomasin admires its "grim old
face," and to her, it is an impersonal open ground. It is ironic that
both Wildeve and Eustacia die in the very place they wish to flee
from: Shadwater Weir on the Heath.
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MonkeyNotes-Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
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