In the essay that follows, Mitchell explores the ways in which sensation novels—particularly George Meredith's Rhoda Fleming and Thomas Hardy's Desperate Remedies—reflect and react to changing roles for women in the Victorian period.

In the following essay, Taylor discusses how Thomas Gray was a key influence in Hardy's aesthetics and thoughts on the public culture, and how Gray's influence convinced Hardy that his highest vocation was not as a novelist, but as a poet.

In the following essay, Riquelme deconstructs a number of Hardy's poems in an attempt to define what makes them “modern.”

In the following essay, Richardson investigates the impact of science—especially ideas of mating and hereditary—on Hardy's A Group of Noble Dames.

In the following essay, Widdowson presents an overview of critical theory on Hardy, especially in criticism written since the 1960s.

In the following essay, Schweik outlines the influence of contemporary religious, scientific, and philosophic thought on Thomas Hardy's writings.

In the following essay, Shumaker asserts that Hardy illustrates the danger of the Victorian myth of degeneration in “Barbara of the House of Grebe.”

In the following essay, Plotz explores the meaning of technical advances and machinery in Hardy's short fiction, particularly the steam roundabout in “On the Western Circuit.”

In the following essay, Grossman examines the observers in Hardy's novels and notes that the observer role is the key link between Hardy's narrative technique and the stories that unfold.

In the following essay, Rogers examines the influence of Hardy on concepts of the history of rural nineteenth-century England.

In the following essay, Dauner discusses Hardy's poetry, with emphasis on the poet's capacity for lyrical expression of universal emotions.

In the following essay, Siebenschuh suggests that Hardy's poetic and fictional vision is closely tied to his symbolic use of the sense of place.

In the following essay, Mitchell offers a poststructuralist approach to Hardy's fictional heroines, concluding that the feminist reader of Hardy will necessarily feel ambivalent about his representations of women.

In the following essay, Page discusses several ways in which Hardy uses everyday objects to create meaning in his fiction.

In the following essay, Pether examines Hardy's use of legal terminology in his stories.

In the following essay, Wright considers the role of the erotic in Hardy's short fiction.

In the following essay, Meisel assumes a Freudian orientation in his analysis of Michael Henchard's self-alienation.

In the following essay, Hynes discusses the ways in which Hardy and William Butler Yeats dealt with old age and how their responses were evident in their poetry.

In the following review of Hardy's novels, Moss urges that Hardy be treated as a universalist and not just a regionalist.

In the following essay, Chew presents a brief biography and a tribute on the occasion of Hardy's eightieth birthday.

In the following essay, Meyers discusses Hardy's influence on post-World War I poets.

In the following essay, Jacobson states that reviewers have often ignored the sophisticated philosophy which led Hardy to test the limits of the use of language in his poetry.

In the following essay, Ebbatson provides some historical background for “The Withered Arm.”

In the following review, Hawkins comments on a biography of Hardy and new editions of his prose drama and collected letters.

In the following essay, published during a period of decline in Hardy criticism, Weber urges a reconsideration of Hardy's literary contributions.