Brooks, Jean R., "The Return of the Native: A Novel of Environment," in Modern Critical Views: Thomas Hardy, edited by Harold Bloom, Chelsea House, 1987, pp. 55-72.

Analyzes  the   novel's  most  conspicuous  literary

theme.

Davidson,   Donald,   "The   Traditional   Basis  of Thomas Hardy's Fiction," inHardy: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Albert J. Guerard, Prentice-Hall, 1963, pp. 10-23. Identifies elements of the oral tradition of ruralEnglandin The Return of the Native and other works.

Hands, Timothy, " ' Yea, Great and Good, Thee, Thee we hail': Hardy and the Ideas of his Time," in Thomas Hardy, St. Martin's Press, 1995.

Traces the philosophical movements of the late nineteenth century and evaluates their influences in Hardy's works.

Hawkins, Desmond, Hardy the Novelist, David & Charles,

1965.

This respected analysis offers a strong background to students who are...