不可解な女,Marty South(イギリス文学系,英文学科創設70周年記念論文集)

概要

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The answer to the question whether Marty South sells her father's brain to Fitzpiers is not clear. Marty is an enigmatic woman. However, one of the strongest impressions after reading The Woodlanders is the severe portrait of the lonely and devoted girl, Marty South. No readers can be left untouched by the description of her patient endurance, her silent love and her last requiem for Giles Winterborne. Many critics praised Marty as the sweetest woman that Thomas Hardy had ever drawn, and placed her alongside Tess as "Two Pure Women." Some of them deplored the fact that the solid worth and fidelity of this unselfish woman goes largely unappreciated. However, it is Marty as a rural innocence that they highly admired. She is regarded as having an asexual and disembodied existence. The reason why she is considered in that regard is that Hardy does not assign the task of the "character" in the text, but that of the "function" to unfold the plot to Marty. The point is, firstly, how she performs her task at the sacrifice of her desire and her "character" as a substantial being in the text. Secondly, the question is inspected whether she bargains with Fitzpiers for her father's brain, through the historical background of the body after death for medical research. This paper researches the "character" of Marty South beyond what is simply written in the text.
2005-03-15