The Woodlanders ; 明暗・欲望・視線

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The Woodlanders was published in 1887. The novel is one of Thomas Hardy's famous works along with Tess of the D'urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. The main theme of the novel concerns the tragedy of men and women in rural Wessex. All Hardy's novels contain many detailed expressions ; not only detailed representations of men and women but also detailed descriptions of those characters in their natural setting; especially, the first appearance of characters is closely linked with the description of nature where characters metaphorically disclose their hidden emotions within the natural scene. Among the descriptions of nature in the novel, the most impressive is chiaroscuro, the contrast between light and dark, particularly, noteworthy. In all his works, the light and dark reflects the emotion of his characters. For instance, whenever the characters are depressed, the darkness is inserted around the characters. Conversely, whenever the characters are in high spirits, a light imagery is used. This contrast is one of important keys for understanding his novels. One of the conspicuous examples in The Woodlanders is the expression of the psychological contrast between two women: Marty South and Grace Melbury. This paper chiefly considers the interrelation of the chiaroscuro of the two women. Through the light and the dark, their consciousness and unconsciousness against men are represented. For Marty South, the light means man's desire for her body. This is well represented when the merchant Percomb, who wants to buy her hair for a wig, looks at her in her cottage. The light emphasizes her physical beauty, especially her hair. But it also implies his focused gaze on her hair. The light shows his desire to get the beautiful hair for his own commercial purposes. However, she does not want to sell it, because she knew that the hair would be used for Mrs. Charmond's wig to draw man's attention to her. Marty is disgusted to be an object of man's desire. (But the reason why she kept her hair is very paradoxical. In fact, Marty kept it for Giles Winterborne whom she loved, so subconsciously she wanted to be the object of man's desire albeit one man in particular. However, after she cut off her hair, the hair served to attract men's eye as a possible wig for Mrs. Charmond. Marty inevitably attracts men's desire.) However, through cutting her hair herself she undergoes a form of metaphorical castration, which reveals her attempt to get away from being a commercial or sex object. After this incident, Marty avoids to be thrown by the light, since, to her, all light is a metaphorical representation of men's eyes, not only Percomb's. As a result, she hides herself in the darkness. The darkness shutters her off from men; in the last scene, when she stands before the grave of Giles, her appearance is hidden in mist and darkness. The darkness here symbolizes her rejection of being an object of men's desire. For Grace, the chiaroscuro is very different from Marty. She was born in Hintock, but following her father's will was educated in the urban culture. She is close to being an outsider as far as regional culture is concerned. In addition, her personality is very passive toward men (her father and husband). Therefore, her attitude toward light and dark is different from that of Marty. For instance, when she returns to her home, she meets her father Melbury in the light, which implies his joy to see his daughter as a refined lady. The light also represents his desire for her to be such a refined lady. Grace is also aware of his eye and desire. She does not reject the desire of men that the light represents : rather, she bends to it rather than rejecting. For example, she dresses herself to attract men surrounded by the illumination of candles. Her illuminated appearance also symbolizes a womanhood that men desire. Grace subconsciously tends to become the type of woman that men want. She is not disgusted to be the object of men's desire as Marty is. And for Grace, the light frequently appears as a representation of male superiority. For instance, in the night when she came back to her native countryside from the school, she sees at a mystic light, which is revealed from Fitzpiers's house. By this light Grace imagines his superior knowledge and power, which enhances her interest in him. As a result they eventually marry. And, when she has a fever, Fitzpiers helps her with medicine. The bottle of medicine reveals an image of light with opaline hue. The light has become a symbolic phenomenon that represents superiority over her. Grace accepts his superiority and she adjusts herself to a world that is not friendly toward women. The light represents men's desire and her obedience. Thus light and darkness represent two ways of woman's life in a men's world. Marty rejects men's desire. Conversely, Grace passively accepts their desire and vigilance. But neither succeeds to obtain a happy marriage. Marty cannot unite with Giles, because she feels that Giles should marry Grace according to the promise of Grace's father, and has spoiled her beauty by cutting her hair. Grace marries Fitzpiers following the will of her father. However, Fitzpiers is not capable of being the superior man that she expected. Consequently she also fails to achieve a happy marriage. The unfortunate marriage is one of the important themes in Hardy's works. Hardy seemed to portray freedoms even within an oppressive society. Through the impressive visual representation of woman's misfortune, he accuses contemporary society where men's one-sided oppression dominates women as defective and evil. Through the achievement of this novel, he appears to continue to investigate the problem till the achievement of Tess of D'urbervilles in which he represents fiercely oppressed women and the sexual tyranny of men.
2009-01-20

著者

谷山智彦
桃山学院大学文学研究科

The Woodlanders ; 明暗・欲望・視線

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