Available Formats
A Pair of Blue Eyes
By (Author) Thomas Hardy
Edited by Pamela Dalziel
Introduction by Pamela Dalziel
Notes by Pamela Dalziel
Penguin Books Ltd
Penguin Classics
24th November 2005
26th March 1998
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers
Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900
823.8
Paperback
480
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 20mm
326g
When Elfrise Swanston meets Stephen Smith she is attracted to his handsome face, gentle bearing and the sense of mystery which surrounds him. Although distressed to find that the mystery consists only in the humbleness of his origins, she remains true to their youthful vows. But societal pressures, and the advent of the superior Henry Knight, eventually displace her affections. Knight, however, proves to be an uncompromising moralist who, obsessed with fears about Elfride's sexual past, destroys her happiness. Writing of the struggle between classes and sexes, Hardy drew heavily on his own relationships, and in the introduction, Pamela Dalziel discovers fascinating parallels between Hardy's life and his art.
THOMAS HARDY (1840-1928) was recognized, and even revered, as the major literary figure of his time. The majority of his major novels are available in Penguin Classics.