Date Thesis Awarded
5-2018
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
English
Advisor
Suzanne Raitt
Committee Members
Deborah Morse
Liz Barnes
Paul Manna
Abstract
The late nineteenth-century England witnessed rapid modernization and important reforms of educational policies for the lower-class. The huge impact of those changes on people's lives was captured by literary works. During the decades of England's first attempt at universal elementary education in 1870-1890s, Thomas Hardy wrote and published six novels: Far From the Madding Crowd,The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge,The Woodlanders, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. This thesis examines the changing theme of education in Hardy’s six novels in the dynamic context of rapid modernization and educational reforms, observing hopes and difficulties that people face in different stages of social development.
Recommended Citation
Jiang, Jiayue, "Education in the Novels of Thomas Hardy" (2018). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1180.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1180
