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Gender and Hardy
A Talk for Salisbury Museum by Dr Tracy Hayes
Saturday 18th June at 2pm
This lecture will provide an insight into ‘The Lot of Women’ in the 19th Century – particularly figures such as ‘the Angel in the House’, the ‘Great Social Evil’ and the ‘Kept Woman’ and the ‘Fallen Woman’ – before investigating how Thomas Hardy engaged with such issues in his novels.
It is of course Tess of the d’Urbervilles that has the most relevance for Salisbury, with Stonehenge serving as the platform on which Tess sacrificed herself for the sins of others.
Subjects depicted in this novel remain in continual debate to the present day, including the question of rape/seduction – is Alec or Angel the true villain of the story; was Tess justified in murdering Alec, and was it right that Tess received the death penalty for her ‘crime’?
Hardy is scathing in his exposure of hypocritical 19th century sexual and social mores.
Tickets are £9 for Museum Members and £12 for Non-Members and can be booked through the Salisbury Museum website: salisburymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/lectures
Or by phone: 01722 332151
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