Critic Richard Carpenter says, "Far From the Madding Crowd developes...the vividly realized setting of field and farm without the grim majesty of Egdon Heath (in Return of the Native)." Choose a descriptive passage of "grim majesty" from the first 75 pages and post it to this blog as a comment. Then comment on each others posts.
Be sure to check the posts from Far From the Madding Crowd as their setting differs from yours greatly. This should give you a well-rounded sense of Hardy's treatment of setting.
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"...The place became full of a watchful intentness now; for when other things sank brooding to sleep the heath appeared slowly to awake and listen. Every night its Titanic form seemed to await something; but it had waited thus, unmoved, during so many centuries, through the crises of so many things, that it could only be imagined to await one last crisis--the final overthrow."
*Pg. 2:Paragraph 2:lines 13-18*
(there is also a Shakespeare connection - he frequently uses/explains the grim majesty of things)
"...Though her eyes were closed, one could easily imagine the light necessarily shining in them as the culmination of the luminous workmanship around. The groundwork of the face was hopefulness; but over it now I lay like a foreign substance a film of anxiety and grief. The grief had been there so shortly as to have abstracted nothing of the bloom, and had as yet but given a dignity to what it might eventually undermine. The scarlet of her lips had not had time to abate, and just now it appeared more intense by the absence of the neighbouring and murmor of words. She seemed to belong rightly to a madrigal - so require viewing through rhyme and harmony."
[p 27, paragraph 11]
Though different from Liz's example, this passage also delves into the theme of a grim majesty, but instead of using a setting, it is played part by the appearance of Tasmin. The reader leaves the passage with the sure knowledge that she is beautiful, but upon first glance one sees that she is troubled by worry and grief. Her beauty is something admired by all, and her mourning is something any reader can relate to.
"It might reasonably supposed that she was listening to the wind, which rose somewhat at the night advanced, and laid hold of the attention. The wind, indeed, seemed made fore the scene, as the scene heard there could be heard nowhere else. Gusts in innumerable series followed each other from the north-west...Treble, tenor, and bass notes were to be found therin. The general richochet of the whole over pits and prominences had the gravest pitch of the chime. Next there could be heard the baritone buzz of a holly tree. Below these in force, above them in pitch, a dwindled voice strove hard at a husky tune, which was the peculiar local sound alluded to...Yet-scarcel a single accent among the many afloat to-night could have such power to impress a listener with thoughts of its origin."(p.39-40) Even though this quote doesn't necessarily support the celebration of rural life, it does connect to the ideas found in Tess that with rural life, paganism may follow and I think this hints to Eustacia's close connection to nature and possible paganism.
The grim majesty in my example, even though wasn't directed towards this idea originally, i think is supported by jessica's comment in that i found grim majesty through example of character and not so much setting. This might be the different in views or maybe even in novels being compared to the other novel...
...Far From the Madding Crowd
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