Education in Victorian England,Education was not universal before 1870 and many, particularly in the new industrial slums, were unable to read or write: 1)Ancient schools such as Eton and Winchester had existed for hundreds of years, but were only accessible to the wealthy and powerful, and this period saw the establishment of many more of these public schools,2)There were also old grammar schools, usually in towns and cities, which offered education to some poorer students, but places were limited and they were accessible only to boys 3)There were elementary schools (i.e. infants and primary schools), often set up by the Church of England.,4)Trade unions and other organizations also set up various kinds of educational establishments, aimed at improving the education of adult members of the working classes in growing cities like Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. 5)In 1870, the great Education Act was passed, and made a significant start on the provision by the government of universal elementary education.,Thomas Hardy (1840-1928),The last and one of the greatest of Victorian novelists and poets. He inherited and developed the literature tradition of the Victorian Age and opened the 20th century British literature by his brilliant poems in his late age.,Hardys life: True or false? page 299,Hardy was born near Wessex. Architecture was his desired profession. Hardy began to write poetry and became quite successful. The real success came with Far From the Madding Crowd. Jude the Obscure is his last novel. Hardy did not write novel and turn to architect again in the end of his life.,cultural background,Hardy lived and wrote in a time of difficult social change, when England was making its slow and painful transition from an old-fashioned, agricultural nation to a modern, industrial one. Businessmen and entrepreneurs, joined the ranks of the social elite(中坚分子), as some families of the ancient aristocracy, faded into obscurity.,Tesss family in Tess of the dUrbervilles illustrates this change, as Tesss parents, the Durbeyfields, lose themselves in the fantasy of belonging to an ancient and aristocratic family, the dUrbervilles. Hardys novel strongly suggests that such a family history is not only meaningless but also utterly undesirable（可能招致不便的）. Hardys views on the subject were appalling（骇人听闻的） to conservative and status-conscious British readers, and Tess of the dUrbervilles was met in England with widespread controversy.,Comments,Hardy is regarded as a 1_ writer. He is 2_ advanced and emotionally traditional. He is 3_ with those traditional characters. In his works, man is bound 4_ by his own 5_ nature. The outside nature, is shown as some mysterious 6_ force. It likes to play jokes upon humans by producing unfortunate 7_.Man proves 8_ before Fate, he seldom escapes his 9_ destiny. This 10_ view of life predominates most of Hardys later works.,Tess of the DUrbervilles,key facts time and place written： 1880s, England date of first publication ：1891 setting (time) ：The 1880s and 1890s setting (place) ：Wessex, the southwest of England,Themes：The injustice of existence; changing ideas of social class in Victorian England; men dominating women,Plot,Page 303,Comments on Tess,It is a fierce attack on the hypocritical morality of the bourgeois society and the capitalist invasion into the countryside and destruction of the English peasantry at the end of the nineteenth century. Naturalistic tendency is strong in the novel. Known as “Novels of character and environment.“, the novel is the most representative of him as both a naturalistic and a critical realist writer.,Characteristics of Hardys Writing,1) Hardy is a meditative story-teller or romancer, as well as a great painter of nature. Naturalism has played an important part in Hardys works.,Characteristics of Hardys Writing,2) His heroes and heroines are all vividly and realistically depicted. Hardys characters have a fascinating ambiguity: they are victimized by a stern moral code, but they are also selfish and weak-willed creatures who bring on much of their own difficulties through their own vacillations and submissions to impulse.,Characteristics of Hardys Writing,3) All works of Hardy are noted for the rustic dialect and a poetic flavor which fits well into their perfectly designed architectural structures.,