FEMALE NEUROSIS : A PSYCHOANALYTIC READING OF WOMEN IN HARDY'S NOVELS

This thesis seeks to study Hardy's fiction In the attempt to Illustrate his remarkably sophisticated and modem understanding of female neurosis. It argues that Hardy's portrayal of female characters who 'deviate' from the ideal Victorian woman, Is sensitive to the psychological predicament experienced by these women. In Hardy's novels these women attain a significance which redefines them as circumstancial products of the female freedom movement, rather than irrational, or mentally unsound individuals. Three types of 'deviant' women are discussed in this thesis, namely the Rebel, the Fallen Woman, and the New Woman. These types have been selected because Hardy repeatedly attempts to understand and account for the predicament faced by these women in the inhibiting Victorian society. The principal tool of analysis used is Freudian psychology. Hardy's fiction Invites a Freudian reading because of the psychological complexity that Hardy Injects into his female characterisation. There Is a certain progressiveness in Hardy's characterisation of the female psyche, and the use of Freudian theory allows for a better understanding of these women than would otherwise be possible. This reading of female neurosis in Hardy's novels concludes that Hardy's fiction anticipates Freud, giving Hardy a distinctive identity among his Victorian counterparts, while establishing the maturity of his psychological insight.

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• MALA SUNDRAM