This thesis traces Hardy's involvement in the theatre from the 1880s to the 1920s. The narrative of Hardy's relationship with the theatre is set against an analysis of the changing nature of the stage during this period, though I acknowledge throughout the thesis the fact that Hardy's awareness of the theatre did not perfectly keep pace with its evolution. The aim of the thesis is to examine the motivations determining Hardy's work in the theatre in light of the fact that he seemed so dismissive of its efficacy. I trace the history of Hardy's adaptations of his work for the stage, before setting the scripts against the novels in order to weigh the extent to which the novels resist translation into a different medium – whether there is something integral to Hardy's plots that cannot be conveyed on stage. I have chosen to focus predominantly on material that made it beyond a rough sketch on a scrap of paper, on projects that reached the stage of rewritings and commercial negotiations - often years before they were produced. My selection has been determined by the belief that the material is indicative of the development of Hardy's understanding of the relationship between his work and the possibilities adaptation offered. My first chapter, on the history of an adaptation of 'Far From the Madding Crowd' in 1882, argues that Hardy's collaboration with J. Comyns Carr on the script was driven by his desire to assert his copyright over the novel's afterlife. The adaptation may never have been performed, but simply have been registered with the Lord Chamberlain as a deterrent against unauthorised adapters. It was the plagiarism row over Arthur Wing Pinero's possible theft of Hardy's plot in his popular pastoral play, 'The Squire', that pushed Hardy and Carr to stage their version. My second chapter looks at the history of Hardy's adaptations of 'Tess'. I am interested primarily in his writing of two scripts in the mid-1890s, and his negotiations with leading actresses in response to their interest in creating the part of Tess. The chapter then looks at the circumstances leading to the eventual staging of the play in the 1920s, focusing on the difficulties posed by producing a script which was by then thirty years old, and showing its age. In the third chapter I concentrate on plans to stage two novels, 'The Woodlanders' and 'Jude'. Neither was produced, but both are evidence of Hardy's increasing interest in the possibility of selecting from his material, rather than compressing it into the time available. The two adaptations allied Hardy much more closely with the avant garde than his earlier work had done – 'The Woodlanders' was begun in 1889 at the suggestion of J. T. Grein and C. W. Jarvis, two men who would later found the Independent Theatre, a private subscription society which pioneered the staging of Ibsen in England. Hardy's own sketches for adapting 'Jude' (1895, 1897, 1910, 1926) concentrated on Sue's position. I set Hardy’s realignment of 'Jude' against a focus on the place of women in unhappy marriages, drawing principally on Hardy's contribution to a debate about the role of wives in the 'New Review' for June 1894 and a 'Westminster Review' article by the feminist Mona Caird (August 1888), which provoked three months of debate (and 27,000 letters) in 'The Daily Telegraph' on the question 'Is Marriage a Failure?' Caird’s ideal dovetails with Sue's views on marriage as 'legalized prostitution' and her revulsion from 'the dreadful contract to feel in a particular way in a matter whose essence is its voluntariness!' The final chapter of the thesis looks at two adaptations of 'The Dynasts'. The first is a wartime entertainment staged by Harley Granville Barker in 1914, the second is Hardy's own adaptation for Dorset amateur actors (the Hardy Players) to perform in 1916, which concentrated on the impact of the war on the local populace. I then turn to the premiere of Hardy's only full-length drama written specifically for the stage – the one-act Arthurian play 'The Queen of Cornwall' (1923). I argue in this final chapter that Hardy was beginning to move from the role of reluctant adapter to that of director, conscious of the boundaries imposed by the stage and experimenting with how to craft his work to fit within them, rather than abridging his material indiscriminately.

Ce travail se propose de reconstruire une page peu connue de l'histoire de la diaspora de l'époque du Risorgimento, écrite autour d'un journal littéraire publié à Paris entre les mois de mai et octobre 1836, «L’Italiano. Foglio letterario».Conçu en Suisse par Mazzini et certains de ses compagnons d'exil, «L’Italiano» vit le jour grâce à la collaboration d'un groupe d'exilés italiens résidant dans la capitale française.Par rapport à l'idée d'origine née au sein de la Jeune Italie, le journal dut se confronter à des intellectuels aux parcours culturels et politiques divers qui collaborèrent pour « inaugurer une nationalité, soit-elle littéraire ».Contrairement à son prédécesseur parisien, «L'Exilé» (1832-1834), qui avait l'ambition d'offrir au public italien et français une histoire de la littérature italienne, «L'Italiano» proposait un programme de « critique éducatrice » en s'adressant principalement aux intellectuels de la péninsule.Outre le partage d'une conception éthique et civique de la littérature, le socle culturel sur lequel reposait le journal se fondait sur l'adhésion à une philosophie spiritualiste qui, tout en se revendiquant exclusivement italienne, était alimentée par la rencontre avec certains penseurs français de la Restauration, comme Pierre Leroux et Philippe Buchez.Le programme littéraire du journal s'appuyait sur le théâtre dramatique et sur le mélodrame, considérés comme des dispositifs de mobilisation politique aptes à transposer l'idée de nation sur un plan émotif et symbolique mais aussi à toucher les classes populaires sans avoir recours à la médiation de la parole écrite. / The research aims at reconstructing a neglected episode in the cultural life of the Italian exiles in the Age of the Risorgimento and is centered on a literary magazine published in Paris, from May to October 1836: «L'Italiano. Foglio letterario».«L'Italiano» was envisaged by Mazzini in Switzerland, together with his companions ofexile, and was eventually published with the aid of a group of Italian refugees in Paris. The journal was originally conceived within the context of the «Giovine Italia», but had to face up to a number of intellectuals whose cultural and political background was extremely various and whose intent was to cooperate in order to «principiare una nazionalità, sia pure letteraria».While «L’Exilé» (1832-1834) – the nearest antecedent of this magazine – aspired to provide an history of Italian literature for the Italian and French readers, «L'Italiano» presented rather a program of «critica educatrice» and it was especially addressed to the Italian intellectuals.The circle which arised around the journal was cemented not only by an ethic and engaged conception of literature, but also by a spiritualist philosophy: even if the proponents defended the Italian character of this philosophy, it was developed through a continuous exchange with French Philosophers of the Age of Reaction, such as Pierre Leroux and Philippe Buchez.The journal's proposal was centered on dramatic theatre and melodrama, insofar as theywere considered as instruments for political mobilization, apt to set on an emotional and symbolic dimension the idea of nation, as well as to affect the working-class, without the need for written words. / Questo lavoro si propone di ricostruire una pagina poco nota della diaspora risorgimentale, sorta attorno a un giornale letterario che si pubblicò a Parigi tra il maggio e l'ottobre del 1836, «L’Italiano. Foglio letterario». Concepito in Svizzera da Mazzini e da alcuni suoi compagni d’esilio, «L’Italiano» vide finalmente la luce grazie alla collaborazione di un gruppo di esuli italiani residenti nella capitale francese. Rispetto all’idea originaria, sorta in seno alla Giovine Italia, il giornale dovette confrontarsi con intellettuali dai percorsi culturali e politici assai diversi tra loro, che si trovarono a cooperare per «principiare una nazionalità, sia pure letteraria».Diversamente dal suo precedente parigino, «L'Exilé» (1832-1834), che ambiva a offrire al pubblico italiano e francese una storia della letteratura italiana, «L'Italiano» proponeva, invece, un programma di «critica educatrice» rivolto principalmente agli intellettuali della penisola. Oltre alla condivisione di una concezione etica e civile della letteratura, il sodalizio culturale sorto attorno al giornale si fondava sull’adesione a una filosofia di stampo spiritualista che, pur rivendicando un’origine tutta italiana, si alimentava grazie al confronto con alcuni pensatori francesi della Restaurazione, come Pierre Leroux e Philippe Buchez.La proposta letteraria del giornale poggiava sul teatro drammatico e sul melodramma, in cui riconosceva dei dispositivi di mobilitazione politica che, oltre a proiettare l’idea di nazione su un piano emotivo e simbolico, potevano raggiungere le classi popolari senza la mediazione della parola scritta.