This thesis concentrates on human relations and the potential for man’s beatitude in Hardy’s major novels through an exploration of suffering, human will, evolutionary meliorism, and Grace, discussed in separate chapters. Chapter I is devoted to an introduction of the major elements of what is here called Hardy’s vision. Relying largely on Florence Emily Hardy’s The Life of Thomas Hardy and on references to some of the novels, a compilation of impressions is arranged into what seems to represent accurately the basic nature of the world and human relations in Hardy’s novels. The emphasis and the thrust of the vision are the ways in which human doings interrelate.

The purpose of this research was to study in depth the relationships of individuals in the three social classes in England during the Victorian Age. Since original documents and research material were scarce I used two novels by Thomas Hardy to illustrate the conflicts between representatives of the social classes. In 1891 England was prosperous and many people believed there was no conflict between the classes. Thomas Hardy believed this was untrue and, by method of comparison, wrote Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure to prove his point. This thesis includes research on the two novels, Thomas Hardy’s life, and last but not least is a study of the Age of Victoria.

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