While I resist writing a blurb about a life and effort that spanned almost one hundred years, I will mention a few trends. Thomas Hardy was an admirer of
Darwin, and held the belief that the human condition was much more humble than had been considered by his contemporaries. He believed that if
God did think of humankind, he saw it as a failure. His emphasis on
nature’s laws earned him little respect from
critics. His earthy heroine
Jude the Obscure was called "Jude the Obscene" by critics, who abhorred the unpopular
fatalistic tone of the novel.
Perhaps the most telling story about his life is his death. After Thomas Hardy died, his heart was cut out and sent to his wife. As if horror needed to be added to the situation, when she left it out, his dog found it and ate it.