1. Thomas Hardy

2. Early Life • Born in Higher Bockhamptom, England in 1840 • Father was a stonemason and fiddler • His mother enjoyed reading to him • At 16 he became an apprentice to a local architect • Moved to London and worked as an architect for 5 years • Married Emma Gifford in 1874.

3. Hardy as an Author • Started as a Novelist • He destroyed his first novel, The Poor Man and The Lady • He first published anonymously • First Novel-Desperate Remedies • After the novel, Jude the Obscure, received a lot of criticism Hardy switched to poetry

4. Life Imitates Art • Hardy didn’t believe in a benevolent God, and believed in Darwinism • Historical and war interests influenced works such as The Dynasts. • After the death of his first wife, Hardy wrote the Great Poems of 1912 and 1913.

5. Jude the Obscure • Written in 1895 • Highly criticized for sexual and anti-religion themes • Tells a story about a man, Jude, who falls in love with his cousin and has children out of wedlock. • A child from a previous marriage kills the other children and himself. • Story that challenges Christianity.

6. Without Ceremony • Part of the Great Poems of 1912-13. • Tells a story about the last time Emma entertained. • Reader can tell their relationship has fallen apart. • Hardy mourns not being able to say good bye.

7. Achievements • In 1910 was awarded the Order of Merit. • Max Gate became popular tourist attraction • Ashes are buried in Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey

8. Fun Fact • The term “cliff-hanger” comes from Hardy’s A Pair of Blue Eyes in which the main character Henry Knight is left staring off the edge of a cliff.

9. Works Cited • "Thomas Hardy." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/110>. • "Thomas Hardy." Poem Hunter. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. <http://www.poemhunter.com>. • "Thomas Hardy." : The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/thomas-hardy>