Thomas Hardy's legal fictions / Trish Ferguson.
| Author/creator | Ferguson, Trish |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, ©2013. |
| Description | ix, 178 pages ; 24 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Edinburgh critical studies in Victorian culture Edinburgh critical studies in Victorian culture. ^A1144130 |
| Contents | Acknowlegements -- Series editor's preface -- Introduction -- 'If you only knew me through and through' : the domestic trial scene and narrative advocacy -- 'I was not in my senses, and a man's senses are himself' : the legal defence of insanity -- 'I hate to be thought men's property in that way' : married women and the law -- 'Waiters on chance' : the Tichborne claimant, land law reform and rural dispossession -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index. |
| Abstract | This book examines how Hardy's role as an acting magistrate and his lifelong interest in the law impacted on his prose fiction. Hardy's novels and short stories are examined in the context of debates surrounding some of the seismic legal reforms of the nineteenth century, namely the birth of adversarial trial procedure, the evolving definition of legal insanity, the campaign for legal equality for married women and heightened discussion over land law reform. This book situates Hardy's treatment of these issues in the context of debate in Parliament, the press, periodicals and sensation fiction. While noting the influence of sensation fiction on his literary output this study argues that Hardy rejects the conventional endings of realist and sensation fiction to provoke his readership to examine legal questions which he leaves unanswered in a modernist form of training in judicial reasoning. -- Publisher website. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (p. [165]-175) and index. |
| LCCN | 2013455256 |
| ISBN | 0748673245 |
| ISBN | 9780748673247 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | General Stacks | PR4757 .L36 F47 2013 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |