1. The Return of the Native
Lectures by
Hind S. Bilal, M.A
English Department
Faculty of Education
University of Kufa

2. Ch. 9/ Love Leads a Shrewd Man into Strategy
Bullet points:
Our reddleman is an oddball, though, because he wasn't born into the profession; he chose it, and he took a major step down on the social ladder as a result.
Diggory helpfully digs out an old letter that looks very worn. The name on the letter reads Thomasin Yeobright. Discuss the content of the letter?

3. Content:
She tells Diggory that she doesn't love him and that her aunt wouldn't be overly impressed with his job of running a small dairy farm, anyway.
Result: In a heartbroken and rebellious fit, he quit his respectable job and became a reclusive reddleman.
Now What??
- He's decided to help her marry Wildeve if he can, since that's what she wants and it will avoid a major scandal.

4. Wildeve & Eustacia .. Argument?
What is his strategy?
Diggory wanders around the heath and lurks near Eustacia's house for four nights until he finally hears a splash in Eustacia's pond.
- Then he covers himself with some branches and proceeds to spy on Eustacia and Damon Wildeve.
Wildeve & Eustacia .. Argument?
Eustacia admits to kind of enjoying the intrigue and drama: "Love is the dismallest thing where the lover is quite honest" (1.9.25).

5. If Wildeve loves Eustacia, why will he marry Thomasin? What is the game?
Eustacia tells him that he's making her suffer, but Damon counters that she toyed with him and acted like she didn't want him until he started chasing after Thomasin.
Heath again?
- both confess how much they hate the heath.

6. Will Wildeve change his mind? Will he submit to Eustacia’s magic?
He then impetuously proposes that they run off together to America.
Eustacia asks for time to consider his offer.
End of strategy..
Diggory quietly goes back to his van and plots ways to help Thomasin by taking out the competition: namely, Eustacia.

7. Ch.10:A Desperate Attempt at Persuasion
Religion:
Most residents of Egdon rarely go to church. Venn is walking along the heath on a Sunday morning.
Visit:
Diggory is going to Captain Vye's house to pay a visit. People rarely visit there because they are changeable, moods, and Eustacia is just plain moody all the time.

8. Diggory & Eustacia :
He says he's concerned that Wildeve might refuse to marry Thomasin.
Venn says that some "mystery woman" (who could it be?) is coming between Thomasin and Wildeve and that this woman is basically a lady of loose morals and a would-be home-wrecker.
Venn accuses her directly of being Wildeve's secret paramour.
- He asks Eustacia to break things off with Wildeve and to urge him to be honorable and marry Thomasin.

9. Diggory offered Venn a job??
- he knows of a woman in Budmouth, Eustacia's old stomping grounds, that needs a paid companion.
- Eustacia refuses to take a job since she is a "lady."
Result:
She made fun of him. How could a poor man offer her a job. He ought to go feed his horses or mend his reddle bags.
He's depressed that his plan didn't work.

10. Ch.11/The Dishonesty of an Honest Woman
Diggory& Mrs. Yeobright ?
Marriage proposal?
Result:
Mrs. Yeobright thanks Diggory for his concern but says that Thomasin is only interested in Wildeve now and probably won't marry Venn.
She tells Wildeve that Thomasin has another suitor, though she doesn't say who exactly
Wildeve in trouble!! surprised and worried!!

11. He quickly runs off to see Eustacia about all of this.
He says that he wants to run off to America with her soon since Thomasin is going to marry some other guy now.
Irony:
Venn's diligent efforts to help Thomasin are ironic, though he himself is unaware of it: his efforts only make Wildeve the more anxious to persuade Eustacia to go off with him.
As many critics have remarked, irony is part of Hardy's characteristic view of the world.
But, another irony!!
- Eustacia is suddenly much less attracted to Wildeve now.
So Eustacia hedges about moving to America and says that the whole Thomasin thing has made her not trust him as much.
She vaguely says she'll give him her answer in a week.

12. Clym???
Eustacia!!
What does she thinks of??

13. Importance of coincidence
Hardy's use of coincidence in his novel is well known and often criticized. Some critics have suggested that coincidence is so often to be found because Hardy uses it as a way of expressing his idea that chance governs man's life more than man wishes to admit. In any case, by chance Johnny encounters Venn and tells him of accidentally overhearing the conversation between Eustacia and Wildeve. Whether this sequence of events is believable or not, it is convenient for Hardy's development of the plot to have Venn know what is going on. He is, after all, the connector in the story.

14. The characters in The Return of the Native are motivated by their consciences more than any other driving force. Their attempts to avoid social confrontation are not guided by concern about what others will think, but by what harm they will do to others. This is evident in the opening chapters, with Thomasin’s return after her aborted attempt to be married; although eloping is considered shameful, Thomasin and Wildeve are unconcerned about that social stigma, which is quickly forgotten anyway.

15. The importance of Nature
Hardy introduces his readers to the landscape of Egdon Heath before introducing any characters. This emphasizes the important role that the natural landscape will play in the story. His description of the natural setting can be taken as symbolic of the people who live there—“neither ghastly, hateful, nor ugly: neither commonplace, unmeaning nor tame; but, like man, slighted and enduring.” It can also be taken as a simple acknowledgment that people come to resemble the place where they live.

16. The character who appears to be most in tune with nature’s mysteries is Diggory Venn. He does not look like a human because of the red dye that has seeped into his skin and hair, and he does not operate by the rules of human interaction, instead appearing and disappearing mysteriously at night. It is not surprising that in the end he becomes a dairy farmer—making his living with domesticated animals, in harmony with nature but not completely subject to its whims.

17. Point of View
This novel is told from the third-person point of view, which means that the narrator is a disembodied voice, referring to each character as “he” or “she.” However, the narrative is not omniscient. This means that the narrator looks at the story unfolding from different points of view, but when it settles on any particular viewpoint it stays consistent, if only for a short amount of time. When new information is introduced into the story, that information is initially understood only in terms of the narrator’s point of view at the time. For instance, when Wildeve first appears, readers are not told who he is; his character is revealed by what he says.

18. Setting
The sweeping topographical and historical description of Egdon Heath that opens this book is considered to be one of the finest extended descriptions in all of English literature. The importance of this setting to the events of the novel cannot be overemphasized. It is the land’s flatness and barrenness that has made it useless for development, which means that the civilized world has passed it by. The residents of the heath are isolated and possess their own distinct culture, separate from the rest of the world.

19. References
Thompson, Frank H. (1999). The Return of the Native: Notes. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA: USA.
Thomason, Elizabeth, ed. (2001).Novels for Students. Gale Group: New York, Vol 11.
Morgan, Rosemarie (2007). Student Companion to Thomas HARDY. Greenwood press: London.
Wilson, Keith (2009). A Companion to Thomas Hardy. Wiley- Blackwell: Oxford.
Harvey, Geoffrey (2003). THE COMPLETE CRITICAL GUIDE TO T H O M A S HARDY. Routledge: London.
Griffith, Jody (2008). RESETTING THE CLOCK: DARWIN’S NARRATIVE AND THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, M.A Thesis, USA.