The Return of the Native PDF

The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy Plot summary The novel is set on Egdon Heath in Wessex in southwestern England. The native of the title is Clym Yeobright, who has returned to the area to become a schoolmaster after having a successful career as a jeweler in Paris. The na...

The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy Plot summary The novel is set on Egdon Heath in Wessex in southwestern England. The native of the title is Clym Yeobright, who has returned to the area to become a schoolmaster after having a successful career as a jeweler in Paris. The narrative begins on the evening of Guy Fawkes Night as Diggory Venn is slowly crossing the heath with his van, which is being drawn by ponies. Venn is a reddleman; he travels the country supplying farmers with a red mineral called reddle that farmers use to mark their sheep. Venn is having a passenger in the van and that passenger is a young woman named Thomasin Yeobright. Earlier that day, Thomasin had planned to marry Damon Wildeve, a local innkeeper. However, an inconsistency in the marriage license delayed the marriage.  Wildeve, however, is still preoccupied with Eustacia, an exotically beautiful young woman living with her grandfather in a lonely house on Egdon Heath. She holds herself aloof from most of the heathfolk; they, in turn, consider her an oddity, and some even think she is a witch. The previous year, she and Wildeve were lovers; however, even during the height of her passion for him, she knew she only loved him because there was no better object available. When Wildeve broke off the relationship to court Thomasin, Eustacia's interest in him briefly returned. The two meet on Guy Fawkes night, and Wildeve asks her to run off to America with him. She demurs  Eustacia drops Wildeve when Mrs. Yeobright's son Clym, a successful diamond merchant, returns from Paris to his native Egdon Heath. Although he has no plans to return to Paris or the diamond trade and is, in fact, planning to become a schoolmaster for the rural poor, Eustacia sees him as a way to escape the hated heath and begin a richer existence in a glamorous new location. With some difficulty, she arranges to meet Clym, and the two soon fall in love. When Mrs. Yeobright objects, Clym quarrels with her. When Eustacia starts a relation with Clym, Wildeve marries Thomasin, who gives birth to a daughter the next summer. Clym and Eustacia also marry and move to a small cottage five miles away, where they enjoy a brief period of happiness. Clym studies night and day to prepare for his new career as a schoolmaster while Eustacia clings to the hope that he'll give up the idea and take her abroad. Instead, he nearly blinds himself with too much reading. Eustacia’s dreams blasted, finds herself living in a hut on the heath, chained by marriage to a lowly labouring man.  At this point, Wildeve reappears. He has unexpectedly inherited a large sum of money, and is now in a better position to fulfill Eustacia's hopes. He comes calling on the Yeobrights in the middle of one hot August day and, although Clym is at home, he is fast asleep. While Eustacia and Wildeve are talking, Mrs. Yeobright knocks on the door; she has decided to pay a courtesy call in the hopes of healing the estrangement between herself and her son. Eustacia looks out at her and then, in some alarm, ushers her visitor out at the back door.  Mrs Yeobright, it turns out, saw Eustacia looking out the window at her; she also saw Clym's gear by the door, and so knew they were both at home. Now, thinking she has been deliberately barred from her son's home, she miserably begins the long, hot walk home. Later that evening, Clym, unaware of her attempted visit, heads for Bloom's End and on the way finds her crumpled beside the path, dying from an adder's bite. When she expires that night from the combined effects of snake venom and heat exhaustion, Clym's grief and remorse make him physically ill for several weeks. Eustacia, racked with guilt, dares not tell him of her role in the tragedy; when he eventually finds out from a neighbour's child about his mother's visit—and Wildeve's—he rushes home to accuse his wife of murder and adultery. Eustacia refuses to explain her actions. She then moves back to her grandfather's house, where she struggles with her despair while she awaits some word from Clym.  Wildeve visits Eustacia again on Guy Fawkes night, and offers to help her get to Paris. Eustacia realises that if she lets Wildeve help her, she'll be obliged to become his mistress. She tells him she will send him a signal by night if she decides to accept. Clym's anger, meanwhile, has cooled and he sends Eustacia a letter the next day offering reconciliation. The letter arrives a few minutes too late; by the time her grandfather tries to give it to her, she has already signalled to Wildeve and set off through wind and rain to meet him. She walks along weeping, however, knowing she is about to break her marriage vows for a man who is unworthy of her.  Wildeve readies a horse and waits for Eustacia in the dark. Thomasin, guessing his plans, sends Clym to intercept him. She also, by chance, encounters Diggory Venn as she dashes across the heath herself in pursuit of her husband. Eustacia does not appear; instead, she falls or throws herself into nearby Shadwater Weir. Clym and Wildeve hear the splash and hurry to investigate. Wildeve plunges recklessly after Eustacia without bothering to remove his coat, while Clym, proceeding more cautiously, nevertheless is also soon at the mercy of the raging waters. Venn arrives in time to save Clym, but is too late for the others. When Clym revives, he accuses himself of murdering his wife and mother. Discussion Questions What is the significance of the title The Return of the Native? The novel's title The Return of the Native refers to the character Clym Yeobright, who returns home to his native town in southwest England after working for a period in Paris. The novel explores multiple meanings of the terms return and native, focusing on the ideas of self-identity, place, time, and choice. How is man nature relationship presented in The Return of the Native? The fact that nature is double- faced is clear in Hardy's novel; 'The Return of the Native. ' Hardy thinks that man is in conflict with nature of which he is a part. Those who can adapt to its  Is The Return of the Native a realistic novel? Overall, the very practical and socially-focused style of the novel make it a good example of Realism. Is The Return of the Native a tragedy? The Return of the Native is the tragedy of the individuals who break away for free action from the security of established conventions. Who is the hero in Return of the Native? If we go with a strictly traditional point of view, then Clym is probably the official protagonist – he is the hero who ties all the other characters together and whose story drives the narrative. But there's a strong argument to be made that Eustacia is in fact the real protagonist of the story. What do you think?  What is the conclusion of The Return of the Native? Eustacia plans an escape from the heath, and Wildeve agrees to help her. On a stormy night, the action comes to a climax: on her way to meet Wildeve, Eustacia drowns. Trying to save her, Wildeve drowns as well. Only through heroic efforts does Diggory Venn save Clym from the same fate.