3 - The Return of the Native

Summary

THE ‘RUSTIC CHORUS’ AND ENVIRONMENT

In discussing Far from the Madding Crowd I said little about the ‘rustic chorus’ (Poorgrass, Coggan, Fraye and the others) which contributes enormously to that novel's accessibility. This group provides the humour and the ‘humanity’ of the book – one thinks of Poorgrass' difficulties in finding Ephesians in a Bible obstinately full of Colossians – and it fulfils, with irony, of course, the commentatorial function of the Greek chorus – one can ponder the significance, for example, of Poorgrass' being given the last word in the novel. Hardy had been advised that his forte was rural description and character, and these homely characters come to life to prove it. More importantly, they provide a living continuity that is not merely a ‘background’ to the main action but is integrated into it, as the analysis of the procession of the seasons has shown.

In the early chapters of The Return of the Native it seems as if Hardy is going to follow the same method again. However, as the novel proceeds it changes direction and it is in this shift of emphasis away from the ‘rustic chorus’ that we can look for a clue to Hardy's new concerns. None of the later novels, after all, has so large or so active a ‘chorus’ as Far from the Madding Crowd, and in The Return of the Native we can watch the chorus starting to wither away. Increasing attention is paid (in Tess, say, or The Woodlanders) to the main characters and to the play of emotions between them; Hardy seems to have less time for the large leisurely groups of rustics and their simple humour.