Thomas Hardy and Ecosexuality

Abstract

Building on past ecological readings of Hardy’s exploration of the relationships between humans and the ecosystem, this paper takes further William Cohen’s focus on affect and ecology in Hardy’s works (2014) by examining the sensual or even sexual delight in nature suggested in various scenes of his fiction. The emergence of an “ecosexual” movement and its development into a field of study in the past twenty years point to a new conception of ecology resulting from a metaphorical shift from Earth as mother to Earth as lover, implying a more sustainable and reciprocal relationship. The ecosexuals’ claim that the ecological crisis and the erotic crisis both arise from disconnection, and that therefore a healing relationship with the ecosystem requires a healing relationship with our bodies and sexuality, hearkens back to Hardy’s preoccupations with the human-to-human and human-to-nonhuman physical connection. Was Hardy a precursor of this ecosexual awakening? To what extent do Hardy’s novels illustrate and foreshadow the ecosexual movement’s belief that “Eros holds the hope for the future of humankind”? (Anderlini-D’Onofrio & Hagamen)