Thomas Hardy and the Role of Observer

Abstract

In The Mayor of Casterbridge, Elizabeth-Jane's observations are an extended metaphor for divining the truth. This discerning silent witch is Hardy's most objective observer; she propels the narrative with her keen insight.' Hardy likens her depth of vision to a divining power, suggesting that Elizabeth-Jane's peculiarity lies in her exemplary talent for observing things the way they really are. She is a perfect starting and ending point for a discussion of the importance in Hardy's novels of the role of the observer. The way in which Hardy's characters observe other people tells us essential things about the way Hardy thinks that we operate in the world. The recurrence of the observer role, and its multiple versions, reveals not only how Hardy's characters act, but why they act. The implications of observation are psychological. Ultimately, the notion of observation is an integral part of Hardy's art, for, as the poet says of himself in a poem called Afterwards, He was one who had an eye for such mysteries.2 It is at times difficult to understand the narrative technique in Hardy's novels. The point of view vacillates between his observers and an omniscient narrator. As I hope to show, there is an inextricable link between selective omniscience, where the voice enters into the minds of different characters, and what, unknown to them, these characters' observations tell us about seeing and experience. It is my contention, indeed, that the observer role is the key link between Hardy's narrative technique and the stories that unfold.3 While critics have focused too much on inconsistencies in Hardy's use of point of view, it is nevertheless important to understand how Hardy incorporates the use of what we call Jamesian reflectors into a traditionally Victorian framework of narrative omniscience. Hardy's anticipation of a modern narrative technique goes along with a post-Victorian realism that, like James's, takes into account