The Woodlanders

“[…] where from time to time dramas of a grandeur and unity truly Sophoclean are enacted in the real, by virtue of the concentrated passions and closely-knit interdependence of the lives therein.”

Hardy describes both the parochial limitations of Little Hintock and its potential. The latter stems from the fact that, being so small, the characters’ lives and situations are all heavily intertwined. This, he suggests, can sometimes give rise to dramas worthy of the Ancient Greek tragic dramatist Sophocles.

“She would not turn again to the little looking glass out of humanity to herself, knowing what a deflowered visage would look back at her, and almost break her heart.”

Marty has just cut off her beautiful hair to sell to Mrs. Charmond, after hearing Mr. Melbury explain that Grace is intended for Giles. However, Marty wilfully ignores the ambiguity in Mr. Melbury’s speech here, which suggests a reluctance to have Grace marry someone of Giles’s low social standing. Her act of hair-cutting and symbolic self-harm reveals a tragic fatalism in Marty’s character.

“[…] she was watching the light quite idly, when it gradually changed colour, and at length shone blue as sapphire.”

Grace observes the illumination caused by the experiments in Dr. Fitzpiers’s house from her bedroom. The light here serves as a metaphor for the allure of Dr. Fitzpiers for Grace, and its danger. He represents something new and exotic, but he also represents something potentially superficial and transient.