The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters (Penguin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: A novel for die-hard Hardy fans and academics
Review: Ethelberta is not a book I would recommend to most people, and certainly not to someone who has never read Hardy. The novel is tediously written and lacks the depth pervasive in other works set in the country. Only in the last hundred or so pages did the story become engrossing. Why then did I continue reading? Deriving some measure of enjoyment from this book requires that the reader look at it as an example of Hardy's development as an author. The scholarly introduction and notes provide explanations that help with this analysis and make the novel more interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Hardy with a happy ending.
Review: I liked this book very much. Sure, critics have scorned it since it was first published, over a hundred years ago, but it is still a good read. Ethelberta is a complex character; she is a woman supporting her mother and ten siblings by finding profitable work as a poet and a storyteller. She is usually criticized for her coldness (so unladylike) when she considers marrying a rich man in order to solve her family's financial problems, but I see it as courage. Ethelberta dreams of her own success and freedom, but her first thought is the safety and comfort of her family, especially the younger children. She is the brains of the whole operation; they support her plans by following her orders.

In addition, Hardy uses this book to explore class distinctions in Victorian England, one of his recurring themes. Since Ethelberta's father is a butler, her family belongs eternally to the working class, and the only way she can mingle freely with the gentry is by drawing on her late husband's name and pretending to be what she is not. The charade works, but exacts a severe mental toll. She says that she feels like two people and she wakes up in the night terrified that someone will find out the truth and expose her. What kind of society is so stratified that this type of discovery causes such strong fear?

Unlike the better-known Hardy novels, this one has a happy ending for nearly all of the characters. Some critics say that it has a weak, "happily ever after" fairy tale quality. But I think Hardy didn't need Ethelberta to meet the usual tragic fate. The story isn't about her inability to accept the realities of life; Ethelberta accepts her world as she finds it, but she twists the rules of society in order to reach her goals. Therefore, she expects those rules to continue working perfectly, and this leads to the happy ending when she marries the rich man and provides for her family while at the same time gaining legitimate entrance to upper class society.