"Return of the Native" - Saint George Defeated (Hardcover)

Focusing on Hardy's use of the Saint George myth and the sun-hero myth, Thomas interweaves analyses of Hardy's character development with issues such as the failure of love, the symbolism of Egdon Heath, and Hardy's conception of performance. Attention to structure, image, characterization, metaphor, and theme are also included in the study. Thomas provides a succinct account of the Victorian ethos that informed Hardy's writing and, in an overview of the novel's critical reception, gives a summary of the four prominent schools of Hardy criticism.