Reference 42 of 364 ordered by: Reference number (ascending)
Author:
Claire Tomalin
Biography Title:
Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man
Page No.:
99-100
Researcher:
Jane Hugen-Tobler
Publisher:
Penguin Books
First Published:
2006
Person:
Emma Hardy
Clothing:
Dress;
Colours:
Brown
Material:
n/a
Quotation:
Hardy describes his first meeting with Emma: "Once inside the door he found imself face to face with a young lady wearing a brown dress. She was of unmistakable gentility, graceful, with a mass of hair shading from corn-gold to bright brown, dark eyes and a pink complexion."
Notes:
Hardy is aware of the class distinction between them. Tomalin notes: "To him, her social standing was obvious: she was a lady. This was the first time he had met one of her class and age on equal terms. Class mattered to them both. When Emma declared that the nearest neighbours were nine miles away, she meant the people of her own class, because the labouring families she visited in their scattered cottages round about simply did not count as 'neighbours'. And when Hardy spoke of his work to her he did not add anything about his background, parents or home life in a Dorset cottage. He was not going to be the poor man. They conversed, as they had met, as equals."