SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN THE WORKS OF THOMAS HARDY: AN INVESTIGATION OF CLASS INEQUALITY, GENDER AND INDUSTRIALIZATION

Abstract

This article demonstrates that Hardy’s literature serves as a powerful commentary on the struggles of the marginalized in a rapidly changing Victorian world. Thomas Hardy’s novels vividly portray the social problems of Victorian England – particularly class inequality, gender oppression, and the upheavals of industrialization. Through works Hardy critiques the rigid class hierarchy and patriarchal norms that trap individuals in unjust circumstances. He mourns the loss of traditional rural life under the pressures of modernization even as he exposes the double standards imposed on women. Hardy’s narratives often convey a fatalistic sense that external social and economic forces ultimately shape his characters’ destinies.