Thomas Hardy and Animals examines the human and nonhuman animals who walk and crawl and fly across and around the pages of Hardy's novels. Animals abound in his writings, yet little scholarly attention has been paid to them so far. This book fills this gap in Hardy studies, bringing an important author within range of a new and developing area of critical inquiry. It considers the way Hardy's representations of animals challenged ideas of human-animal boundaries debated by the Victorian scientific and philosophical communities. In moments of encounter between humans and animals, Hardy questions boundaries based on ideas of moral sense or moral agency, language and reason, the possession of a face, and the capacity to suffer and perceive pain. Through an emphasis on embodied encounters, his writings call for an extension of empathy to others, human or nonhuman. In this accessible book Anna West offers a new approach to Hardy criticism.

Thomas Hardy and Animals looks at creatures in Hardy's novels, examining human-animal boundaries debated by the Victorian scientific and philosophical communities.

About the Author
Anna West is an early career researcher specializing in Victorian literature and animal studies. Since receiving her PhD from the University of St Andrews, where her research was funded by a Macpherson studentship, she has published articles on Thomas Hardy, Victorian science and literature, and Victorian farming practices in relation to ovine disease. She is a member of the Thomas Hardy Society, the British Association for Victorian Studies, the North American Victorian Studies Association, the Midwest Victorian Studies Association, and the French Association for Thomas Hardy Studies.

Reviews
'... an important and welcome contribution to Hardy scholarship. ... West's volume serves as a good beginning point ... on this compelling and complex subject. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.' R. D. Morrison, CHOICE
'Thomas Hardy and Animals is an outstanding piece of work that makes an important contribution to Hardy studies and to scholarship on animals in the Victorian period.' Jennifer McDonell, Victorian Studies
'... West's excellent study provides a very welcome introduction to the 'creatures' that play so notable a part in Hardy's oeuvre.' Adrian Tait, The British Society for Literature and Science



Book Information
ISBN 9781316631195
Author Anna West
Format Paperback
Page Count 220
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 330g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 150mm * 10mm