The Well-Beloved
Encyclopedia
The Well-Beloved is a novel by Thomas Hardy
, published in 1897.
The main setting of the novel was the Isle of Slingers, a caricature of the Isle of Portland
in Dorset
, southern England.
Many of Hardy's novels were set in Dorset. The Well Beloved was one of Hardy's last novels. It was first published in three-part serial form in 1892, before his "final" novel Jude the Obscure
(1895), and was then published after Jude the Obscure in amended book form in 1897. The novel tells the story of the sculptor Jocelyn Pierston's search for the ideal woman, through three generations of a Portland family.
A cottage housing what is now Portland Museum
, on the Isle of Portland, founded by Marie Stopes
, a friend of Hardy and his wife, was an inspiration for the book. The cottage acted as the home of Avice, the novel's heroine.
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, published in 1897.
The main setting of the novel was the Isle of Slingers, a caricature of the Isle of Portland
Isle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, southern England.
Many of Hardy's novels were set in Dorset. The Well Beloved was one of Hardy's last novels. It was first published in three-part serial form in 1892, before his "final" novel Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield, in that same year. Its hero, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a...
(1895), and was then published after Jude the Obscure in amended book form in 1897. The novel tells the story of the sculptor Jocelyn Pierston's search for the ideal woman, through three generations of a Portland family.
A cottage housing what is now Portland Museum
Portland Museum, Dorset
Portland Museum is a local museum on the Isle of Portland, located on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, southern England. It is at the southern end of the village of Easton, close to Church Ope Cove.The museum was founded by Marie Stopes and opened in 1930...
, on the Isle of Portland, founded by Marie Stopes
Marie Stopes
Marie Carmichael Stopes was a British author, palaeobotanist, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of birth control...
, a friend of Hardy and his wife, was an inspiration for the book. The cottage acted as the home of Avice, the novel's heroine.