T. Hardy의 小說에서 본 自然 = Nature in Thomas Hardy's Novels

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In Thomas Hardy's novels, nature carries a significant meaning. For him, it is not a visible landscape or natural phenomenon but is invisible and spiritualized world in his mind. This nature is generally not only considered as brutal, lowering dark and menacing but also as an external and physical existence which leads human fate to destruction.
It is true that for Hardy, nature is a source of and repository of all energies that control human beings. But the external and destructive energies imply conflict of the inner world of human beings. In other words, the fate of Hardy's heroes and heroines are determined by their capacity to see into the invisible truth of nature.
However, nature is not omnipotent. It is imperfect existence and is required to be adjusted and compromised by the power of human beings. Hardy's main concern is to trace the process of how to harmonize human beings to nature. Although there are brutal and pessimistic qualities in his way of expressing natre, this is derived from his deep affection for human beings as a means of showing the worst state in order to secure the best remedy for human condition.