Thomas Hardy and Empire: The Representation of Imperial Themes in the Work of Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy is not generally recognized as an imperial writer, even though he wrote during a period of major expansion of the British Empire. Bownas examines the many references to past empires in Hardys works and suggests that close analysis of Hardys writings show him to be an advocate for all those suffering oppression whether this is due to gender, class, race or as colonized subjects.