My first Magazine Gossip: Scandals and Relationships of Authors | Page 27

MARRIAGE FAILURE of Thomas
Hardy
married twice and not happy marriage
Thomas Hardy is a well known
celebrity that failed twice in his
married life. He himself was
married twice in his long life, both
times were ended as sad ending.
In order to understand Hardy and
his views on marriage, we must
first understand his situation, his
work as celebrity and well known
writer. As writer that focuses on
Victorian period, he holds rigid
views on marriage and the role of
women in life.
In the middle of this strict social
code, Hardy came into being. He
met his first wife, Emma Gifford, in
1870 when he visited Cornwall. He
was captivated by both her and the
landscape that surrounded her.
Some controversy surrounded her
methods in securing his hand in
marriage. She probably
exaggerated her attachment to a
local farmer in the hopes of
pressing Hardy into a proposal. It
did eventually come, and the two
were married on September 17,
1874. They were both thirty years
old, though she thought he looked
older and he thought she was
much younger.
Although the first years of their
marriage were comparatively
happy, tensions infused their union.
Arguments over whether to make
their home in London or at 1
Arundel Terrace, their inability to
have children, tension between
Emma and her mother-in-law, and
Hardy’s various flirtations either
indicated the underlying problems
or represented the actual problems
themselves.
Regardless, each was ill-suited for
the other. Hardy retreated inside
himself and sought emotional
connection with other women like
Rosamund Tomson and Florence
Henniker. She kept a private
journal wherein she recorded her
complaints about him and also
discussed their marriage with a few
acquaintances. Through
everything, he never outwardly
complained about his unhappy
union, but just dealt with it in his
own way.