Epsom College’s English A-level classes had the honour of attending a webinar led by Professor Paula Byrne, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on Jane Austen, and the author of various bestselling works of fiction and biography.
Prof. Byrne has spent the last two years working on a new book focusing on Hardy and Women, and so has acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge of Thomas Hardy’s life and work.
Our discussion focused on Hardy’s most famous novel – Tess of The D’Urbervilles – one of our set texts.
This literary work of art allowed Thomas Hardy to expose the tragic nature of life for the rural poor in Victorian society, particularly through his skilfully crafted titular character, Tess Durbeyfield.
Prof. Byrne revealed how Hardy exposed the hypocrisy and double-standards of Victorian society. She illustrated how Hardy championed women and how his depiction of Tess was so convincing that she was talked of as a real person, almost as if she had escaped the confines of fiction to act as a sympathetic agent to the plight of women.
This event was made possible through the use of modern technology – using Microsoft Teams.
The passionate Paula Byrne was actually in Arizona (USA) but she incited discussion as if we were all in the same room.
I found myself getting lost in the midst of this talk because of how much I had appreciated Paula’s perceptive ideas. She not only aided my understanding of the novel, but actually illuminated my retrospective ideas on philosophy and literature overall.
By Jeannie Neth (Cr)
