The Mayor of Casterbridge[卡斯特桥市长]

ThomasHardy(2June1840–11January1928)wasanEnglishnovelistandpoet.AVictorianrealist,inthetraditionofGeorgeEliot,hewasalsoinfluencedbothinhisnovelsandpoetrybyRomanticism,especiallybyWilliamWordsworth.CharlesDickensisanotherimportantinfluenceonThomasHardy.LikeDickens,hewasalsohighlycriticalofmuchinVictoriansociety,thoughHardyfocusedmoreonadecliningruralsociety.WhileHardywrotepoetrythroughouthislife,andregardedhimselfprimarilyasapoet,hisfirstcollectionwasnotpublisheduntil1898.InitiallythereforehegainedfameastheauthorofsuchnovelsasFarfromtheMaddingCrowd(1874),TheMayorofCasterbridge(1886),Tessofthed'Urbervilles(1891),andJudetheObscure(1895).However,sincethe1950sHardyhasbeenrecognizedasamajorpoet,andhadasignificantinfluenceonTheMovementpoetsofthe1950sand1960s,includingPhillipLarkin.Thebulkofhisfictionalworks,initiallypublishedasserialsinmagazines,weresetinthesemi-fictionalregionofWessexandexploredtragiccharactersstrugglingagainsttheirpassionsandsocialcircumstances.Hardy'sWessexisbasedonthemedievalAnglo-SaxonkingdomandeventuallycametoincludethecountiesofDorset,Wiltshire,Somerset,Devon,HampshireandmuchofBerkshire,insouthwestEngland.托马斯·哈代（ThomasHardy），英国诗人、小说家。他是横跨两个世纪的作家，早期和中期的创作以小说为主，继承和发扬了维多利亚时代的文学传统；晚年以其出色的诗歌开拓了英国20世纪的文学。哈代一生共发表了近20部长篇小说，其中最著名的当推《德伯家的苔丝》、《无名的裘德》(JudetheObscure)、《还乡》和《卡斯特桥市长》。诗8集，共918首，此外，还有许多以“威塞克斯故事”为总名的中短篇小说，以及长篇史诗剧《列王》。