During the Victorian Era, writing served as an outlet to influence a changing society. Because the family and domestic life were integral parts of that society, much time was spent at home reading. These Victorian readers had been strongly affected by the political, economic, social, and religious changes that had been taking place. They rebelled against the growth that was taking place, blaming their problems on religious doubt, Darwin and the rise of science, class conflict, poverty, and industrialization. In addition, Victorian Puritanism spoke out against sex, the emancipation of women, and strong individualism in women, believing that they would lead to the end of strong moral standards in the family and in society as a whole. As a result of all of these controversies, people developed a tremendous fear of change and criticized any idea or work that threatened their sense of stability (Chapman 35-50.). Thomas Hardy and other creative artists of his time thus faced a highly critical audience and often were forced to censor some of their more liberal ideas.
Thomas Hardy as a writer had been greatly influenced in his youth by some of the more liberal thinkers of the time such as John Stuart Mill and Darwin. He even claimed at one time that he believed he was one of the first to read On the Origin of Species. In his novels, Hardy incorporated many of these themes in order to portray a real world. Darwin's challenge led Hardy to lose faith in Christianity, and this lack of faith gives his novels their tragic, bleak element. However, because novels in the nineteenth century were serially published in installments in magazines, Hardy, particularly at the end of his career, found it difficult to find a publisher who would publish his manuscripts without dramatically altering the text. He specifically encountered roadblocks when attempting to find an editor and publisher for Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. To begin with, in September of 1889 Hardy submitted the beginning of the manuscript Tess of the D'Urbervilles, at that time called "Too Late, Beloved," to Tillotson & Sons publishers, but they refused to publish it although they had already made an agreement. They liked neither "the narrative content nor the moral emphasis" (Millgate 300.). After the work was further rejected by Murray's Magazine and Macmillan's magazine, Hardy spent a great deal of time revising Tess. It was at that time that he changed the title to Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Tess was finally accepted by the Graphic serial whose editors insisted that further significant changes be made: specifically, that Angel carry the milkmaids across the flooded lane not in his arms but in a wheelbarrow and that a mock marriage be substituted for the rape and seduction of Tess and the subsequent birth and death of her child. Tess was then set to be serialized July 1891. While the reception of the novel was favorable and drew great public attention, certain critics harshly attacked it. The Spectator attacked Tess' morality, the New Review blasted Hardy's suggestion in the novel that God is malicious, and the Quarterly Review declared that Hardy told "a coarse and disagreeable story in a coarse and disagreeable manner" (Millgate 307.).
At the height of his frustration and the controversy surrounding Tess, Hardy wrote an essay entitled "Candour in English Fiction" in which he spoke out on the difficulties of being an artist in his age and on Victorian censorship as a whole. Hardy notes in his essay that the magazine does not "foster the growth of the novel which reflects and reveals life" (Orel 127.), suggesting that this kind of censorship chooses to ignore true reality, to ignore the tragic element of life that he felt was such an important aspect. He went on to talk about publishing novels in serials, saying that when the opening scenes of a novel are published before the rest of the novel is written, the author is faced with the question of whether he should stay true to the character and face the wrath and ruin of society on himself, his publisher, and editor, or whether he should misrepresent the characters and force them to do something "contrary to their natures." Hardy wrote, "If the author ever weeps it probably is then, when he first discovers the fearful price that he has to pay for the privilege of writing in the English language" (Orel 130.). Thus, Hardy had always been deeply sensitive to the opinions of the public, taking the criticisms to heart, and was deeply distraught when his favorite work, Tess, received negative reviews. He even wrote an added preface to the novel in July of 1892 (when the first one-volume edition was published) in order to comment on the critical reception of the work. After encountering similar difficulties with the publication of Jude the Obscure and after working with four different publishers over a ten-year period, Hardy ceased writing novels and focused his efforts on writing poetry where he could more fully express his ideas without restrictions.
Chapman, Raymond. The Victorian Debate: English Literature and Society, 1832-1901. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1968.
Millgate, Michael. Thomas Hardy: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1982.
Orel, Harold, ed. Thomas Hardy's Personal Writings: Prefaces, Literary Opinions, Reminiscences. Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 1966.