Abstract The Mayor of Casterbridge, written in 1886 by Thomas Hardy, is one of his most important works. In this work, Hardy created a complicated minor character —Lucetta. This thesis aims to analyze different aspects of Lucetta’s characteristics from the view of characters in the novel and Hardy himself. It consists of three parts, namely, introduction, main body and conclusion. First, it proves that Lucetta is a simple but also hypocritical woman and she is an “ambitious” woman without complete self-awareness plus a woman who dares to resist but still ends up with a misery life with ample examples extracted from the novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge. Then, it analyzes the direct relation between Lucetta’s character and her doomed tragedy. At last, it concludes that though Hardy sympathizes with Lucetta with her unfortunate fate, he does not like this woman. Because Lucetta is a minor character, critics at that time had not paid much attention to this artistic creation, and even nowadays, critics tend to misinterpret this character and it’s hard to figure out whether Hardy himself loves this character or not. This thesis tries to answer the question of Hardy’s attitude towards this woman by discussing her character described in the novel.41042
Key words: Thomas Hardy      Lucetta     self-awareness     misery life
摘 要写于1886年的《卡斯特桥市长》是哈代最为重要的作品之一。哈代在书中创造了一个迷人而又复杂的次要人物——露塞塔。本篇论文旨在通过小说中不同人物的视角以及哈代本人的倾向分析露塞塔性格的不同方面。论文分为三个部分，导入部分、主体部分以及总结部分。在主体部分，论文通过小说中大量的例子证明露塞塔是一个简单却又虚伪的女人，她自称有野心却没有完全的自我意识。她敢于反抗却最终还是以悲惨的命运结束。在主体部分的第三章中，论文分析了露塞塔性格和其悲剧命运之间的直接关系。总结部分主要阐述哈代对女性的审美态度以及哈代对露塞塔的喜恶，本文认为哈代虽然同情露塞塔的悲剧命运，但却不喜欢这位女性。因为露塞塔是一个次要人物，当时的评论家并未过多的注意这个艺术创造，即使在今天，评论家们也倾向于曲解这个角色。哈代本人对待露塞塔这个角色的态度也难以判定，本篇论文尝试通过小说中描述的露塞塔的性格特征回答这一问题。
毕业论文关键词：托马斯•哈代     露塞塔     自我意识     悲惨命运
Contents
Abstract    i
摘 要    ii
Contents    iii
Introduction    1
Chapter One   The Analysis of Lucetta’s Character    4
Chapter Two   The Relation Between Lucetta’s Character and Her Tragedy    11
Chapter Three  Hardy’s Attitude Towards Lucetta    14
Conclusion    18
Works Cited    19
An Analysis of Lucetta’s Character in The Mayor of Casterbridge
Introduction
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. Charles Dickens was another important influence. Like Dickens, he was highly critical of much in Victorian society, though Hardy focused more on a declining rural society.
While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of novels, including Far from the Madding Crowd(1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). Most of his fictional works – initially published as serials in magazines – were set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex. They explored tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. Hardy’s Wessex is based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom and eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in southwest and south central England. 托马斯•哈代《卡斯特桥市长》露塞塔性格分析:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_40971.html