Do you Think: Nature Takes Revenge?

Egdon Heath dominates the plot and characters of the novel in the real sense. In the broader sense Egdon Heath is neither a fairy tale, nor a fascinating story, nor the background of the novel but it is an alive character that participates in developing the novel story. It feels thinks and reacts to the characters and helps those who love it and opposes those hate it. It is an unchanged character and powerful like sea from all sides.

Hardy describes the personality of Heath s a dark, immemorial environment whose influence controls its dwellers’ destiny and fate, life and death since its creation. Actually, Heath is an internal image of nature and man is her external part. Man and women cannot escape from its influence.

On the other hand Heath represents the world of nature under the aspect of time, time geological and time historical. Hardy is also the product of Heath he knew Heath very well like Reddleman and Clym.

First of all, Heath reacts to Eustacia who is an outsider at Heath with his grandfather. Actually, she hated Heath living on its bosom peacefully and wanted to lead a fashionable life in Europe. Read Eustacia’s remarks about Heath, “I do, this is my curse, my shame, and will be my death.”

She gave these comments Wildeve who also hated Heath. At the end the death prediction proves true and Heath gives her horrible death in the river while escaping with Wildeve. On the other hand, Clym is also the product of Heath. Its shaggy hills and darkness are friendly to Clym. He loves Heath therefore he came back from Paris to his native country just to educate the native of Heath. Heath supports his blindness in shape of providing life necessities. Heath saves Clym and drowns Wildeve in the river.

Hardy reveals Heath’s secret personality in these words: “The month of March arrived, Heath showed its first taint signs of awakening from winter trance…the poor  outside the bank by Eustacia’s dwelling…overhead  humblebees flew hither and thither in the thickening and light their coming going like the sound of a gong.”

Heath hates Mrs. Yeobright more than any other character in the novel. She lives on Heath but opposes Heath intentionally. That is why, she opposes Clym’s plan of opening a school at Heath to educate the people of Heath. Heath takes his revenge from Mrs. Yeobright and kills her on her burning bosom.

Heath is also amicable to Reddleman If Clym is the child of Heath Reddleman is its soul in real sense. He loves Heath more than any other thing. Heath presence does

not bore both of them. In its love reward Heath gives him Thomasin as a gift. Heath gives punishment to Wildeve who plans against Clym who is an ardent lover of Heath and Eustacia supports hid plan of opening school at Heath.

As we see those who oppose Heath revenges upon them. As Henry john says, “Heath is a human character who takes part in developing the story of the novel in the best way like an expert actor.” Actually all major characters relate to the Heath’s temperament and the production of Heath.

In the broader sense Heath dominates the plot of The Return of the Native because all Heath’s major characters take part in the story: Yeobright, Clym, Wildeve Thomasin and Reddleman…all play their role at the ground of Heath; Eustacia sees Wildeve on the Rain borrow, Clym marries Eustacia at Heath, a game of dice is played at Heath, Mrs. Yeobright dies at Heath, Clym loses his eyesight at Heath, Reddleman creates doubts about Eustacia’s husband at Heath, Eustacia and Wildeve try to elope at Heath, Eustacia and Wildeve both drown at Heath but Heath supports Reddleman and Clym both are sincere to Heath.

To sum up, Heath is a leading character and dominates the whole novel al all respects from the beginning till end. But Hardy’s vision of nature dominates the novel scenes. Nature is shown in the novel as a main force that changes human beings’ fate and provides chances to go ahead. On the other hand, Nature acts always against men’s will and wishes. The wilderness of Heath stands for Nature and it forces that have power to turn turtle human plans.

Heath thinks and acts like an actor on the stage. Heath mood changes according to time, in spring warm, yellow in autumn fire vomits in summer and in winder too much cold. Tomas Curl says. “Heath controls man’s fate and destiny and acts in time to punish and award.”