Hey guys this page is for any comments on and what you think the initial incident, escalating actions, the climax, and resolution actions are. It might clear up some questions about the plot!
alyssa
Hey guys this page is for any comments on and what you think the initial incident, escalating actions, the climax, and resolution actions are. It might clear up some questions about the plot!
alyssa
What do you guys think the initial incident that starts the conflict and escalates to the climax of the book is? I think the best candidate for the inciting incident is in Book III, chapter 5, when Wildeve learns that Eustacia and Clym are getting married. This is when the conflict sparks, because Wildeve gets “a curious heartache…and the old longing for Eustacia had reappeared in his soul: and it was mainly because he had discovered that it was another man’s intention to possess her” (217). I know it is in the middle of the novel, but to me, the first part of the book was setting up, very elaborately, for what the conflict would be. This also could be the reason why the story starts out so extremely slow.
alyssa
here’s a link to a page that deals directly with the plot summary. It doesn’t come out and say what each action in the book is, but it is a good refresher of the plot!
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/rn/SUM.html
that was by alyssa. sorry i keep forgetting
A really important event that furthered the plot was when Diggory Venn won the money back to give to Thomasin. Thomasin did not know half the money was to go to Clym, and when Clym didn’t get his half, Mrs. Yeobright lashes out at Eustacia because she thinks that Wildeve gave half of the money to her instead of Clym. This started a number of events which snowballed into a big mess: the fight between Eustacia and Mrs. Yeobright that caused Eustacia not to answer the door, leading to Mrs. Yeobrights death. Her death is ultimately the reason Eustacia and Clym separate.
alyssa
I definately agree with you about the initial conflict starting when Wildeve finds out about Eustacia and Clym. I think Thomas Hardy did an extremely good job of setting up the scene with loads of descriptions and imagery. He wanted to allow the reader some insight into the minds of all the characters so they would be prepared for the tangled mess of events to soon follow. But in short, I believe Eustacia and Clym’s marriage pushed Wildeve from his daydreaming into action.
-Katie Hittle
“Hardy has been criticized for his handling of plot. Like other novelists of his time, he often uses chance and coincidence to excess. This use, however, is sometimes for reasons other than simply furthering the story at a given point. Hardy also characteristically rushes his story along at times by using a series of short scenes rather than sacrificing variety or the interest that a fast pace can maintain to the detailed development possible in a longer or long scene. It may well be that here, as in the case of his adding a sixth book, his practice is influenced by the kind of readers he knew he would have in the serial publication of his books.”
I found this excerpt on CliffsNotes, however, I disagree with it. The author says that Hardy rushes along with the story. I always felt that the story moved at a rather slow pace. True, there were times of intense drama, but as a whole I thought it was slow. What do ya’ll think?
sorry, that was kristen…i still haven’t gotten the hang of it.
I remember the first thing I thought of when I first cracked the novel at the end of the summer (sorry Senor Verde, but it’s true). “Wow, this guy is extremely detailed” And he is. His description of the Heath was delicately crafted. The first couple chapters showed various characters and gave a good solid background on which to build the plot. The bonfire where the heathmen discuss Thomasin’s wedding, among other things, is a good example. The novel is full of exquisite imagery and unabridged conversations. It took Mrs. Yeobright several pages to get from her home to Clym, a tale that could have been summed up in a couple paragraphs at most. Hardy does speed up near the end, but isn’t that a literary strategy to get the reader further intrigued. By increasing the rate at which things happen, it maximizes the effect of the action. It all clmaxes with the deaths of Wildeve and Eustacia, then slows down once more. In movies, you don’t show the villain getting killed in slow motion… the fight scene is fast and unpredictable, followed by a long slow kiss between Superman and Lois Lane…
~ Jeremy Thompson **
** Mr. Awesome