A Pair of Blue Eyes in Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)

Nov 20, 2019 Franky rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, classics, 2019-reading-challenge

This is my fourth read from Thomas Hardy and each one I have enjoyed. A Pair of Blue Eyes brings to light many of Hardy’s repeated themes within his novels: human emotions and conflicts, the nature of love and relationships, an examination of social class structure, and picturesque depictions of rural life and Nature.

At the very heart of A Pair of Blue Eyes is a love triangle that involves the three central characters: Elfride Swancourt (I always love Hardy’s character’s name), a blue-eyed, you This is my fourth read from Thomas Hardy and each one I have enjoyed. A Pair of Blue Eyes brings to light many of Hardy’s repeated themes within his novels: human emotions and conflicts, the nature of love and relationships, an examination of social class structure, and picturesque depictions of rural life and Nature.

At the very heart of A Pair of Blue Eyes is a love triangle that involves the three central characters: Elfride Swancourt (I always love Hardy’s character’s name), a blue-eyed, young daughter of a pastor; Stephen Smith, a young architect; and Henry Knight, an older man who is a reviewer and friends with Stephen.

After the initial love and courting between Elfride and Stephen, certain elements come to the surface about Stephen’s social status and standing which creates a bit of a problem and conflict. When a bit later in the narrative Elfride becomes acquainted with a man who reviewed a book she wrote (the aforementioned Henry), suddenly she becomes romantically involved with him. This creates quite the love triangle and quite a bit of tension within the plot. I have to say that I was very interested to see how everything would pan out, so the plot moves rather quickly.

An interesting aspect from A Pair of Blue Eyes is that it not only examines Elfride’s relationship with Stephen and then Henry, but it also examines Stephens’s relationship and friendship with his mentor, Henry. So, in that way, there are many revolving conflicts that must be resolved in some way, and I think this also pushes the flow of the book forward in quick manner.

Additionally, another interesting element and tidbit about this novel is that is supposedly the first novel to coin the term “cliffhanger”, a term that literally and figuratively come into play in the novel. Literally because there is a character whose life is in jeopardy in a scene involving a cliff, but figuratively because Hardy has an amazing knack to leave the reader hanging with suspense at the end of chapters with certain developments with the plot. It really is very Dickensesque.

Moreover, I do believe that Hardy captures certain Shakespearean elements within his plot. Through his characters, he not only examines the frailty of humans and the emotions that they deal with in daily life and society and its structure, but also there is a level of pathos and emotion, both in romance, and in tragedy, that he also brings to the table. We become invested in these characters, and empathize with them and their predicaments.

Of all the elements, I did believe that the ending was just a tad rushed and hastily put together compared to everything else in the plot and how we arrive to certain developments in the conclusion, but other than that, just another enjoyable and engaging book from Hardy.
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Dec 05, 2012 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: victorians, british-literature, fiction-19th-century, read-2012, audio-books

From BBC radio 4 Extra:
Thomas Hardy's partly autobiographical story about the love triangle between a young woman, Elfride Swancourt, and her two suitors from very different backgrounds

Jeremy Irons is splendid!!! ...more

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Feb 27, 2016 Everyman rated it really liked it

Although not one of Hardy's best known novels, A Pair of Blue Eyes is classic Hardy, and well worth reading. It starts out as a seemingly simple, innocent tale of a very sheltered young woman living with her father in a country vicarage meeting and falling in love with a young man of no good character and intelligence but no family or fortune. Her father, naturally, forbids the marriage. With a twist I won't reveal here they get engaged but aren't able to marry secretly, and he goes off to India ...more

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Nov 06, 2020 Debra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Unexpected outcomes

Though not the brightest of Hardy’s novels, this one perhaps conveys the most feeling, a journey of the heart. I had read that Marcel Proust was a great fan of this novel and that the romance described in it was that of Hardy, so it made me curious. It contains some of the telltale signatures of a Hardy novel — filled with bucolic scenes and simple lives that he brings to life in a manner that fascinates the imagination. Hardy is a master at creating suspense out of events tha ...more

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Aug 13, 2025 Ginny rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars. I loved the last 50 pages of this novel. I hadn't read any of Hardy's early novels, and this one made me want to read more. And the character names are a bonus. ...more

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Apr 03, 2021 Julie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-novels, did-not-finish

I read a third of it and had to stop. Not one of Hardy's better novels. While the writing itself is gorgeous, the trite love triangle was too irritating to continue on with. I have a hard time understanding the extreme class consciousness of that era. It strikes me as petty and pointless and not worthy of the fuss. Life is too short to spend reading a book that isn't a good fit. ...more

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