WessexIt was not until Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) –- his fourth published novel –- that Hardy first used the word “Wessex” to describe the “partly real, partly dream-country” 1 of his writings. When he invented “Wessex” Hardy did not have a complete concept of his fictional region in mind. Mainly the responses from the press and the reading public encouraged him to increase the number of references to Wessex in his novels –- a tendency that can be observed in his late novels Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). In The Return of the Native (1878) Hardy introduced South Wessex and therby began to divide Wessex into different regions. In Tess of the d'Urbervilles Upper- and Mid-Wessex are mentioned for the first time. Finally, in Jude the Obscure, the reader learns of the existence of North- , Nether- and Outer Wessex. The first map of Hardy's fictional region appeared in each volume of the Wessex Novels Edition (London: Osgood, McIlvaine & Co, 1895-96). When this map was published Wessex was still in a process of evolution. Further parts -– Lower Wessex and Off Wessex -– had not yet been introduced. In the General Preface to the Wessex Edition (London: Macmillan, (1912)Hardy time explained his concept of Wessex for the first. Follow this link to see what the final map of Wessex looks like and how Hardy describes some his fictional settings : |