الفهرس 
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Abstract
Thomas Hardy’s novels have been perceived as similar to those of George Eliot. Critics in the Victorian age hinted at the correspondence but stopped short of producing solid, reliable evidence to reinforce the perception. This study tries to dismantle and prove as inaccurate this perception. It starts where Victorian critics’ observations end. It revisits the issue of correspondence against modern and postmodern theories of influence and tradition particularly ‘intertextuality’.
Throughout, the thesis demonstrates that the similarities in the novels of Eliot and Hardy are more the product of a shared history as well as of common influences and interests and not slavish copying. Eliot and Hardy belong to the same era with all its trappings and characteristics. Both authors are witnesses to the tensions between religion and science, the emergence and subsequent dominance of industrialization. Through their novels, they both shed nostalgic tears over the quiet, happy old days of small towns and villages before the advent of industrialization and the commercialization of agriculture.
What becomes clear, throughout, is that the scholars and critics of the Victorian Era were too quick with the conclusion that Hardy’s work is an imitation of Eliot’s. They failed to take into account the things that influenced the two authors. Evidently, they did not spend much time scrutinizing the two authors’ styles, creative processes, and the manner by which they interpret what they have seen, heard, and what they have learned. This piece of research aims to reveal that Eliot and Hardy are two very different authors who may have written about similar things but who clearly took differing paths in creating their fiction.
The argument of the thesis is in five chapters preceded by an introduction and followed by a conclusion. In the first chapter entitled The Victorian Fictional Scene: An Overview, the research looks at the prevailing socio-economic and cultural conditions of the era through the novel genre. The chapter also looks into Eliot and Hardy’s personal histories, motivations and inspirations that form the basis for their novels. Chapter two whose title is Setting and Scenic Structure looks into the scenes and settings of the two authors’ novels. It explores the storylines and themes spun against these scenes and settings. The third chapter which has the title character Delineation puts a spotlight on Tess, Silas, and all the characters made famous by the novels of Eliot and Hardy. It shows that characterization is a significant point of divergence in the works of the two authors. The fourth chapter, bearing the title The Tragic Vision, is dedicated to tragedy as employed by Eliot and Hardy in their works.
Chapter five, titled Eliot and Hardy: An Assessment gives a focused assessment of the entire comparative project with a view of indicating that in the final analysis Eliot’s influence on Hardy is an example of this inter-generational conversation that members of the different generations are keen to maintain. Both generations – the old and the new- contribute to the sea of ‘intertexts’ which T.S.Eliot and F.R. Leavis refer to as “the Great Tradition” each in its own unique way despite some perceived correspondence sometimes.