The Hand of Ethelberta

1876 novel by Thomas Hardy

The Hand of Ethelberta

First edition's title page

Author| Thomas Hardy
Language| English
Genre| Novel
Publisher| Cornhill Magazine

Publication date

| 5 November 1876
Publication place| England

The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters is the fifth published novel by English author Thomas Hardy, published in 1876. It was written, in serial form, for The Cornhill Magazine, which was edited by Leslie Stephen, a friend and mentor of Hardy. Unlike the majority of Hardy's fiction, the novel is a comedy, with both humour and a happy ending for the major characters and no suicides or tragic deaths. The late nineteenth century novelist George Gissing, who knew Hardy, considered it "surely old Hardy's poorest book".[1]

## Plot summary

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Ethelberta was raised in humble circumstances, but through her work as a governess married well at the age of 18. Her husband died two weeks after the wedding and, now 21, Ethelberta lives with her mother-in-law, Lady Petherwin. In the three years that have elapsed since the deaths of both her husband and father-in-law, Ethelberta has been treated to foreign travel and further privilege by her benefactress, but restricted from seeing her poor family.

The events of the story concern Ethelberta's career as a poet and storyteller as she struggles to support her family and conceal that her father is a butler. Beautiful, clever, and rational, she easily attracts four very persistent suitors, Mr. Christopher Julian, a struggling musician, Mr. Neigh and Mr. Ladywell, both gentlemen and friends, and Lord Mountclere, a 65-year old aristocrat with a dubious past. However, she is reluctant to give her much-coveted hand. She finally elects for Lord Mountclere, after he discovers the secret of her low birth and family, and she comes to dominate him, running his estate and saving him from bankruptcy. Her unrequited suitor Christopher Julian realises he would never have been happy with her had she married him, and settles for her younger sister Picotee who had been in love with him for years.

## Illustrations by George du Maurier

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* "She Stopped Like a Clock"

* "Round Her, Leaning Against Branches, or Prostrate on the Ground, Were Two or Three Individuals"

* "Goodness! How Quick You Were"

* "It Was A Tender Time"

* "The Harefield Estate"

* "So Ethelberta Went"

* "Can You Tell Us the Way, Sir, to the Hotel Bold Soldier?"

* "'In the Writing of the Composer', Observed Lord Mountclere with Interest"

* "All Before Them Was A Sheet of Whiteness"

* "She Lessened in His Gaze, and Was Soon Out of Sight"

## Reception

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> Mr. Hardy retains his light touch. He is satirical without being ill-natured. His satire upon the "London correspondent" of a provincial paper is excellent. The little touches and glimpses of vanity by which he shows off his various characters are capital.[2]

## Adaptations

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It was adapted for BBC Radio 4 by Katherine Jakeways. The one-hour play was released just before International Women's Day 2021, as part of a series on Hardy's women.[3]

## See also

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* novels portal

## References

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1. ^ Coustillas, Pierre, ed. London and the Life of Literature in Late Victorian England: the Diary of George Gissing, Novelist. Brighton: Harvester Press, 1978, p. 236
2. ^ Bowring, John (1876). "Belles Lettres". The Westminster Review, New Series. Vol. L. p. 281.
3. ^ "Hardy's Women - The Hand of Ethelberta - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2021.

## External links

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* The Hand of Ethelberta at Project Gutenberg
* The Hand of Ethelberta public domain audiobook at LibriVox

* v
* t
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Thomas Hardy

Novels|

* The Poor Man and the Lady (1867)
* Desperate Remedies (1871)
* Under the Greenwood Tree (1872)
* A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873)
* Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)
* The Hand of Ethelberta (1876)
* The Return of the Native (1878)
* The Trumpet-Major (1880)
* A Laodicean (1881)
* Two on a Tower (1882)
* The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
* The Woodlanders (1887)
* Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891/92)
* Jude the Obscure (1895)
* The Well-Beloved (1897)

Short story collections|

* Wessex Tales (1888)
* A Group of Noble Dames (1891)
* Life's Little Ironies (1894)
* A Changed Man and Other Tales (1913)

Short stories|

* "The Three Strangers" (1883)
* "A Mere Interlude" (1885)
* "Alicia's Diary" (1887)
* "Barbara of the House of Grebe" (1891)
* "The Fiddler of the Reels" (1893)
* "A Tragedy of Two Ambitions" (1894)

Poetry collections|

* Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898)
* Poems of the Past and the Present (1901)
* Time's Laughingstocks (1909)
* Poems 1912–13
* Satires of Circumstance (1914)
* Moments of Vision (1917)
* Late Lyrics (1922)
* Human Shows (1925)
* Winter Words (1928)

Poems|

* "Neutral Tones" (1898)
* "The Darkling Thrush" (1900)
* "The Ruined Maid" (1901)
* "The Respectable Burgher" (1901)
* "The Man He Killed" (1902)
* "A Trampwoman's Tragedy" (1903)
* "The Convergence of the Twain" (1915)
* "The Blinded Bird" (1916)

Plays|

* The Dynasts (1904–1908)
* The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall (1923)

Life|

* Thomas Hardy's Cottage
* Max Gate
* Emma Gifford (first wife)
* Florence Dugdale (second wife)

Related|

* Thomas Hardy's Wessex
* Egdon Heath
* Winter Words (song cycle)

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