A comprehensive examination of the film and television adaptations of the fiction of Thomas Hardy, this text is divided into three parts. Part One analyses the popular image of Hardy and his work, the reproduction of this image in film adaptations and critical stereotypes about him and his fiction. Part Two juxtaposes Hardy’s
Far from the Madding Crowd
and Schlesinger’s adaptation, Hardy’s
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
and Polanski’s adaptation, and Hardy’s
Jude the Obscure
and Winterbottom’s adaptation. Each discussion of the novel and adaptation considers the novel itself, its critical history, how it has been adapted, and how the individual filmmakers have struggled with problems inherent in Hardy’s novels. Part Three of the book analyses adaptations of
The Woodlanders ,
The Scarlet Tunic
and
The Claim
which have scarcely been seen in the United States, and four television films and mini-series based on Hardy’s work.