Two on a Tower (1882)

I enjoyed this lesser known work of Thomas Hardy but the ending was quite a shock. In this book Hardy is starting to get into the more tragic works he is better known for.

Lady Constantine has been abandoned by her husband who decided to go hunting in Africa a few years ago. He seems to be quite a bully as, before he left, he exacted a promise from his wife that she would not go into society during his absence. This promise has led Lady Constantine to a very circumscribed life. She meets Swithin St. Cleve who is using a tower on her husband's land to study astronomy. Swithin is only 20 years old and very good looking. "He had such a complexion as that with which Raffaelle enriches the countenance of the youthful son of Zacharias,-- a complexion which, though clear, is far enough removed from virgin delicacy, and suggests plenty of sun and wind as its accompaniment. His features were sufficiently straight in the contours to correct the beholder's firs impression that the head was the head of a girl." Lady Constantine (Viviette) thinks that the study of astronomy would be sufficiently interesting to her to take her out of her boring life. She is almost 10 years older than Swithin but finds herself quite attracted to him. When Swithin falls dangerously ill she flies to his bedside and kisses him with ardour. Swithin recovers and soon after Lady Constantine receives news that her husband has died of dysentery in Africa. Swithin realizes, after overhearing some locals, that Viviette is in love with him and he realizes that he loves her. This realization causes him to ignore his astronomy and he proposes to Viviette. They decide to marry in secret in Bath and then return to Wessex to live separately until Swithin achieves success. Viviette must be the one to establish residency in Bath because a storm has caused damage to Swithin's grandmother's house and he has to stay to repair it. On his way to Bath he meets the postman who gives him a letter informing him that a great-uncle has left him an annuity on the condition that he remain unmarried until he is 25 years old.

Thus the major themes of the book are set in place. If the marriage takes place then Swithin loses his best chance to become a famous astronomer since neither he nor Viviette have much money and the life of a scientist is expensive. He may think his love for Viviette will be sufficient but there is also the age difference. If the marriage doesn't take place then at least one of them and perhaps both will be miserable. Swithin is the rational scientist but he is also deeply in love. Viviette is a romantic but she would give up her own happiness for Swithin.

I'm a bit of an astronomy buff so I found lots of the details fascinating. In modern times the countryside has so much light pollution that it is difficult to see the Milky Way but Swithin and Viviette saw it as a bright ribbon across the sky. I envy that. One astronomy detail puzzles me though: at their first meeting Swithin is looking at the sun through his telescope. I've always heard that you should never look directly at the sun especially with lenses or you risk eye damage. How did Swithin (and later Viviette) manage to do this? ( )

Two on a tower is the latest read for my on-going Thomas Hardy reading challenge. I had read it before and have an old copy of it knocking about –however I did treat myself to a lovely new Penguin English Library Edition in a moment of weakness. After such a long time since I first read it, I hadn’t remembered that much about ‘Two on a Tower’– I remembered it as a romance – but not much else. It is probably one of the slightly lesser known novels of Hardy.
“His parted lips were lips which spoke, not of love, but of millions of miles; those were eyes which habitually gazed, not into the depths of other eyes, but into other worlds. Within his temples dwelt thoughts, not of woman’s looks, but of stellar aspects and the configuration of constellations”
The story concerns Lady Viviette Constantine and Swithin St Cleeve. St Cleeve is a beautiful young man, barely twenty he is a keen astronomer who has made an observatory for himself in an old tower owned by Lady Constantine. The son of a deceased clergyman, St Cleeve lives humbly with his ageing grandmother. Raven haired Lady Constantine - with an absentee husband, and almost ten years his senior - falls in love with Swithin almost as soon as she meets him. Enthusiastically encouraging Swithin in his astronomical ambitions Lady Constantine funds the acquisition of some special equipment for his observations, becoming something of an apprentice in his scientific researches. When news reaches her that her husband is dead, Lady Constantine allows her feelings full reign. At the top of the ancient tower, Viviette and Swithin create their own private world, away from the eyes of the society whose rule they are breaking. Swithin St Cleeve is very much Viviette’s social inferior, but with the death of her husband she is left almost penniless. As their relationship deepens and moves forward, Viviette particularly is keen to keep the truth of their relationship secret despite the suspicions of a newly returned brother and the unwanted attentions of a middle aged Bishop.
The tone of this novel is in some ways quite different from many other Hardy novels. It marked something of an experiment in writing for Hardy – as did ‘The Trumpet Major’ – being an historical work, and ‘The Laodicean’ with its theme of modernity. It does strike me as I re-read more of my beloved Hardy – that he was a writer constantly evolving. ‘Two on a Tower’ is a gentle story – there is slightly less drama than in many other novels and for me quite a bit of subtlety in the story of these secret lovers. There is drama though; it will be no surprise to other Hardy readers that the path of true love does not run smooth; I will say no more than that. There is something slightly hackneyed about the story of these two literally star-crossed and socially mismatched lovers – but it is a charming and readable novel nonetheless. There is still plenty of Hardy’s recognisably lovely descriptive prose, although a little less of the pastoral than I like – it is not totally absent. Set against the background of the universe and the mysteries of the solar system, the characters of this novel are made smaller. Whether this was Hardy’s intention or not I don’t know, but I sort of assume it must have been and for me at least it is really quietly powerful. Overall – while it won’t be my favourite of Hardy’s novels - it lacks the raw tragedy and drama of other works for that, it is still a beautifully constructed novel and certainly well worth a read.

There is a size at which dignity begins," he exclaimed; "further on there is a size at which grandeur begins; further on there is a size at which solemnity begins; further on, a size at which awfulness begins; further on, a size at which ghastliness begins. That size faintly approaches the size of the stellar universe. So am I not right in saying that those minds who exert their imaginative powers to bury themselves in the depths of that universe merely strain their faculties to gain a new horror?” ( )

Supposedly, this is one of Hardy's minor works. Initially published as a serial, it concerns the (as one would expect from Hardy, ill-fated) romance between Swithin St Cleeve, amateur astronomer and orphaned son of a farmer, and Lady Viviette Constantine, who has been deserted by her husband.

It's relatively short for a Hardy novel, and plot is emphasized at the expense of depth of character. Although I found the theme of astronomy to seem now somewhat trite, and the ending weak, the sense of place is as strong here as elsewhere in Hardy's Wessex; I certainly found the novel to be an absorbing and satisfying read despite the flaws. ( )

Hardy, of course, needs no review. But Michael Kitchen deserves credit for his fine reading of this tale. ( )