Under the Greenwood Tree

Welcome to Wessex. In this novella, you'll get a remarkably realistic story with a heart that still resonates today. Compared to Hardy's other works, it's tragedy and drama lite, but I think that's what makes it so memorable. It's not as dramatic or soul-crushing as Tess of the D'Urbervilles; yet, you definitely don't leave the book feeling nothing.

When you read the introduction to this novella, you learn that Hardy really wanted to write a story about a hamlet that was modernizing and leaving some of its inhabitants behind. For sure, the loss of the choir is sorely felt, but this is because of the "love" story that truly binds the whole tale together.

Dick and Fancy are two people who grew up in the hamlet of Mellstock, and they fall show more in love. They spend a lot more time getting acquainted in the book than the corresponding movie implies, but don't expect a great match like in Pride and Prejudice. These are simple, country folk, where Fancy represents a new era while Dick shows more reluctant progress, and in some cases, shows complete aversion to change. This is evident in the scene where he goes to a funeral instead of church on the day of Fancy's first performance.

Despite their differences, their love triumphs, which perhaps is to say change will always triumph over stagnation and the past, since Fancy is the main driver of the romance here. Of course, their love isn't without its secrets, which I won't give away here, but it's Hardy's way of reminding his readers that he isn't Jane Austen. His characters' love isn't pure, and things aren't as perfect as they seem. Since I like a little tragedy, I thought this was well worth the read. show less

I love reading Thomas Hardy. I’ve read all his major works and now I’m seeking out his lesser ones. Under the Greenwood Tree is definitely in that category. It’s a short book set in the world Hardy explores. Casterbridge is nearby with a few allusions to it but none of the action of this book goes there. This is centered in Mellstock. There are two interleaved plots and as usual a subplot examining class relationships.The first plot dominates the first half of the book, the second while starting almost immediately, dominates the second half. But it’s the subplot that jumps out on page one. How the characters speak places them in the class structure. These are simple folk and that’s evident in their very words. I immediately show more had to look upon extremely important words such as quire, which I learned meant choir, and tranter, which today we would call mover. These make it slow going. I immediately thought of Thomas Pynchon’s Mason and Dixon where the author is using the way the characters speak as a tool to put the reader in a certain time and place.

The first plot is set up with our meeting the choir, the Mellstone Quire, who enjoy singing and playing together and their role in the community is solidified by their status in the church which almost all attend every Sunday. They are fine fellows well met. But a new Parson is determined to replace them with an organ to be played by the new teacher Fannie Day.The choir is not ready to give up their position and attempt to reason with the new Parson who is determined to make the change but gives in to their pleas by agreeing to delay the change a few weeks. They take it and hope they can make their case as the fine fellows they are and how the parishioners will be so disappointed, according to them if this change finally does happen. Not only are they central to the church they play at all the dances and community events. But the Parson is determined and eventually proceeds with the change. The class subplot is apparent here as well, the Parson knows better.

While all this is going on there’s the star crossed lovers plot. Dick Dewey is a young man who sings in the choir, Fanny Day is the new teacher whose father has done what he can since his wife died to make sure she gets a fine education and can marry someone who can take care of her better than any of the local young men. Dick is immediately smitten and realizes she’s way above his station and he is most likely kidding himself to even consider this possibility. To put a finer point on this there’s Mr. Shiner, the local successful businessman who also falls for Fanny. Mr Shiner is Fanny’s father’s choice and he forbids her thinking of Dick Dewey. He’ll wait til Fanny sees the wisdom of his decision. Then there’s the flirting. Eventually Dick is successful and has turned her head. But her father is adamant. No way. In desperation she does the unthinkable for the good girl she is. She turns to a woman commonly considered a witch, someone no God Fearing young lady should even be seen associating with. The witch tells her there is a way and silently conveys the solution. Fanny proceeds to starve herself to the point she convinces her father to relent. So she finally tells Dick yes. But there’s yet another issue. They have a lovers spat and unknowing what had transpired the Parson approaches her and asks for her hand. In a moment of weakness she sees a way to get the world the Parson represents and honor her father and temporarily agrees to accept his offer as well. So now we have our crisis. What will she do? She sees the error of her ways and tells the Parson she should not have accepted his offer because she loved another and had accepted his offer as well. She asks the Parson never to tell anyone. He replies she should tell Dick, he’ll forgive her. So the way is now cleared for the marriage.

While many of Hardy’s books have been turned into movies I did not think this story had made it to the big screen. I was wrong. The BBC made a cinematic version of this Hardy classic in 2005. It doesn’t seem to have made it to a DVD but it was available for streaming from my local library. Like most screen adaptations, parts of the books are missing to fit them into a smaller format. But this is a small book, only 120 pages so that wasn’t much of a concern. But there are missing pieces. There is no step mother, not much of a loss. The bees are gone. It's more of a tiny village than spread across the countryside. There’s no witch. Other changes are more fundamental. While the characters sound like country folk, their words are much more understandable than in the book. There is no effort for the choir to sound more like a quire. It even goes as far as changing the occupation of the Dick and his father. In the book they are tranters, in the movie they are carriers. More importantly the entire tone has been reworked. Rather than this being a story of young lovers finding themselves this has become the contest of three potential suitors for the hand of the local beauty. The parson is no longer a sympathetic figure, here he is running roughshod over the people he considers the local swine. Instead of Dick being timid in the movie he is brash. Instead of Fancy being a flirt in the movie she’s more of an initiator. Fancy doesn’t starve herself, she finds other ways to bring her father around, in a sense she’s more modern. This is more like a romance novel brought to the screen with a big swipe at the overbearing church, rather than a coming of age story. The movie is not the book. In a sense it’s a better movie. The lush words become lovely scenes but now the plot drives. Interesting that it never seemed to have broken into the big time, at least here in the U.S. I recommend both but not because the movie brings the book to life, it’s just a good movie. show less

This novel, one of Thomas Hardy's earliest (second, I believe), has really so little to it that it might have been a novella. But it's incredibly charming as a painting of a more civilized (not necessarily more godly) time and place whose accouterments must be alien to every reader of today, probably even the English people of Wessex. I like it terribly, even as I admit the story often struggled to hold my attention. It's a feel-good novel. My reaction was mainly...envy.

The central story, a boy's courtship of a new young schoolteacher who has multiple suitors, is so simple in premise and in the nature of its two characters that even the reader who isn't jaded might laugh at it, or at them--especially the girl. It's difficult not to show more laugh at her emotionalism, Dick's insecurity, and the odd quickness with which she decides yes, she loves him. Until one realizes there's not the slightest tincture of satire, or parody, or amusement at the characters. Their story is earnest and so are they.

There is an incidental issue early in the book that couldn't escape my notice. One more aspect of his portrait of the rural life of Hardy's childhood, which quite disappears from view in the second half on the novel (as all attention focuses on the courtship), is the life of the village church. The new young vicar wants to replace the venerable string orchestra with an organ. The string players are pompous, self-satisfied old geezers who call their faith and practice "musical religion" (as opposed to Christianity); they sit there in the gallery with their instruments and lord it over the rest of the congregation, even complaining sanctimoniously if members of the congregation try to sing with the instruments--! (The vicar seemingly has no idea of their obnoxiousness. Why he's so set on replacing the orchestra with an organ is not very clear, unless it's just because one really must do what's fashionable.) Naturally, the men react badly to the vicar's plan; this is the subplot. And it is apparently the life of the church Hardy knew. Horrible.

I don't even remember why I became interested in reading Thomas Hardy, but I supposed I would start at or near the beginning; this was the earliest Hardy work I could find (I mistakenly thought it was the first, for a time). Even though I'm aware the rest of Hardy's oeuvre is notoriously unhappy, I had such a good experience reading Under the Greenwood Tree that I want to read more of Hardy even knowing I probably won't find this again. Except that I have the strong impression Far From the Madding Crowd (the other novel I considered starting Hardy at) is largely the same story as Under the Greenwood Tree. show less

Under the Greenwood Tree, published in 1872, is the first Thomas Hardy book I’ve read. I’ve been informed that this book is Hardy-Lite, that his later books are much more serious and well written. But I thoroughly enjoyed this short novel and was pleasantly surprised by the humor and, even with plenty of dialect in the dialogue, the easy readability.

There are two stories going on in the novel. The first involves the Mellstock Quire – a group of men who have been the church musicians for ages, singing and playing (stringed instruments ONLY: Strings alone would have held their ground against all the new comers in creation…clarinets was death…sinners…miserable dumbledores! - Page 31) The men suddenly find themselves deposed by show more an organist – a beautiful young woman, Fancy Day, who steals not only their coveted musical role but also the hearts of several men in the village, among them Dick Dewey.

Which leads to the second story – the courtship between Dick and Fancy. There are the usual problems of class and gender differences, miscommunications, secrets, jealousy and lack of trust between the two lovers. And they must abide by the Victorian mores, hiding their relationship and sneaking kisses.

With much humor and irony, Hardy explores the gender disparity. My favorite scene involves Dick waiting for Fancy while she has a dress altered. It’s a rare half day off work, and he wants to go nutting with Fancy (harvesting nuts in the woods). He’s a good sport while he waits – at first - then Hardy evokes the epitome of boredom and restlessness:

Still the snipping and sewing went on. The clock struck four. Dick fidgeted about, yawned, privately, counted the knots in the table, yawned publicly, counted the flies on the ceiling, yawned horribly, went into the kitchen and scullery and so thoroughly studied the principle upon which the pump was constructed that he could have delivered a lecture on the subject…the clock struck five, and still the snipping and sewing went on.

Dick attempted to kill a fly, peeled all the rind off his walking-stick…produced hideous discords from the harmonium, and accidentally overturned a vase of flowers, the water from which ran in a rill across the table and dribbled to the floor where it formed a lake, the shape of which after the lapse of a few minutes he began to modify considerably with his foot till it was like a map of England and Wales. (page 140)

It’s a fun, sweet story, not great literature, but a pleasure to read. One complaint I have about the novel is that Hardy dropped the story about the choir almost completely after the romance began to bloom. I so enjoyed the sparring and teasing of the choir members among themselves that I wanted more. But I will forgive him this gaffe and recommend this book. (4/5) show less

I really loved this slim book. Hardy is a fantastic writer. Considering this was only his second published novel and his big hits are yet to come it might have been expected that this book would be lightweight. But it's not.

The story is classic. Boy sees lovely girl and immediately falls in love. Girl pretends she doesn't see him but he persists and she admits she loves him. Father refuses the match because boy isn't rich or well-educated. Girl goes into a decline and father relents. A wedding date is set. Then a well-educated man proposes to girl and she is tempted but she realizes she can't do that to boy and she refuses him. Boy and girl get married but girl keeps secret of the proposal. They ride off into the sunset together.

I could show more see this as a western or a modern romance; that's how classic this story is. What makes it unique is Hardy's descriptive prose. His portrayal of the windy, rainy day when Fancy is walking home from her fathers leapt off the page and I could see the tree boughs whipping around every which way. He also has great characters although the main characters aren't as interesting as the secondary ones like the tranter and the "witch". show less

Under the Greenwood Tree was the first of Hardy's Wessex novels, and his first commercially successful novel after his first novel Desperate Remedies flopped. First published in 1872, in the 20 years subsequent he updated the book several times when it was republished by different houses, mainly to bring it more in keeping with the topography and social networks of his subsequent and more popular Wessex novels. This Penguin edition was the original text (save for corrections of spelling and punctuation), and I appreciated reading it in its original intended form without the later polishing.

It's easy to spot this as an early Hardy novel; it bears none of his later hallmarks of tragedy or the country descriptions that envelop you so show more completely in novels such as Tess of the d'Urbervilles or The Return of the Native. I missed the prickle of the furze and the squelch of the turf which transport you back to a bygone era in his other novels. Moreover, I heartily missed the usual Hardy tragedy that cuts you like a knife.

Under the Greenwood Tree is a gentle pastoral novel that focuses on the day-to-day lives of regular country inhabitants. The plot typifies the inconsequential happenings in a rural parish - a new, attractive schoolmistress puts the noses of the men of the church quire out of joint as the entranced vicar allows the equally enchanted church warden to persuade him that the new schoolmistress should now lead the church music on the organ. Meanwhile, the tranter's son has also fallen head over heels for her charms, but can he win his heart given his lowly social position in comparison with the wealth of the churchwarden or vicar?

It's the shortest of Hardy's Wessex novels, and gratifyingly so as it meanders and weaves with no real plot surprises. Compared to his other Wessex novels it disappoints, but there's enough there to while away a few enjoyable hours on a rainy day.

3 stars - interesting enough, but I'm afraid Hardy has set the bar too high in his later novels for this to warrant much attention. show less

Under the Greenwood Tree" is the story of the romantic entanglement between church musician, Dick Dewey, and the attractive new school mistress, Fancy Day. A pleasant romantic tale set in the Victorian era, "Under the Greenwood Tree" is one of Thomas Hardy's most gentle and pastoral novels.

Second book to be read in the local "Hardy Readers" bookgroup after Desperate Remedies.

This is a shorter, lighter book that is also easier to read that Desperate Remedies. It is about a small local community, and the story starts with description of the "choir" (singers and musicians) who are going round the houses (often isolated) one Christmas night. They briefly glimpse sight of the new school teacher - Miss Day - who becomes the centre of show more attention.

She and Dick Dewy fall in love, but their engagement faces obstacles from both her father and the fact that other men are vying for her hand. As a subplot the choir, who also accompany the mass, find that they will be ousted, to be replaced by a new organ, which the vicar has decided will be played by Miss Day, even though she has stated that she doesnt want to..

It is a much happier book than DR, has a more continuous flow in the narrative (although being split into 4 "seasons"). As I was not struggling with the narrative on this one, I was able to pay better attention to Hardy's descriptions of nature, and it was much more pleasing. show less