Thomas Hardy, Metaphysics and Music
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Through scholarly analysis of Hardy's notebooks, letters and contemporary periodicals, this book explores Hardy's engagement with the Victorian intellectual world, particularly the debates concerning evolution, free will and determinism, mesmerism and musical aesthetics. The 1870s witnessed an enormous interest in musical theory: it was during this period that the ideas of Arthur Schopenhaur and Richard Wagner were popularised in this country, whilst domestic luminaries such as Charles Darwin and Herbert Sp