Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved

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Chronologically

The Well-Beloved

is the last novel written by Thomas Hardy, although it is largely based on a serial publication

The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved: A Sketch of a Temperament

(1892) published between

Tess of the D’Urbervilles

(1891) and

Jude the Obscure

(1896). When

Tess

was only half finished in its original title as

Too Late Beloved

, Hardy was troubled by the request for deletions and revisions for its serial publication by

Tillotson’s

newspaper syndicate. He finally cancelled the agreement in September 1889 and offered to provide something more suitable, which turned out to be

The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved,

written in late 1891 and early 1892. From 1 October to 17 December 1892

The Pursuit

was published as a weekly serial in the

Illustrated London News

. Hardy was not…

3206 words

Citation: Zhang, Chengping. "The Well-Beloved". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 May 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8123, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8123 The Well-Beloved 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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