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A review by meetmeinmalkovich
Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy
3.0
3.5 stars
I imagine this was quite a shocking and scandalous book for it's time. This was very typical of classic "romances" of the time, in which it is actually quite tragic. I don't think the gravity of the book really hit me until the end (and what a wild ending that was.)
Throughout the entire book, this love was doomed, mostly because Viviette Constantine insisted upon her relationship with Swithin St. Cleeve to be a secret. But personally, I would have said propriety be damned and lived happily with someone I loved rather than have a clandestine relationship that only caused me stress and anxiety. I'm actually really surprised Swithin went along with this ridiculous idea of a relationship for so long. How can anyone feel reciprocal love if they are constantly being pushed away, or shoved into a closet to hide like a teenager scared of being caught by a parent in a daughter's bedroom? He's almost bewitched by her, and it seemed to me like all the things she loved him for to begin with, she merely tolerated because she wanted to be the only thing on his mind. And while she endeavored to keep him (and her love for him) a secret, I am glad she didn't hold him back in the end.
As I said, I'm sure this was scandalous for the time. At one point I thought of Lady Chatterly's Lover, by Lawrence (who was heavily influenced by Hardy) and I daresay these are equally shocking for their time in the sense that adultery was a forefront of the theme at first. Although unlike Chatterly, I felt an apprehension from Viviette. Plus, there is the fact that Viviette's first husband abandoned her and married another woman just as she had. As the blurb on the back cover of my book says: "a case of accidental polygamy."
By the end I was happy that Swithin managed to adventure across the world and study the stars as he had always wished, and upon coming back to England, admitted finally to himself and to Viviette that he was no longer in love with her. And then only to turn back around and say he would MARRY her astounded me! He really was a fool. And it ended up killing her - her sudden joy over the proposal inducing a fatal heart attack.
What and odd little book this was.
I imagine this was quite a shocking and scandalous book for it's time. This was very typical of classic "romances" of the time, in which it is actually quite tragic. I don't think the gravity of the book really hit me until the end (and what a wild ending that was.)
Throughout the entire book, this love was doomed, mostly because Viviette Constantine insisted upon her relationship with Swithin St. Cleeve to be a secret. But personally, I would have said propriety be damned and lived happily with someone I loved rather than have a clandestine relationship that only caused me stress and anxiety. I'm actually really surprised Swithin went along with this ridiculous idea of a relationship for so long. How can anyone feel reciprocal love if they are constantly being pushed away, or shoved into a closet to hide like a teenager scared of being caught by a parent in a daughter's bedroom? He's almost bewitched by her, and it seemed to me like all the things she loved him for to begin with, she merely tolerated because she wanted to be the only thing on his mind. And while she endeavored to keep him (and her love for him) a secret, I am glad she didn't hold him back in the end.
As I said, I'm sure this was scandalous for the time. At one point I thought of Lady Chatterly's Lover, by Lawrence (who was heavily influenced by Hardy) and I daresay these are equally shocking for their time in the sense that adultery was a forefront of the theme at first. Although unlike Chatterly, I felt an apprehension from Viviette. Plus, there is the fact that Viviette's first husband abandoned her and married another woman just as she had. As the blurb on the back cover of my book says: "a case of accidental polygamy."
By the end I was happy that Swithin managed to adventure across the world and study the stars as he had always wished, and upon coming back to England, admitted finally to himself and to Viviette that he was no longer in love with her. And then only to turn back around and say he would MARRY her astounded me! He really was a fool. And it ended up killing her - her sudden joy over the proposal inducing a fatal heart attack.
What and odd little book this was.