저항과 자기발전을 통한 여성의 주체성 찾기 - 토마스 하디의『캐스터브리지의 읍장』을 중심으로 -

The study of female subjectivity through women's resistance and self-development in The Mayor of Casterbridge

In the nineteenth century, the general belief was that the central and most desirable characteristic of female characters has been their passivity, an idea which translated to "angel in the house." However, the nineteenth-century writer who was the most influential in changing established views of women and in giving them a respected role in literature was Thomas Hardy. Although the book is called The Mayor of Caterbridge and Hardy named the book for Henchard, the book really centers on the three women - Susan, Lucetta, and Elizabeth-Jane. Women in The Mayor of Casterbridge suffer under the rules in the patriarchal society but do not submit this ideology, rather reveal a tacit or aggressive resistance against it and in particular Elizabeth Jane tries to educate herself to obtain the female subjectivity by concentrating on the future rather than wallowing in the past, and by conducting herself with self-development no matter where her fortunes take her. She is the first to pursue knowledge fervently, seeking always to improve herself. Thus, The Mayor of Casterbridge is not the tragedy of a selfish man but the search of female subjectivity through women's resistance and self-development.