'Remind yourself of the opening chapter. Assess its significance in terms of how Hardy creates mood, tone and atmosphere in terms of the continued progress of the novel'.

The fact that Hardy devotes the entire opening chapter to a lengthy description of Egdon Heath speaks for itself. The opening chapter must be significant in terms of the continued progress of the novel. The atmosphere and tone of the opening chapter is in one word, negative, and this permeates the rest of the novel. RON is not the only novel in which Hardy demonstrates his ability to immerse us in a locality and atmosphere. In A Pair of Blue Eyes, for instance, Hardy uses its setting of sea and moorland and desolate cliffs to produce an odd and poignant effect of youthful clumsiness and pathos.

Egdon Heath lends itself very well to the kind of story Hardy wanted to tell in RON. It is meant as a tragedy (at least through the first five books) and the 'gaunt waste' provides an appropriate setting. On Egdon Heath, night and darkness comes before its 'astronomical hour'. In addition to reinforcing the idea of Egdon Heath's unchangeable place in time (as will be discussed later), this early arrival o

The sub-title of the opening chapter, 'A Face On Which Time Makes But Little Impression', establishes the unchangeable nature of Egdon Heath straight away. The Heath is said to be eternally waiting and 'unmoved' in its 'ancient permanence'. It is suggested that the Heath's existence dates back even into times of legend - 'its Titanic form' - and will last until the 'final overthrow', or Armageddon. Egdon Heath is as indifferent to man as it is to time. It may even be hostile, as 'Civilization was its enemy'. In its 'antique brown dress' may be seen a 'satire on human vanity in clothes'. Even in its indifference the Heath is mocking towards humans. The Heath is 'inviolate' and 'even the trifling irregularities were not caused by pickaxe, plough, or spade'. Man cannot change Egdon Heath - it is indifferent to man. Hardy uses Egdon Heath as a portrayal of the larger scale of things, that is, the universe's indifference to man. This is the main theme (or at least one of them) that Hardy wanted to demonstrate in the RON and Egdon serves as a convenient microcosm.

The Heath is as hostile as it is gloomy. The place is 'full of a watchful intentness...for when other things sank brooding to sleep the heath appeared slowly to awake and listen'. The Heath is personified as some sort of nocturnal predator and in the later progress of the novel, we see that the Heath is indeed hostile - perhaps 'indifferent' would be more appropriate - to the characters. Mrs.Yeobright's journey across the Heath after being turned away by Eustacia comes to mind. The conditions (of the Heath) under which Mrs.Yeobright makes her journey is described as 'a torrid attack' and 'the sun had branded the whole heath with its mark'. 'Brand' suggests pain and possibly torture and we find this is not far from the truth when Mrs.Yeobright makes her ill-fated return journey. However, it is with no surprise that the Heath is at its most hostile and cruel in darkness - it is in the middle of the night that the climax of the tragedy is reach

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Approximate Word count = 1367
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)