چکیده:
With the beginning of the 19th century, England entered into a
transitional period. Sociologists believe that in each era of
transformation, the ruling class tries to establish its own
values, but some resistance to these new values is inevitable.
Thomas Hardy's novels in general, and Under the Greenwood
Tree specifically, are no exception. Based on these notions, this
paper tries to interpret Under the Greenwood Tree. Much of
the criticism of Hardy's work insists on the point that the
created characters in his work along with their new ideas
emphasize Hardy's attempts in standing against the ideological
discourses of the middle-class. Under the light of Althusser's
theory of Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) and Antonio
Gramsci's notion of hegemony, Hardy can be considered as a
true subject of his society, one who tries to strengthen the
pillars of his society through depicting characters who have to
be in the mainstream of the current ideological discourses of
his age. Therefore, dealing with various aspects of this novel,
this study tries to see how Louis Althusser's notions can help
us to understand Hardy himself, his characters as well as the
era in which he lived and wrote.
خلاصه ماشینی:
"Based on Althusser's notion of ISAs in transforming the individuals to good subjects, the purpose of this paper is to trace the material ritual practices of ideological recognition present in Hardy's Under the Greenwood Tree which identify individuals as subjects.
The stress in Under the Greenwood Tree is on the validated normative ideas prevailing in the Victorian age, on the internalized ideologies of the subjects, on their behavior according to the legitimized rules, and on how they follow these legitimized norms without any resistance against the institutionalized ideologies of the society.
The substitution of the traditional musical instruments of the choir by the organ played in the church instead of performing music around the village and going house to house, and the ideologies that the organ will bring with itself is one of the significant issues in the novel, depicting the sort of process at work in such a situation to make it, in Althusser's term, the dominant ideology and to create consent resulting in hegemony, in Gramsci's sense.
Fancy's influence on her father and Mr. Dewey, the tranter, at the end of the novel, and Dick's as well as his father's expanding their own job situation are the signs of Hardy's criticism of these people and the revelation of the shame of their physical behavior as well as the way they lead their lives.
Therefore, both desire to eliminate and exclude the members of the choir from the social activity; that is, their presence as well as their playing in religious ceremonies, yet the vicar recognizes the church's dependence upon these subjects; hence the ruling class's dependence on them."