The Dynasts

The third part of Hardy's giant (19 act) epic drama starts in 1812 and goes right through to the end of the Battle of Waterloo. It is long and has to convey a lot of history and is consequently a little dull for considerable stretches. Unsurprisingly, the Battles of Borodino and Waterloo (which is given suitably detailed coverage, taking up the entire final act if one includes news of Napoleon's approach and the aftermath) are highlights, but so also are the brief returns to the British Parliament and Wessex. Whilst any Hardy fan knows of the author's skill with Wessex dialect and ability to create brilliantly drawn, lively characters from the region, there is little in the prose fiction to indicate that Hardy would have a talent for turning political debate into impressive oratory. If only the present reality matched Hardy's vision of parliament! It sometimes happens that the climax of a work makes up for earlier slow pace or dullness and certainly Hardy raises his game in the last act, from the ball in Brussels where news of Napoleon's advance was broken to the allies' leading officers, through the skirmishes prior to the main battle to the valiant, stoic resistance of the British as they stood their ground long enough for the decisive arrival and intervention of the Prussian army to an aftermath where Napoleon is taunted by the Spirits who have been our narrators and chorus through-out, to a final metaphysical scene discussing the mechanics and purpose of God's will in the playing out of history.

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Thomas Hardy is a member of the extremely small set of writers widely considered to have written important poetry, novels and short fiction. (Can anybody name another? - I can't!) Perhaps his least known work is his one foray into the literary form not mentioned above - drama. The Dynasts was published late in his career (after 1900) in three parts with two year intervals between successive parts.

Now, having read all the novels and short stories (many twice), I made a decision that I should investigate his poetry and this obscure work about the Napoleonic Wars. The Dynasts of the title are the members of the various important royal and imperial families of the time.

In a preface Hardy notes that it would be impossible to actually produce his drama on a stage but, since it is written in the form of a drama, with scene settings, dialogue and some stage directions only, he will refer to it as such until a better term arrives. That better term has now arrived - it is a film script!

So the film opens at the time when Napoleon was planning to invade Britain (a topic mentioned in at least two other places in Hardy's fiction). Britain is not well prepared as it has not the necessary standing army to repel such an invasion, but the Royal Navy rules the waves - with Nelson in charge. Perhaps an invasion can be averted? Part one ends shortly after the battle of Austerlitz, having taken in the Battle of Trafalgar on the way.

Strangely, perhaps, Hardy uses a pantheon of Spirits, subjugate to the Divine Will, as a kind of chorus, commenting on the action, but also intervening - the Spirit of Rumour taking human form more than once. These Spirits remind me of the symbolic figures populating William Blakes poetry, except that here they have names that are readily understood rather than requiring decoding.

The work is a straightforward read, much easier, in fact, than Hardy's later novels, despite the use of the Shakespearian convention of "high-born" and educated folk speaking in poetry in formal settings. Indeed the early scene in parliament is one of the best. In stark contrast, a later scene shows a few Wessex rustics manning a beacon and speaking the local dialect - this language is so vivid that the humble rural folk take on great stature and character in a way I've only known Hardy to be able to achieve.

The scene describing the Battle of Trafalgar is unique in Hardy's ouvre - he is not renowned for set-piece scenes of epic scale - rather the opposite, yet he handles it with great aplomb; this (perhaps as it should be) is the most memorable scene in Part 1. Blood, fury, fear, bravery, dignity and loyalty all feature.

This is a remarkable work, considering that Hardy has deliberately eliminated one of his great strengths - description of nature and landscape - and I am moving straight on with Part 2.

All Hardy fans should read this and some-one should film it.