In this SDG, we will read two of Thomas Hardy’s finest novels:  RETURN OF THE NATIVE and JUDE THE OBSCURE.  In both Hardy portrays the human tragedy of his characters’  lives as they contend with their passions, fate and position in society.  In RETURN OF THE Native, for example.  Eustacia Vye struggles to escape “the barren waste” of Egdon Heath in order to experience the more adventurous life of Paris, France.  And In JUDE THE OSBCURE, Jude Fawley, a stone mason, dreams of becoming a scholar.  In addition, we will watch FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, a film adapted from perhaps Hardy’s most light-hearted novel.  The film is directed by Thomas Vinterberg, and stars Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts and Michael Sheen.