The Well-Beloved/Thomas Hardy

The Well-Beloved completes the cycle of Hardy's great novels, reiterating his favourite
themes of man's eternal quest for perfection in both love and art, and the suffering
that ensues. Jocelyn Pierston, celebrated sculptor, tries to create an image of
his ideal woman - his imaginary Well-Beloved - in stone, just as he tries to find
her in the flesh. Powerful symbolism marks this romantic fantasy that Hardy has
grounded firmly in reality with a characteristically authentic rendering of location,
the Isle of Slingers, or Portland as we know it.

Overt exploration of the relationship between erotic fascination and
creativity makes this novel a nineteenth-century landmark in the persistent debate
about art, aesthetics and gender.