"It would have been very difficult to describe Grace Melbury with precision, either now or at any time. Nay, from the highest point of view, to precisely describe a human being, the focus of a universe—how impossible! But, apart from transcendentalism, there never probably lived a person who was in herself more completely a reductio ad absurdum of attempts to appraise a woman, even externally, by items of face and figure. Speaking generally, it may be said that she was sometimes beautiful, at other times not beautiful, according to the state of her health and spirit."
In this excerpt of Thomas Hardy's "The Woodlanders", the author describes the character of Grace as well as he ever will. This paragraph of text describes Grace as her best self, as the novel truly tries to degrade her from the happenings around her. The best part of Grace is still her beauty and that makes her an exquisite human being, yet there is no saying of who she is as a person. This allows the reader to indicate the misogyny that is happening during this time. The state of her spirit is regrading who she is as a person, and that is when the author states she is at other times, not beautiful. Although this paragraph seems to be praising Grace Melbury, it is truly a contradiction from the subtle disregarding of her person. This only foreshadows the happenings of Grace, and allows further insight into the time period.
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