UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE

'''Under the Greenwood Tree''' is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published anonymously in 1872.

Contents

Plot

Adaptations

External links

Plot

The plot concerns the activities of a group of church musicians, one of whom, Dick Dewy, becomes romantically entanglement with a comely new school mistress, Fancy Day. Love triumphs, although she marries with "a secret she would never tell" - namely, that she was also courted by the local vicar, Parson Maybold. Therefore, whilst this is often seen as Thomas Hardy's most gentle and pastoral novel, this is undermined by the fact that Fancy and Dick's marriage and subsequent happiness is based on deception.
The novel also illustrates the development of technology throughout the Victorian era, as the traditional 'Mellstock Quire' (whose plight forms the book's subtitle) are ousted in favour of the more modern and efficient organ.

Adaptations

In 2005 ''Under the Greenwood Tree'' was adapted for television version by Ashley Pharoah. It starred Keeley Hawes as Fancy Day and James Murray as Dick Dewy.

External links

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★ Penguin Readers Fact Sheet on Under the Greenwood Tree