The Well-Beloved: A Sketch of a Temperament
A Wessex Tale of Sculptural Obsession, Idealized Beauty, and Frustrated Romantic LongingBy Thomas Hardy
Length7h 12m
About this audiobook
In The Well-Beloved: A Sketch of a Temperament, Thomas Hardy follows Jocelyn Pierston, a sculptor from the Channel Island–like Isle of Slingers, whose imagination is dominated by the elusive "Well-Beloved," an ideal of feminine beauty that appears to him in successive women and generations. His pursuit of Avice Caro, her daughter, and her granddaughter becomes a provocative study of aesthetic desire, memory, sexual psychology, and the instability of supposedly permanent ideals. Combining romance, satire, psychological introspection, and symbolic realism, Hardy places a familiar Victorian love plot within a more experimental structure, anticipating modernist concerns with fractured identity and subjective perception. The island setting, artistic vocabulary, and recurring motifs also expose the tension between idealized art and embodied human life. Hardy (1840–1928), trained initially as an architect, became one of the major English novelists of the late nineteenth century. His fiction repeatedly examines the conflict between individual longing and social, biological, or historical forces. Written in an early form in the 1890s and substantially revised for book publication in 1897, The Well-Beloved reflects Hardy's increasing dissatisfaction with conventional romantic narratives and his interest in the unpredictable workings of temperament. Its unusual treatment of desire also belongs to the period's wider debates about aestheticism, gender, and the authority of artistic vision. This intelligent, unconventional novel will reward readers interested in Hardy's development beyond the better-known Wessex tragedies. It is especially suited to those who value psychologically nuanced fiction, literary experimentation, and critical examinations of love's idealizing power.
Audiobook details
GenreGeneral Fiction, Mystery and Thriller
Length7 hrs 12 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 25, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres (Annotated)
2PREFACE
31. I. A SUPPOSITITIOUS PRESENTMENT OF HER
41. II. THE INCARNATION IS ASSUMED TO BE TRUE
51. III. THE APPOINTMENT
Show all chaptersShow less
61. IV. A LONELY PEDESTRIAN
71. V. A CHARGE
81. VI. ON THE BRINK
91. VII. HER EARLIER INCARNATIONS
101. VIII. ‘TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING’
111. IX. FAMILIAR PHENOMENA IN THE DISTANCE
122. I. THE OLD PHANTOM BECOMES DISTINCT
132. II. SHE DRAWS CLOSE AND SATISFIES
142. III. SHE BECOMES AN INACCESSIBLE GHOST
152. IV. SHE THREATENS TO RESUME CORPOREAL SUBSTANCE
162. V. THE RESUMPTION TAKES PLACE
172. VI. THE PAST SHINES IN THE PRESENT
182. VII. THE NEW BECOMES ESTABLISHED
192. VIII. HIS OWN SOUL CONFRONTS HIM
202. IX. JUXTAPOSITIONS
212. X. SHE FAILS TO VANISH STILL
222. XI. THE IMAGE PERSISTS
232. XII. A GRILLE DESCENDS BETWEEN
242. XIII. SHE IS ENSHROUDED FROM SIGHT
253. I. SHE RETURNS FOR THE NEW SEASON
263. II. MISGIVINGS ON THE RE-EMBODIMENT
273. III. THE RENEWED IMAGE BURNS ITSELF IN
283. IV. A DASH FOR THE LAST INCARNATION
293. V. ON THE VERGE OF POSSESSION
303. VI. THE WELL-BELOVED IS—WHERE?
313. VII. AN OLD TABERNACLE IN A NEW ASPECT
323. VIII. ‘ALAS FOR THIS GREY SHADOW, ONCE A MAN!’
The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated) (Annotated)Thomas Hardy21h 58m$2 · $0.00
Wessex Tales Series: 18 Novels & Stories (Complete Collection) (Annotated)Thomas Hardy161h 30m$2 · $0.00
Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres (Annotated)Thomas Hardy3h 22m$2 · $0.00
THOMAS HARDY Ultimate Collection: 15 Novels, 53 Short Stories & 650+ Poems (Illustrated Edition) (Annotated)Thomas Hardy279h 42m$2 · $0.00
WESSEX TALES - Complete Series (Illustrated) (Annotated)Thomas Hardy161h 25m$2 · $0.00
Thomas Hardy: The Complete Novels (The Giants of Literature - Book 22) (Annotated)Thomas Hardy200h 48m$2 · $0.00
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (British Classics Series) (Annotated)Thomas Hardy17h 41m$2 · $0.00
The Return of the Native (Annotated)Thomas Hardy17h 39m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated) (Annotated)Thomas Hardy200h 48m$2 · $0.00
Life's Little IroniesThomas Hardy9h 9m$1.50 · $0.00
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure WomanThomas Hardy18h 4m$2 · $0.00
A Mere InterludeThomas Hardy2h 36m$1 · $0.00
Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries, with Miscellaneous PiecesThomas Hardy2h 21m$2 · $0.00
Late Lyrics and Earlier, With Many Other VersesThomas Hardy2h 25m$2 · $0.00
A Group of Noble DamesThomas Hardy7h 23m$2 · $0.00
The Trumpet-MajorThomas Hardy12h 2m$2 · $0.00
The DynastsThomas Hardy12h 32m$1 · $0.00
The Complete NovelsThomas Hardy200h 27m$1 · $0.00
Tess of the D'urbervillesThomas Hardy17h 4m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Unabridged)Jane Austen88h 8m5.0 (1)$1 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m5.0 (1)$28 · $0.00
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
Anne Shirley (Complete 14 Book Collection)Lucy Maud Montgomery125h 28m$2 · $0.00
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
BAEJahquel J.5h 22m$20
Dark RisingJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 47m$27
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.5 (27)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m$20
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Vineyard BrideKatie Winters5h 5m$15
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Novels & Stories (4 Novels + 56 Short Stories) (Annotated)Arthur Conan Doyle73h 13m$2 · $0.00
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m$26 · $0.00
Animal 3K’wan6h 33m$20
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m$8 · $0.00
Extinction WarNicholas Sansbury Smith12h 1m$23
Savy WisdomPeggy McColl2h 53m$15
3 a.m. Premium: Books 1–5Nick Pirog15h 27m$25
Farewell My Lovely (Annotated)Raymond Chandler10h 37m$2 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m$53 · $0.00
Tracing Killer EvidenceJodie Bailey5h 46m$12 · $0.00
AGATHA CHRISTIE Premium CollectionAgatha Christie37h 15m$2 · $0.00
Sign of the MakerBrian Shea7h 13m$17
No Sin UnpunishedLynDee Walker7h 43m$17
The Cases of Lord Peter Wimsey - Complete Series (Annotated)Dorothy L. Sayers148h 10m$2 · $0.00
Sherlock HolmesMade for Success14h 22m$25
Sons of War 4: SoldiersNicholas Sansbury Smith, Tom Abrahams12h 54m$25
Murder in the TowerRoy Lewis8h 23m$20
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m$46 · $0.00
JAMES BOND 007 Complete CollectionIan Fleming102h 36m$2 · $0.00
Deadly Badlands PursuitSharee Stover5h 53m$12 · $0.00
You may also like
A Knight of the NetsAmelia E. Barr6h 49m$2 · $0.00
JUDE THE OBSCURE (British Classics Series)Thomas Hardy18h 10m$2 · $0.00
JUDE THE OBSCURE (World's Classics Series)Thomas Hardy17h 59m$2 · $0.00
A Daughter Of The VineGertrude Atherton5h 23m$12 · $0.00
The Well-BelovedThomas Hardy7h 1m$1.20 · $0.00
Fenwick's CareerHumphry Mrs. Ward9h 45m$2 · $0.00
The Deserted WomanHonoré de Balzac1h 48m$2.30
RingfieldS. Frances Harrison10h 11m$2 · $0.00
The MidlanderBooth Tarkington11h 15m$1.20 · $0.00
Angle of ReposeWallace Stegner22h 10m$32
NoraNuala O'Connor12h 55m$33 · $0.00
Amy FosterJoseph Conrad1h 17m$2.30
The White Peacock (Romance Classic)D. H. Lawrence16h 10m$1 · $0.00
The PromiseWeisgarber, Ann9hFree
Hollywood CouplesOne World Media2h 19m$15
Farewell Love! A NovelMatilde Serao8h 18m$2 · $0.00
Jude the ObscureThomas Hardy15h 15m$2.30 · $0.00
Rich Men's ChildrenGeraldine Bonner12h 25m$2.30
The Collected Essays of Virginia WoolfVirginia Woolf7h 59m$2 · $0.00
Lemorne Versus HuellElizabeth Stoddard1h 26m$2 · $0.00