Furthermore, of the three adaptations I will feature for you here, there is a remarkable range to choose from, with everything from a grand and opulent example of late-1960s cinema to a more comedic, Neo-Victorian take on the novel.1 And while this story is not one without its struggles and tragedies-especially if you are a sheep, a dog, or a female servant-it is a Hardy novel where the human body count is relatively low and where the final union of its protagonists is one that is not completely undermined by a general mood of despair. If, however, you were to turn towards the many and varied versions of his earlier novel Far from the Madding Crowd, I would argue that you have the makings of a much more satisfying night in. While both are worthy films in their own rights, for their visually stunning cinematography and fine acting, their respective endings do not exactly inspire one to make grand declarations about the conquering power of love.

I will grant that this would be very true if you perused your Netflix queue and stopped only on the adaptations of Hardy’s late novels-such as Roman Polanski’s Tess or Michael Winterbottom’s Jude. For if there is love in Hardy, then it is almost always a love that goes astray very quickly and quite devastatingly. Because Hardy, as we all know, is tragedy and suffering. Even the Bronte sisters and the many versions of their dark and melancholy moors would seem to conjure up images of love and romance (however vexed) more readily than Hardy. Certainly, if you are trying to find a love-kindling adaptation of a nineteenth-century text to cuddle up with on your couch, then Jane Austen and the vast romance industry that has emerged in her wake would seem a more natural fit. While I freely admit that Hardy and romance is not the most inevitable of pairings, I hope that you will hear me out on this one.

Yes, you read that right: to Thomas Hardy-for a cozy and romantic night in. Or, as I would like to suggest, you can do both. In these frigid days and dank nights, in which we grow ever wearier of these lingering and intemperate climes, what is a good Victorianist to do? The options would seem (at least to this Victorianist) to either sink into the depths of gloom and despair over this stubborn winter weather or to curl up with companionable date at home and watch a good adaptation of a nineteenth-century novel, in an effort to generate some alternate sources of warmth and comfort. For most of our readership across the United States and in the UK, April is proving to be a very cruel month indeed-with severe weather patterns and cold fronts marching across the North America and Atlantic.

Far from the maddening crowds