Trial and Error in Thomas Hardy's Legal Fictions

Abstract

Thomas Hardy held the role of Justice of the Peace, or borough magistrate from 1884 to 1912. In an interview with The World in 1886 he stated that `he played the part of Justice Silence with great assiduity, though admitting that the duties of office keep him in touch with some of the sterner facts of existence that are apt to be lost sight of in the dream-world of books.? Although this implies a distinction between his legal and authorial roles, Hardy?s interest in the law had a significant impact on his literary imagination.