Question

The author implies which of the following about Under the Greenwood Tree in relation to Hardy's other novels?

• A. Although it is his most controlled novel, it does not exhibit any harsh or risky impulses.
• B. It, more than his other novels, reveals Hardy as a realist interested in the history of ordinary human beings.
• C. In it Hardy's novelistic impulses are managed somewhat better than in his other novels.（D）
• D. Its plot, like the plots of all of Hardy's other novels, splits into two distinct parts.

Answer 1

The correct option is C

In it Hardy's novelistic impulses are managed somewhat better than in his other novels.（D）

It was a close choice between (C) and (D).

“His most controlled novel, Under the Greenwood Tree, prominently exhibits two different but reconcilable impulses—a desire to be a realist-historian and a desire to be a psychologist of love—but the slight interlockings of the plot are not enough to bind the two completely together. Thus even this book splits into two distinct parts.”

He says that even this book splits into two parts. But nowhere has he said that all of hardy’s books are split into two parts. So (D) is wrong.