A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy

A Pair of Blue Eyes

Thomas Hardy

Published 1873

⭐⭐

Following are spoilers...

A Pair of Blue Eyes is a love triangle or drawn-out chess match. Two men and a young lady endure a like/dislike relationship for the entire length of the unnecessarily long story.

Stephen Smith is young and ambitious, but hardly refined according to the elite requirements of society. He is a good man and he cares for Elfride genuinely. Henry Knight is completely opposite - older, more experienced and learned, but not particularly interested in investing in an emotional relationship with a woman.

At the beginning of the story, Elfride falls for Stephen and pursues a sweet and innocent relationship with the young man; but when her meddling materialistic father discourages the relationship in typical Victorian fashion, they elope, only for Elfride to change her mind in obedience to her father. Dejected, Stephen travels overseas to pursue his life's work, and Elfride moves on...to Henry. 

Elfride become a different character with Henry. The once well-grounded and self-contained young lady is sometimes putty in Henry's hands. She forgets to think for herself and aims to please him. Furthermore, he is not much of a knight at all, but Elfride is the one who must rescue him on a few occasions. It is as if male and female switch roles for a time. Unfortunately, Henry learns of Elfride's prior engagement to another man (Stephen), and he immediately ends their courtship.

The story then moves onto an unexpected relationship -- between Stephen and Henry. Once friends prior to Elfride, the ex-suitors become re-acquainted with one another, and the reader is led to believe a more solid and lasting relationship/bromance has been born. Even after learning of their connection to Elfride, and that she married a third man out of convenience, they are undeterred. 

A Pair of Blue Eyes is not your traditional love triangle story because Hardy does not have Elfride choose between either of the two suitors, and in fact he kills her off after she married a third man, having never endured married life for very long.

This is the first or only Hardy that I have given such a low rating. He often gets five stars from me because of his writing style and torturous plots that evoke much raw emotion. Unfortunately, A Pair of Blue Eyes was slow and torturous in a different sense. Very detail oriented. Maybe it was a poor fit for me because currently I am preparing to move, and reading a slow book during a move is counter productive. A slow book is the kind of book you want to linger over, not drag yourself through because you are pressed for time.