Abstract

Uncontrolled pregnancy, which mostly occurred due to the lack of the means of pregnancy control, and in some cases due to the lack of control over one’s sexuality, had been a great cause of trouble among women in the Victorian society. It aroused many problems including the health-related issues and social imbalances such as the unexpected growth in population in the family among others. The present research paper focuses on the disastrous consequences of uncontrolled pregnancy on the lives of the suffering characters and their respective families in select novels of Thomas Hardy, where the health issues and social problems ensuing from uncontrolled pregnancy are analysed in detail. The present study deals with the man-woman relationship, with special reference to marriage and sexuality, in Hardy’s novels like Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure and Far from the Madding Crowd, and analyses the role of uncontrolled pregnancy in various social and health-related issues during the Victorian era. Thus, this paper aims at investigating the role of uncontrolled pregnancy in the downfall of the literary characters under study. It focuses on showing that how their lives would have been better, had they had full control over their sexuality and the proper means of pregnancy control and other relevant medical facilities available to them. The roles of some other complementary factors such as the educational and social backgrounds and the economic condition of the suffering characters and their families have also been analysed and interpreted to reach a conclusion.