Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Zwei auf einem Turm
Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who love Hardy's fate-shadowed Wessex tales, and anyone drawn to a love story that mixes feeling with astronomy.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Two on a Tower is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1882. It is set in his invented Wessex, the country of farms, small villages and big houses that he drew from the English south west. Hardy wrote it as a love story played out under the night sky. He wanted to set the small, hot affairs of two people against the cold scale of the stars.
The two are Swithin St Cleeve, a young man who lives for astronomy, and Lady Viviette Constantine, an older woman who lives alone on her husband's estate while he is far away. A tower in the grounds becomes the place where they meet. In this book you will find a close look at how a friendship over a telescope becomes something harder to name, and how class, age and marriage press on it. You will also find a story that keeps asking how much a human life matters beside the universe. Let us begin with the setting, where an old tower and a quiet estate set the scene.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A tower, an estate and a lonely womanFree
- 2A young astronomer needs a place to watch
- 3Shared work becomes shared feeling
- 4Class, age and marriage stand in the way
- 5Small lives under a very large sky
- 6How Hardy tells it, and what to watch for
Punkt 1 von 6
A tower, an estate and a lonely woman
The story opens in the English countryside, on land belonging to the Constantine family. Hardy sets the scene with care. There is a great house, a village below it, and a tall tower standing apart in the grounds. The tower is the kind of monument that country owners sometimes raised, and in this book it becomes the center of the whole tale.
Lady Viviette Constantine is the woman of the house. Her husband, Sir Blount Constantine, is away abroad, and he has left her behind. She lives a quiet life with little company and little to do. Hardy shows her as intelligent and feeling, a person whose gifts have no outlet in the small round of her days.
This matters because the novel is about the gap between what a person is and what her position allows her to do. A lady of her rank must keep up appearances. She must be careful what she says and whom she sees. She cannot simply walk out and make a new life. The marriage that binds her is a fact she cannot ignore, even when the husband is far off and silent.
Hardy lets the reader feel her loneliness before anything else happens. The grand house, the tower and the open fields all sit under a wide sky, and the sky will matter as much as any person in the book. When a stranger arrives with a purpose of his own, we already understand how much she is ready to feel.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Swithin St Cleeve
- Swithin is a young astronomer of modest means whose work draws Lady Viviette Constantine into a close friendship.
- Lady Viviette Constantine
- Viviette is a lonely married woman of rank who takes an interest in Swithin and his astronomy.
- Sir Blount Constantine
- Sir Blount is Viviette's absent husband, whose estate provides the setting for her friendship with Swithin.
- Louis Glanville
- Louis is Viviette's worldly brother, concerned with her reputation and the standing of their family in society.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 96,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 6 h 25 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Zwei auf einem Turm
What is Two on a Tower about?
It is a love story between a young astronomer, Swithin St Cleeve, and an older, married noblewoman, Lady Viviette Constantine. Their bond grows around a tower used for stargazing, and it is tested by class, age and marriage.
When was Two on a Tower written?
Thomas Hardy published it in 1882. It is a work of fiction, set in his invented Wessex, the countryside of south west England, rather than a true story.
Who is Lady Viviette Constantine?
She is a lonely woman of rank who lives on her husband's estate while he is abroad. She takes an interest in the young astronomer Swithin and becomes bound up in his life and work.
What does the tower mean in Two on a Tower?
The tower is a place of study, since Swithin uses it for astronomy. It is also a private meeting place for the two, and it links the human story with the sky overhead.
Is Two on a Tower hard to read?
It is not hard. Hardy's descriptions of place and mood are rewarding, and the cast is small and easy to follow.