The Well-Beloved completes the cycle of Hardys great novels reiterating his favourite themes of mans eternal quest for perfection in both love & art & the suffering that ensues. Jocelyn Pierston celebrated sculptor tries to create an image of his ideal woman
- his imaginary Well-Beloved
- in stone just as he tries to find her in the flesh. Powerful symbolism marks this romantic fantasy that Hardy has grounded firmly in reality with a characteristically authentic rendering of location the Isle of Slingers or Portland as we know it. Overt exploration of the relationship between erotic fascination & creativity makes this novel a nineteenth-century landmark in the persistent debate about art aesthetics & gender.