A psychoanalytic probe in The Return of the Native: Hardy’s portrayal of the mother-son relationship

This paper sinks in to have an analytical approach towards a psychological delving of two sets of mother-son duo, bending the Freudian interpretation of the relationship, less adopted in an age which looked askance at it because it was predominated by what they call, the 'Victorian morality'. Mothers in relation to their offspring, have been sketched with a ‘super’ sacrifice and such relationships are portrayed in their complexities and other significant aspects. Yet the Oedipal tinge is the bird's eye here. The attempt will also be made to focus on the symbolic understanding of the title itself, under a close reading glass. It also endeavours to seek how the titular symbol bears a hint at the 'return' of a son (native) to the 'mother' land and analyses Hardy’s careful sketch of the gender- portrayal in the relationships unraveled.