A Pair of Blue Eyes · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy.

Read with companions Book page

Each chapter has a companion in the reader — open a free preview to see notes beside the text.

Chapter 1
Epigraph
The epigraph quotes Shakespeare, comparing a young woman to a violet—beautiful and sweet but fleeting, foreshadowing a transient romance.
Chapter 2
The Persons
This chapter introduces the dramatis personae of the novel, listing the main characters and their roles, along with the setting in Lower Wessex.
Chapter 3
A Pair of Blue Eyes
The chapter introduces Elfride Swancourt and Stephen Smith as they meet and begin to develop a romantic connection, set against the backdrop of the Endelstow vicarage and the surrounding landscape.
Chapter 4
I
Elfride Swancourt, a naive and sheltered young woman of nineteen or twenty, is introduced. Her father, the vicar, is bedridden with gout, and she must host a strange London man arriving that evening. She nervously prepares for the encounter, questioning her father about the propriety of entertaining a stranger alone.
Chapter 5
Chapter II
Stephen Smith arrives at Endelstow Vicarage in the evening, having traveled from the railway terminus by dogcart. He is met by Elfride Swancourt, who is surprised to find him young and handsome rather than the elderly, business-like man she had imagined. Mr. Swancourt is unwell and unable to receive him immediately. The chapter includes letters arranging the visit and a conversation between Stephen and the driver about the history of Lord Luxellian's family.