Symbolic Significance of Egdon Heath in The Return of the Native

[Abstract]: The Return of the Native is one of Thomas Hardy's "Novels of Character and Environment". This paper mainly deals with the conflict between the main characters in the novel and the "Environment"----Egdon Heath, especially the conflict between Eustacia and the Heath. The Heath as a physical object is described as "inviolate", untouchable and unalterable by man, as a symbol it is highly flexible: it becomes what the various characters want to make of it. It is ugly for Eustacia, beautiful for Clym, comforting for Thomasin, and home for Venn. And it is described differently by the…