ABSTRACT
Robert Gittings's thesis in Young Thomas Hardy is that '"The Hand of Ethelberta"' proved 'a stumbling-block to its talented illustrator, George Du Maurier'. Thus, 'The Hand of Ethelberta' is indeed 'Hardy's farewell to the class in which he had been brought up, and his reluctant satire on the class he was to enter'. It deals with issues of property, gender, class and familial relations in ways that are also explored in his mature novels. Du Maurier, like Hardy in 'The Hand of Ethelberta', utilized material presented to him by direct experience. Given his choice of holiday destinations, Du Maurier's utilizing of seashore settings in five out of twenty-two pictures is hardly surprising in 'The Hand of Ethelberta'. Du Maurier, like Hardy in 'The Hand of Ethelberta', utilized material presented to him by direct experience. Given his choice of holiday destinations, Du Maurier's utilizing of seashore settings in five out of twenty-two pictures is hardly surprisin.
