Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Question of Tragedy in the Novels of Thomas Hardy

What role do novels, drama, and tragedy play withinChristian thought and living? The twentieth century Catholic theologian HansUrs von Balthasar addressed these questions using tragic drama. For him, Christwas the true tragic hero of the world who exceeded all tragic literature andexperience. Balthasar demonstrated how ancient, pre-Christian tragedy andRenaissance works contained important Christian concepts, but he critiquedmodern novels as failing to be either truly tragic or Christian. By examiningthe tragic novels of Thomas Hardy on their own terms, we have an importantcounterpoint to Balthasar’s argument that the novel is too prosaic fortheological reflection.Hardy’s novels are an apt pairing for examination andcritique, as they are both classically and biblically influenced, as well as contemporary.The larger implication for Balthasar’s theology is that his innovations intheological aesthetics and tragedy must be expanded in the light of modernityand the tragic novel.