[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 …showed first 75 words of 5243 total…

…showed last 75 words of 5243 total…Co., 1997. Pinion, F.B. A Hardy Companion--- A guide to the works of Thomas Hardy and their Background, The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1968. Springer, Marlene. Hardy's Use of Allusion, The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1983. Widdowson, Peter. Hardy in History: A Study in Literary Society. Woodcock, George. Introduction to The Return of the Native, Great Britain: Hazell Watson &Viney Ltd., 1978 http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/returnofthenative/hardywalkreturn.html http://hatteraslight.com/navy/ThomasHardyhall/cas/311.html