哈代的“机敏智巧小说”《贝妲的婚姻》是一部题材和笔调都别具一格的讽刺作品。小说描写了仆人的女儿——才貌出众的埃塞尔贝妲·季克莱尔隐瞒身世在上流社会周旋,引得一大群贵族逢迎追求,但因地位卑微,最终违心嫁给一位老迈的勋爵的故事。由于小说把社会的突出地位完全颠倒过来,引起上层阶级的反感,曾遭到代表维多利亚时代虚伪社会道德观念的批评界肆意攻击,致使这部小说最初出版时遭到贬抑。 Hardy’s “smart and clever novels” “Bethel’s marriage” is a satirical work that has its own theme and style. The novel portrays the servant’s daughter, Ethel Berechich, who is a talented woman, concealing his life in high society and attracting a large herd of nobility, but in the end he is marred by the story of an old Lord . Because the novel fully reversed society’s prominence, arousing the resentment of the upper classes, it was attacked by critics who represent the hypocritical social morality in the Victorian era. As a result, the novel was derogated from its initial publication.