What rigid Victorian social codes does Hardy critique in the novel? What is his critique? In what ways does the novel reinforce such moral codes and institutions itself?

The narrator’s comments regarding love are sometimes at odds with one another. What is the nature of love according to the novel? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Overall, does the novel take a positive, neutral, or negative view on love?

One thing that makes analysis of the text challenging is the unreliable nature of Hardy’s narrator, as the narrator frequently makes claims that seem to be unsupported by the events. In what ways does the narrator complicate our understanding of the novel?