湯瑪斯‧哈代是跨越十九與二十世紀的英國文學重要作家，而其作品至今仍為眾多研究學者與讀者大眾所深深著迷。哈代對於維塞克斯鄉村風景的描繪、當地語言的保存、社會生活與習俗的觀察批判，使其作品深俱重要價值。雖然在哈代的作品在維多利亞時期被某些批評家視為不道德、甚至是低俗猥褻的小說；但經歷一百多年時間的証明，哈代所重視整體社會價值觀的問題，特別是社會下階層與貧窮困苦的庶民生活，在今日早已成為文學與社會研究的重要課題。哈代親眼見證他同時代的下階層與窮人在急遽改變的資本化社會中困難處境，深刻刻畫出維多利亞社會對於這些人的歧視、懷疑與不平等的對待。
因而，本論文以哈代小說《嘉德橋市長》為研究對象，旨在探討維多利亞時期的人如何信任他人與處理人際關係，進而說明個人信任關係的建立、交換、甚至否定的模式。這樣的模式不僅表現社會制度習俗與傳統價值觀，也呈現出人們的對於他人的認同、合作與衝突。本文的第一章介紹哈代作品與信任的相關概念與理論。第二章分析哈代小說中關於信任的議題與其文化、社會與歷史背景。第三章探討分析本小說中婚姻與家庭關係中的信任，進而指出一個人在婚姻關係中的行為乃為其承諾與責任的實踐。盡職的人可奠定其個人的信用，其作為亦是進入社會生活的墊腳石。第四章分析嘉德橋市社區生活中的信任關係。主角韓洽德與范福瑞都是外來移民；藉著各自長期累積的美德與信譽亦或依附權貴而成功地進入社區生活。當地住民依據他們的觀察與道德、利益的考量，決定他們是否信任新移民，並思量是否維持或終止彼此的人際關係。最後一章整合前述各章的觀念，連貫韓洽德與社會之間信任關係，進而說明每個人在他人心中都有榮譽亦或羞恥的個人紀錄，亦是個人被他人所信賴的程度：信任。然而，一個人被信賴的程度，類似具有流通性的人際關係資本。哈代藉由小說中信任關係的呈現，指出愛與權利的確具有財產或資本的形式與特質。而這特質，不只改變維多利亞時代的價值觀與人際關係，也影響生活的各個層面。

Though a novelist in the late Victorian age, Thomas Hardy has recently been re-evaluated and praised by critics for his conception of the country images in Wessex, his devotion to preserving the local dialects, and his realistic descriptions of social life and customs in Victorian society. Hardy’s novels were not seen as masterpieces at his time. They were even criticized as immoral or bawdy; however, his works successfully record the customs and ethical values of the Victorian period for contemporary readers. Constantly his works reveal his concern for obscure men and women, especially the poor and the lower, who, we should not forget, were notoriously treated in the Victorian society. These obscure people’s greatest pain in life may come not just from the hardship of making a living in a rigid capitalist society but also from the difficulty of being accepted by their neighbors, the land, and the society as a whole. Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) studies the interweaving of the human relations which are set up, exchanged, and even devastated in a system of trust and distrust. Thus, to investigate the exchange of trust will be the major concern of this thesis.
The opening chapter of my thesis surveys the relations between trust and trustworthiness in Casterbridge to illustrate trust as the bedrock of interpersonal relationships. The following chapter investigates the issue of trust and trustworthiness in Hardy’s fiction from the angles of not merely Hardy’s stance but also historical and sociological viewpoints. The third chapter deals with commitment, action, and obligation in marital and domestic life in Casterbridge. The chapter will point out that a person’s action is an important demonstration of his fulfillment of commitment and obligation. His practice of his duty as a good family member or marriage partner is probably the step in building up his credit in community. Chapter IV will investigate the issues of trust and reciprocity both in Casterbridge and Victorian communal life. When a stranger comes into a new community, whether he can become part of it depends on what he did in the past and what he does in the present community, which are evaluated by the local so as to avoid risks in business loss or bad interpersonal transactions. The last chapter concludes that everyone has his and her own account of honor and shame, which makes up his credit in life; however, one’s trustworthiness is quite like flowing capital exchanged or kept by people. Hardy’s presentation of trustworthiness in the novel indicates that one’s right or love to other people can be seen as property or capital, which changes the views of value and human relationships in Victorian society and impacts on all aspects of life as a whole.

Table of Contents
Chapter One
Introduction .....1
Chapter Two
Trust in Historical Context.....10
Chapter Three
Henchard and His Women .....35
Chapter Four
Communal Life and People’s Attitudes toward Trustworthiness .....68
Chapter Five
Conclusion .....86
Works Cited .....90

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