# II: The New Course Causes Disappointment explained — The Return of the Native

> Chapter companion for The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy.

## What happens

Clym Yeobright returns to Egdon Heath and announces to his mother that he has given up his successful business in Paris to become a schoolmaster for the poor and ignorant. Mrs. Yeobright is pained and disappointed, unable to understand why he would choose to go backward in the world. The chapter explores Clym's idealistic philosophy, his deep connection to the heath, and his desire to raise the class through knowledge rather than wealth. He considers meeting Eustacia Vye after Sam suggests he help grapple for a bucket at her house, but remains uncertain if she is the same woman he met under the full moon.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Ambition

Clym rejects conventional ambition for wealth and status, choosing instead to elevate the lower class through education, causing conflict with his mother's expectations.

### Modernity vs. Tradition

Clym's advanced ideas about plain living and high thinking clash with the traditional rural values of Egdon and his mother's worldview.

### Nature and Landscape

Clym's deep bond with Egdon Heath is emphasized; he is described as its product, loving what Eustacia hates, and finding barbarous satisfaction in the heath's resistance to reclamation.

## Character check-ins

### Clym Yeobright

Returns home and reveals his decision to abandon his Paris career for a life of teaching the poor, causing disappointment to his mother.

### Mrs. Yeobright

Shows concern and pain upon learning Clym's plan, arguing that he is throwing away his chance at affluence.

### Sam

Suggests to Clym that he might see Eustacia Vye by helping grapple for a bucket at her house.

### Eustacia Vye

Mentioned indirectly; Clym wonders if she is the same woman he met under the full moon, and Sam proposes a way to encounter her.

## Key lines

> Yeobright loved his kind. He had a conviction that the want of most men was knowledge of a sort which brings wisdom rather than affluence.

Clym believed that people needed wisdom more than wealth.

_Highlights Clym's altruistic philosophy._

> He was a John the Baptist who took ennoblement rather than repentance for his text.

Clym preached self-improvement rather than moral reform.

_Biblical allusion emphasizing his mission._

> Take all the varying hates felt by Eustacia Vye towards the heath, and translate them into loves, and you have the heart of Clym.

Clym loved the heath as intensely as Eustacia hated it.

_Contrast between Clym and Eustacia's relationship with Egdon._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_the_native_se/chapters/ii-the-new-course-causes-disappointment
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_the_native_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_the_native_se/chapters