---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge…"
description: "\"“Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge, my own fictional Pennington is based on a well-known English county town, which I embellish with buildings, p..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/catherine-george-226402_writing_like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge_2825665.jpg"
---

#  Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge, my own fictional…

![“Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge, my own fictional Pennington is based on a well-known English county town, which I embellish with buildings, parks, and houses from my imagination.” quote by Catherine George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/catherine-george-226402_writing_like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge_2825665.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/catherine-george-226402_writing_like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge_2825665.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/catherine-george-226402_writing_like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge_2825665.jpg)

> ““Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge, my own fictional Pennington is based on a well-known English county town, which I embellish with buildings, parks, and houses from my imagination.””

[Catherine George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-george/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The author reimagines a fictional town inspired by an English county, adding imagined structures.

**In simple terms:** Fictional town blends real‑world inspiration with imagination.

Key Takeaway

Use real places as creative springboards.

Themes

writing inspiration fiction setting creativity

Mood

descriptive creative imaginative

Type

Writing:1 Thomas Hardy:0 Fictional Pennington:1 Casterbridge Fictional:0 Hardy Casterbridge:0 Pennington Based:0

When to use this quote

- novel drafting
- screenwriting
- role‑playing games

Key Concepts

world‑building literary homage creative adaptation

Questions to Reflect On

- How does setting influence character?
- What balance between reality and imagination works best?

A Different Perspective

May limit originality by relying heavily on known locales.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Casterbridge Fictional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casterbridge-fictional-3621408/) [Fictional Pennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fictional-pennington-3621407/) [Hardy Casterbridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardy-casterbridge-3621409/) [Pennington Based](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pennington-based-3621410/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thomas-hardy/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [ “Stilletos of a frozen stillicide \[...\] In the lovely line heading this comment the reader should note the last word. My dictionary defines it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/stilletos-of-a-frozen-stillicide-in-the-lovely-line-heading-this/)

[Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/)

> [“If 'dead' matter has reared up this curious landscape of fiddling crickets, song sparrows, and wondering men, it must be plain even to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/if-dead-matter-has-reared-up-this-curious-landscape-of-fiddling/)

[Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/)

> [English country life is more like Chekhov than 'The Archers' or Thomas Hardy or even the Updike ethic with which it is sometimes compared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-gardam/english-country-life-is-more-like-chekhov-than-the-archers-or-thomas/)

[Jane Gardam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-gardam/)

> [Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a novel that I have read over and over and over again. Tess is a pure child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laetitia-casta/thomas-hardy-s-tess-of-the-d-urbervilles-is-a-novel-that-i-have-read/)

[Laetitia Casta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laetitia-casta/)

> [“What about fateful turns in your life? Naturalists like Thomas Hardy proposed that some people are simply born under 'a blighted star' like his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-leslie/what-about-fateful-turns-in-your-life-naturalists-like-thomas-hardy/)

[Roger Leslie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-leslie/)

> [“Few poets better convey the uneasy transition from Victorianism to Modernism than Thomas Hardy. His novels, written between 1870 and 1895, made him not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-carter/few-poets-better-convey-the-uneasy-transition-from-victorianism-to/)

[Ronald Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-carter/)

> [“I must assume that knowing is better than not know, venturing better than not venturing; and that magic and illusion, however rich, however alluring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-must-assume-that-knowing-is-better-than-not-know-venturing-better/)

[Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/)

> [“We late-lamented, resting here, Are mixed to human jam, And each to each exclaims in fear, ‘I know not which I am!’ ” —Thomas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-crombie/we-late-lamented-resting-here-are-mixed-to-human-jam-and-each-to-each/)

[Deborah Crombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-crombie/)

> [“Haunting the library as a kid, reading poetry books when I was not reading bird books, I had been astonished at how often birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenn-kaufman/haunting-the-library-as-a-kid-reading-poetry-books-when-i-was-not/)

[Kenn Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenn-kaufman/)

> [“When I mentioned to a friend I was writing a book about eggs he told me to be sure to mention how in Thomas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-birkhead/when-i-mentioned-to-a-friend-i-was-writing-a-book-about-eggs-he-told/)

[Tim Birkhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-birkhead/)

> [“The Convergence of the Twain Thomas Hardy, 1840 - 1928 (Lines on the loss of the “Titanic”) I In a solitude of the sea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-convergence-of-the-twain-thomas-hardy-1840-1928-lines-on-the-loss/)

[Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/)

> [“West Country novelist Thomas Hardy almost did not survive his birth in 1840 because everyone thought he was stillborn. He did not appear to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-mason/west-country-novelist-thomas-hardy-almost-did-not-survive-his-birth/)

[Phil Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-mason/)

> [“I The moving sun-shapes on the spray, The sparkles where the brook was flowing, Pink faces, plightings, moonlit May, These were the things we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nuttall/i-the-moving-sun-shapes-on-the-spray-the-sparkles-where-the-brook-was/)

[Christopher Nuttall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nuttall/)

> [“During any prolonged activity one tends to forget original intentions. But I believe that, when making a start on A Month in the Country,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/during-any-prolonged-activity-one-tends-to-forget-original-intentions/)

[J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/)

> [Thomas Hardy once advised us to record impressions more and to express ideas less. Now and then I would remember this advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mu-xin/thomas-hardy-once-advised-us-to-record-impressions-more-and-to/)

[Mu Xin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mu-xin/)

## More Writing quotes

> [When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/when-i-passed-the-chancellor-he-arose-waved-his-hand-at-me-and-i/)

[Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/)

> [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/)

[Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/)

> [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/)

[John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/)

> [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/)

[Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/)

> [Forcing modern speakers of English to not - whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn't done in Latin makes about as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/forcing-modern-speakers-of-english-to-not-whoops-not-to-split-an/)

[Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/)

> [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/)

[Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/)

> [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/)

[Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/)

> [The love religion is all that is written here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-love-religion-is-all-that-is-written-here/)

[Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/)

> [I would drink gallons of coffee a day. Even now, off caffeine, I talk faster than anyone you've ever met. I finally recognized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-would-drink-gallons-of-coffee-a-day-even-now-off-caffeine-i-talk/)

[Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/)

> [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/)

[Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/)

> [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/)

[Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/)

> [Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's addressed to someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-of-us-can-read-the-writing-on-the-wall-we-just-assume-it-s/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I've been writing songs since I was 10 years old and always had a penchant for rhyming. I started listening to hip hop through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoodie-allen/i-ve-been-writing-songs-since-i-was-10-years-old-and-always-had-a/)

[Hoodie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hoodie-allen/)

> [If I don't know who I'm writing for, I make it up and pick somebody I'm writing for. That's really the only way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-mazin/if-i-don-t-know-who-i-m-writing-for-i-make-it-up-and-pick-somebody-i/)

[Craig Mazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-mazin/)

> [“The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goins/the-writer-must-earn-money-in-order-to-be-able-to-live-and-to-write/)

[Jeff Goins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goins/)

[Browse all 64,355 Writing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge, my own fictional Pennington is based on a well-known English county town, which I embellish with buildings, parks, and houses from my imagination.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Catherine George"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-george/like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge-my-own-fictional-pennington/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Writing"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-george/like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge-my-own-fictional-pennington/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/catherine-george-226402_writing_like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge_2825665.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/catherine-george-226402_writing_like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge_2825665.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/catherine-george-226402_writing_like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge_2825665.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge, my own fictional Pennington is based on a well-known English county…” — Catherine George",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Catherine George",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-george/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Like Thomas Hardy with his Casterbridge,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-george/like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge-my-own-fictional-pennington/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-george/like-thomas-hardy-with-his-casterbridge-my-own-fictional-pennington/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
