The Return of the Native opens with Venn, a reddleman, transporting Thomasin Yeobright back to Egdon Heath. Thomasin is upset because she was supposed to wed Damon Wildeve earlier that day but couldn’t due to an issue with her marriage license. Meanwhile, the residents of Egdon Heath are lighting bonfires to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day. The locals dance, sing, and gossip about the latest news on the heath, including the fact that Clym Yeobright is set to return from Paris at Christmas time. Clym is Thomasin’s cousin, and the locals always assumed that the two of them would marry before Clym left for Paris. The locals also discuss how Mrs. Yeobright, Clym’s mother, has openly objected to Thomasin’s marriage to Wildeve, whom she considers socially inferior.
When Mrs. Yeobright learns that Thomasin didn’t marry Wildeve after all, she gets even angrier. She knows that the aborted marriage will be the talk of the town, further embarrassing the Yeobright family. Though Wildeve insists that he still plans to marry Thomasin and will do so as soon as possible, he’s not being entirely truthful: the same night he was supposed to marry Thomasin, he pays a visit to Eustacia Vye, whom he has been courting in secret. Eustacia likes Wildeve, though she is angry about his plans to marry Thomasin. Both Eustacia and Wildeve share a mutual hatred of Egdon Heath and dream about escaping; in particular, Eustacia longs to travel to Paris.
Despite Wildeve’s promises, he continues to postpone his marriage to Thomasin. In the meantime, he repeatedly meets with Eustacia in private and promises her that he still loves her. Unbeknownst to Wildeve and Eustacia, Venn has been spying them and caught wind of their tryst. Venn loves Thomasin, though she rejected him when he asked her to marry him. Nonetheless, Venn remains faithful to Thomasin and wants what’s best for her, so he visits Eustacia and asks her to stay away from Wildeve. Unfortunately, this only makes Eustacia want Wildeve more.
Eustacia’s infatuation with Wildeve ends once she hears that Clym Yeobright is returning from Paris. She considers Clym a knight in shining armor who can take her away from Egdon, so she sets her sights on him instead. No longer able to marry Eustacia, Wildeve goes through with his marriage to Thomasin. Meanwhile, Clym and Eustacia strike up a romance. However, Clym isn’t exactly the person Eustacia thought he'd be: Eustacia thought that Clym could help her escape to Paris, but Clym wants to stay put and start a school in Egdon. Ultimately, they reach a compromise, and Clym promises to move them to Budmouth, a fashionable, seaside city not far from Egdon. Though Mrs. Yeobright disapproves of the Vye family, Clym and Eustacia get married.
Clym and Eustacia’s happiness is short-lived. Clym lacks the funds to move them to Budmouth, and his plans to open a school prove difficult. To make matters worse, Clym starts to go blind, which forces him to abandon his studies. He then becomes a furze-cutter, much to the chagrin of Mrs. Yeobright and Eustacia, who consider this a low-class profession. Clym’s relationship with his mother deteriorates after Mrs. Yeobright accuses Eustacia of cheating on Clym with Wildeve, though this never happened. For a long time, Clym and his mother don’t speak to each other.
One hot, summer day, Mrs. Yeobright decides to visit Clym and make amends. When Mrs. Yeobright arrives, Eustacia is inside talking to Wildeve. Not wanting Mrs. Yeobright to think any worse of her than she already does, Eustacia does not open the door for Mrs. Yeobright. Instead, she sneaks Wildeve out the back and assumes that Clym, who is taking a nap, will get up and answer the door. However, Clym does not answer. By the time Eustacia returns, Mrs. Yeobright has left. Meanwhile, Mrs. Yeobright walks home depressed—she thinks Eustacia and Clym have deliberately rejected her, and she shares this fear with a young boy named Johnny who accompanies her as she walks. After Mrs. Yeobright parts ways with Johnny, a venomous snake bites her.
Clym later wakes from his nap and decides to visit his mother, despite Eustacia’s protests. However, on his way to his mother’s house, he discovers her lying unconscious in the grass. Clym takes Mrs. Yeobright to the nearest cabin. The locals fetch a doctor to try to save Mrs. Yeobright, but they are too late, and she dies. To make matters worse, Johnny tells Clym that his mother was angry with him before she died. This news devastates Clym, and Eustacia is too scared to tell him the truth.
After Mrs. Yeobright’s funeral, Clym starts asking around to figure out why his mother was so mad at him. Eventually, Johnny tells Clym that Mrs. Yeobright was walking back from Clym’s house after Clym turned her down. Johnny also tells him that Eustacia was inside with Wildeve when. Enraged, Clym confronts Eustacia and the two of them have a big fight. Eustacia leaves Clym and moves back in with her grandfather. In the meantime, Thomasin gives birth to her first child, which she names baby Eustacia, and Wildeve inherits a fortune.
Wildeve feels bad for Eustacia, whom he still loves, and tells her that he will help her in any way he can. In response, Eustacia asks him to take her to Budmouth, where she can find a ship to Paris. Wildeve agrees to do so, though he does not tell Thomasin about his plans. One night, Thomasin follows Wildeve, realizes that he is going to see Eustacia, and assumes the two of them are having an affair. Shortly afterward, Thomasin arrives at Clym’s house and tells him that she thinks Wildeve and Eustacia are planning to run away together. Concerned, Clym begins searching for Eustacia and Wildeve, who are indeed planning to depart for Budmouth. Clym leaves in the middle of a terrible storm, as do Eustacia and Wildeve.
Thomasin parts ways with Clym. On her way home, she encounters Venn and tells him about Eustacia and Wildeve; Venn offers to escort her home. On their way to the Quiet Woman Inn (Wildeve’s inn), Venn and Thomasin come across a distressing scene: Wildeve and Clym have jumped into a pond to rescue Eustacia, who has fallen in. However, the storm has turned the pond into a whirlpool. With the help of some of the locals, Venn manages to get Clym, Wildeve, and Eustacia out of the pond. However, by the time he does so, Eustacia and Wildeve are dead.
In the months following Wildeve and Eustacia’s funeral, Venn becomes a dairy farmer and begins courting Thomasin; they eventually marry. Clym, overcome with grief, becomes a traveling preacher. However, the deaths of Eustacia and Mrs. Yeobright never stop haunting him.
