Tess of the DUrbervilles

By Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy

(1840-1928) Born in Bockhampton, Dorsetshire, England on June 2 1840 English Novelist of the naturalist movement

Hardys Style

Hardy portrayed characters, in his native Dorset, struggling helplessly against their passions and external conflicts Occasionally the fate of the individual is altered by chance, but the human will loses when it challenges necessity.

Hardys Style

Through intense, vivid descriptions of the heath, the fields, the seasons, and the weather, Wessex attains a physical presence in the novels and acts as a mirror of the psychological conditions and the fortunes of the characters. These fortunes Hardy views with irony and sadness.

Tess of the DUrbervilles

Published in 1891 Considered one of Hardys greatest works Was controversial during its time

Tess of the DUrbervilles

Hardy portrays Tess as an individual whose fate is already set Plaything of the gods so much of her life is beyond her control

Fateful Occurrences:

1. Ancient Lineage discovered to her father/DUrbervilles; Raises expectations of a wealthy connection 2. Prince Dies because Tess is inattentive cant go to market without the horse

Stars Tess tells Aby that there are two types of stars. Those that are blighted, and those that are sound. She says they are on a blighted star (25-26)

Fateful Occurrences

3. Pursued by the wrong man (Alec DUrberville) 4. Alec appearing in the night at Chaseborough (during the dancing, rescuing her from the fight on the walk home).

Religion and the Victorians

Tess is violated by Alec and her simple faith does not save her from danger (7172) Victorian View of Religion Simple faith is an All-Knowing, All-Seeing, Always Present, Good God Hardy tries to show that sometimes faith alone cannot protect a person

Religion and Tess

Tess is very concerned with religion. She christens her child herself and names the child Sorrow. She worries that it does not hold the same weight as if done by a clergyman. The Vicar refuses to perform burial service because the child was not christened by a clergyman (94-95)

Religion and Angel

At age 20, Tess leaves home to work at a dairy as a milk maid. Angel falls in love with Tess while she is there Angel is a contradiction, because he will not become a clergyman (like his father) because he has no feel for the work. He feels it would be dishonest. His intellect does not allow his faith.

Alecs Violation

Alec violates Tess when he becomes interested in her as a beautiful conquest She is an object to him, and once he has conquered her, Tess feels as if she is a marked woman

Angels Violation

Angel sees Tess as a very Spiritual Woman. This is a quality he admires, even though he, himself is not a faithful believer By seeing Tess as the ideal woman that he believes her to be, he unknowingly violates her. He approaches her as an ideal, PURE woman. When he discovers that she is not pure, his violation becomes obvious. It is a double standard, because Angel is not a spiritual or pure person He violates her by loving the ideal, rather than who she really is.

Her Past

Tess does not tell Angel about her past because her mother writes to her and reminds her that she promised not to tell anyone:

Joan doesnt want Tesss past to reflect badly on her child rearing skills She is also trying to protect Tess through this promise She also wants Tess to find a good husband

Her Past:

Tess feels pressure to write of her past to Angel because of:

The story of Jack Dollop he married an older woman (widow) because of her yearly income of 50 pounds, but once she marries, she no longer gets the money. Everyone agrees she should have been honest and told him. A man from Trantridge meets Tess and Angel in town and makes comments about her. Angel punches him. The man apologizes and says it was mistaken identity, but as he walks off, he tells his friend that he wasnt mistaken.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition scenes side by side either for comparison or contrast

Angel sick with a fever in Brazil hot Tess sleeps cold in a bed of leaves while wounded pheasants fall from the trees

Symbols

Cross-In-Hand Once Alec has become a preacher, he makes Tess swear on this landmark and say she will not tempt him. Tess is later told that it is a thing of ill omen. A man who sold his soul to the devil was tortured and buried there. The DUrberville Coach sound of nonexistent coach can be heard by a true DUrberville; it is an ill omen (348)

Ornithological Elements (birds)

When Prince dies - Birds shook themselves in the hedges (27). The Fowl House where Tess is working when Alec violates her Roosting birds mentioned while Alec is violating her Wounded Pheasants fall from the tree in the night while Tess sleeps. She breaks their necks in the morning to put them out of their misery. There is no one to put her out of her misery.

Birds

Hardy mentions blind birds bringing winter Gaunt spectral creatures bringers of doom and cold, bleak weather while Tess works at Flintcomb Ash Herons Alec and Tess live here in Sandbourne after they marry bad omen