Tess Durbeyfield is a victim of both external and internal forces. Passive and yielding, unsuspicious and fundamentally pure, she suffers a weakness of will and reason, struggling against a fate that is too strong for her to overcome. Tess falls victim to circumstance, society, and male idealism. Tess may be unable to overcome these apparent difficulties is destroyed by her ravaging self-destructive sense of guilt, life denial and the cruelty of two men.
It is primarily the death of the horse, Prince, the Durbeyfield’s main source of livelihood that commences the web of circumstance that envelops Tess. The imagery at this point in the novel shows how distraught and guilt ridden Tess is as she places her hand upon Prince’s wound in a futile attempt to prevent the blood loss that cannot be prevented. The imagery is equivalent to a photographic proof - a lead-up to the events that will shape Tess’s life and the inevitable “evil” that also, like the crimson blood that spouts from Prince’s wound, cannot be stopped. The symbolic fact that Tess perceives herself to be comparable to a murderess is an insight into the murder that she will eventually commit and is also a reference to the level of guilt that now consumes her. “Nobody blamed Tess as she blamed herself... she regarded herself in the light of a murderess.”
Tess views herself as the cause of her family’s economic downfall. Tess’s parents, aware of her beauty, view Tess as an opportunity for future accumulation of wealth. With the unfortunate circumstance of Prince’s death Tess, is urged to venture from the “engirded and secluded region” of Marlott to seek financial assistance from the D’urberville’s in nearby Trantridge. It is here in Trantridge that she first encounters the sexually dominating and somewhat demonic Alec D’urberville. Alec’s first words to Tess, “Well, my Beauty, what can I do for you?” indicate that first impression of Tess is only of sexual magnetism. Alec then proceeds to charm Tess by pushing strawberries into her mouth and pressing roses into her bosom. These fruits of love are an indication of Alec’s lust and sexual desire for Tess as he preys upon her purity and rural innocence. Tess unwillingly becomes a victim to Alec’s inhumane, violent and aggressive sexual advances. Alec, always the master of opportunities, takes advantage of her while alone in the woods and proceeds to rape ...
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...as subjected her to the cruelty of love. Tess, a victim once again is now broken both spiritually and emotionally. It is at this point in the novel that she begins to come to the realization that her beauty is part of the cause of her destruction. In answer to this she dons her oldest field gown, covers half her face with a handkerchief, and snips off her eyebrows to “keep off these casual lovers”. Unfortunately for Tess she has come to this realization to late. She now is unable to save herself from Alec’s lustful actions and Angel’s idealized reasoning.
The potent tragedy of Tess’s life is that her decisions have always been made with good and pure intentions, but have resulted in damaging consequences. Tess is undoubtedly a victim as misery punctuates her life. Tess is a victim of circumstance in that her individuality makes little difference to her fate. She is a victim of society in the sense that she is a scapegoat of narrow-mindedness among her fellow man. She is a victim of male ideology on the grounds that her powers of will and reason are undermined by her sensuality. Tess herself sums up her own blighted life best, “Once a victim, always a victim - that’s the law”.
Tess' true strength is her determination to overcome her misfortunes. When the Durbeyfields' horse, Prince died, Tess took control of the situation of the horse's death and the beehive delivery. She takes care of the kids and she had done well in school, even though Tess seems to go nowhere. Also when she leaves her job of taking care of the flock at the d'Urberville household, because of her experience with Alec, it showed she tried to take control of the situation. Even when Alec was following her home on his carriage asking her why she left, 'Her lip lifted slightly, though there was little scorn, as a rule, in her large and impulsive nature.
to keep her out of the house” (138). The sexist and racist attitudes of that era, in addition to the idolized Kurtz’s savage behaviour towards the Africans, amplify the anomaly of an African woman instilling fear into colonial white men. Conrad establishes the influence that women can have, as it clearly contrasts Hardy’s insinuation of the powerless nature of females when compared to men. While both novels show women embodying traditional male roles and characteristics, the chivalric trait of honour in a woman is most prominent in Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
In this small town, in which the story takes place, women are treated as if they are less than the men. Tessie Hutchinson was even told to “‘Shut up, Tessie”’(Jackson 5) by her own husband while revealing her thoughts that the process was unfair. To readers, it is clear that this ceremony is completely random and that Tessie’s husband, Mr. Hutchinson, had an equal chance of pulling the cursed paper along with everyone else. It could have been any family, but Jackson chooses to emphasize the family that has an outspoken and strong-willed woman. Not only does Tessie advocate that Mr. Summers
At the beginning of the story, we see her desiring going to the lottery. She was laughing, joking, and encouraging her husband to go up and get a drawing when he didn’t move right away. She never would have suspected her family would be chosen, and furthermore, herself. Jackson creates a great contrast between Tessie’s nonchalance and the crowd’s nervousness (Yarmove). When her family is chosen, her character changes around knowing that there’s the possibility of her own death. Tessie’s character change is shocking, but falls into place with the holocaust. She symbolizes the human instinct of survival, and tries to offer up her own children and their families to lower her chances of death. In Yarmove’s analysis of Jackson’s work, he writes “It is the peevish last complaint of a hypocrite who has been hoisted by her own petard” to drive this thought home. The Nazis involved in the roundup of the ‘lesser’ people, alongside with whoever aided, did so because either they were naïve enough to believe they wouldn’t be killed themselves, or because they believed in the cause. Tessie symbolizes those who did so because they thought they wouldn’t be
...her own life and treatment in question. As a result, her husband’s, and ultimately societies, view towards women intensified her postpartum depression, which may have been very mild. In addition, she is pushed to the edge of the world like a child as well as living her life as one. Her confinement due to stereotypical patriarchal views of her simply because she is a woman leads to hysteria, which ultimately demonstrates that it is through the lack of equality for women and more specifically the narrator of this story that leads to a tragic outcome.
By stoning Tessie, the villagers treat her as a scapegoat onto which they can project and repress their own temptations to rebel. The only person who shows their rebellious attitude is Tessie. She does not appear to ...
herself for Alec's wrongdoing, and how she is willing to kill herself. to save Angel's dignity. All this evidence leads us to the conclusion. that Tess is a natural victim, trodden by society every day. seemed more was expected of Tess and every day seemed to throw upon her young shoulders more and more of the world's burdens' (Chapter VI).
Laila and Rasheed marry, and tension arises between the women. Rasheed makes Laila his priority and makes fun of Mariam in order to impress Laila. Throughout Mariam’s and Rasheed’s whole relationship, Rasheed has jurisdiction over her and yet she keeps putting his needs above her own and does whatever to make him happy, i.e. letting him marry Laila and make fun of her. This cowardly flaw of Mariam’s is a huge weakness because it allows Rasheed to do whatever he wants to Mariam because he knows that she will not do anything to stop him or fight back in any way. This human condition gives Mariam a fearful attitude and doesn’t allow her to succeed in life, because she’s always scared. And in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Alec has a huge jurisdiction over Tess by raping her and Tess still having their child together and continuing to get back together with him. Tess allows Alec and Angel to push her around, making her more and more insecure and weak but by the end of the book events and tragedies finally lead Tess to a new inner
A significant portion of the novel taks place at Talbothays Dairy, which represents the force of good in Tess' life. At Talbothays, the air is "clear, bracing, and ethereal"; the river flows like the " pure River of Life" and the air "set up [Tess'] spirits wonderfully." The author describes the valley as a kind of paradise, with clean, fresh air and a flowing river. Upon entering the region, Tess reaches an emotional high encouraged by the beautiful atmosphere. At Talbothays, the milkers form "a little battalion of men and women," often "singing songs to entice the cows...
...cept her. ?Unadvisable? gives the impression that Angel does not really care one way or another. All of this is unfair to Tess, as Alec?s decision to rape her was not her fault in any way. Also, Angel?s sexual history is more promiscuous than Tess?s, and yet he sees only her flaws. Hardy uses specific word choices and diction to thoroughly inform the reader of the injustice of Tess?s circumstances.
Tess is a single mother due to the death of her late husband who still manages to keep her work life intact with her personal life. Although she is getting remarried, she was still the only one to look after her children. As a single parent, Tess learns to handle situations calmly especially when Anna and her brother bicker about minor issues. Freaky Friday portrays Tess breaking the stigma around single mothers as she is independent as well as financially and emotionally stable. However, since Tess had to provide for her family alone, she was unable to spend enough time with her children which made Anna feel as if Tess did not care for her. This lead to a lot of misunderstandings between Tess and Anna, which eventually allowed them to confront their
The most surprising thing is that her members of her family participated in her death. The death of this poor woman shows that women in the society are not allowed to fight for their civil rights, and they do not have equal opportunity as men. Tessie’s death is an evidence of ill treatment that women go through in our societies. In this case, her murder does not just look like a normal murder but the murder of a woman fighting for her civil rights. Her husband, who in a real sense is expected to support fully his wife shouted at her when she raised her voice saying that the lottery was unfair, and this shows; he says, “Shut up, Tessie” (Jackson, 5). This shows how women are desperate, and their position in the society is not recognized. Women have no one on their side and more so someone who they can depend on not even their family members and their fellow women. Women in this society are not allowed to have any opinion on what their husbands had to say or rather have to say anything. The position of women in the society is to be loyal to their men and their
Tess, the protagonist and heroine of Hardy's novel, becomes a victim of rape and in turn, her life grows to become degraded, humiliating and depressing; of which none of these things she deserves. Although initially striving to be heroic and providing for her family, (after she was responsible for the death of Prince) the position she takes on at the d'Urbervilles' ultimately leads to her death as she is raped and then pursued by her seducer Alec d'Urberville until she must murder him. This courageous yet dangerous decision to murder Alec epitomises her character as a heroine as she is brave enough to perform such a malicious act in order to kill her suffering at the root rather than being passive and perhaps choosing to take her own life instead.
However her constant bad luck caused her to make bad judgements which then caused us the readers to believe it is fate. To conclude Tess’s innocent and beauty proved to do her no good and she was also unaware of her sexuality. Her lack of common knowledge and wanting from her also made her susceptible to other men.
Hardy’s novels are ultimately permeated upon his own examination of the contemporary world surrounding him, Tess’s life battles are ultimately foreshadowed by the condemnation of her working class background, which is uniquely explored throughout the text. The class struggles of her time are explored throughout her life in Marlott and the preconception of middle class ideals are challenged throughout Hardy’s exploration of the rural class. Tess of the D’Urbervilles revolves around Hardy’s views of Victorian social taboos and continues to be a greatly influential piece from a novelist who did not conform to the Victorian bourgeois standards of literature.