Thomas Hardy challenges the sexual principles of the late nineteenth century in his novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Tess Durbeyfield, a young woman, looks for work at Trantridge, where she meets the charming Alec Stoke-d'Urberville. Alec becomes attracted to Tess and later rapes her in a forest. This drives Tess to look for work elsewhere, and she meets Angel Clare at Talbothays Dairy, where they fall in love with each other and marry. However, when Tess tells Angel what happened to her at Trantridge, he leaves her and goes to Brazil. Hardy presents two men who inflict different types of pain on Tess; while Alec harms Tess physically, Angel harms Tess psychologically. Hardy establishes that people are victims of fate and, although both men have many faults, Angel is the better man. Hardy uses juxtaposition to contrast Alec and Angel. Alec causes Tess's ultimate downfall, since his act brings about many misfortunes for her, including her sickly child and her failed marriage. While Angel commits the seemingly inexcusable act of leaving Tess in her time of need, the context of the time period gives him some excuse, since Victorian women had to remain “pure” until their wedding nights. Angel's greatest fault, hypocrisy, becomes evident when he rejects Tess once he learns of her past, despite his earlier statements of his unconventional way of thinking. However, Angel and Tess could have married and lived happily if Alec had not committed his heinous act. Ultimately, Alec's actions have the lasting impact on Tess's life, resulting in her final decision to kill him. By juxtaposing Angel and Alec, Hardy shows that while both men have their faults, Angel is the lesser of two evils. Furthermore, Angel becomes a better person w... ... middle of paper ... ...ooner, I would have forgiven you!” (285). If Tess's attempt at informing Angel through the confessional letter had succeeded, their marriage might have lasted. Hardy reinforces the idea that fate trumps all, a recurring theme throughout the novel. Although Angel and Alec both harm Tess in their own ways, Angel's actions are more justifiable. A product of the Victorian era, Angel has a conservative way of thinking, despite what he thinks of himself. He somewhat redeems himself when he realizes that Tess can still fit the role of his ideal woman, regardless of her past. Contrarily, Alec acts purely for his own benefit. He then tries to earn redemption through religion, but he abandons his faith when he sees Tess again. Hardy highlights the similarities and differences between the two men and emphasizes the underlying theme of the novel that people are victims of fate.
She was sleeping soundly, and upon her eyelashes there lingered tears." 1 She then later fell in love with Angel, and married him. Angel found out about Tess' past experience with Alec, and he could not forgive her, even though it was all Alec's doing. Thus it is clear that casual wrong follows her and yet the wrong is not made by her.
The community and her unsupportive parents’ cold treatment towards Tess following these events emphasize the hegemonic male perspective of society towards women. Furthermore, Hardy shows how women are seen by society through the male gaze as sexual objects, as Tess is blamed for Alec’s lack of self-control. He attempts to justify his cruel actions as he calls Tess a “temptress” and the “dear damned witch of Babylon” (Hardy 316), yet he later says that he has “come to tempt [her]” (340). Tess is also objectified by Alec when he says that if Tess is “any man’s wife [she] is [his]” (325). The narrator’s repeated sexualized descriptions of Tess, such as her “pouted-up deep red mouth” (39), further demonstrate how women are commonly seen through the male gaze in society.
Having this tie with his newfound parents leaves him no choice but to take the fault for these murders, because he loves them in a way he has never loved his other parents before. The detective is persistent on finding the real killer of the recent murders, and knows that Angel is hiding something, and he is also starting to put together the emotional connection between Diego, Maria, Angel; he tells Maria that she seems to be a little too emotional about this case. The consistent theme of Angel getting squeamish around dead bodies is what keeps the detective thinking about the
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
...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, 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.
Rooney writes a capable piece of gender criticism, in that it is defined as “how women have been written.” Gender issues seem permeate the story and the author doesn’t take a definitive stand on them. Rooney attempts to examine what role Tess plays in the story, how her interactions with Alec and Angel Clare form her identity, and how she triumphs over her afflictions. Ironically, her biggest affliction is her natural beauty; it’s something men simply cannot pass up, and just by her looks, she becomes seductive.
The character of Tess is one that symbolizes the positive aspects of life, but she represents the unrealized potential that is within all human beings as much as she comes to symbolize how so very often we end up differently than we might. Of course, her universality is also embodied within the Christian community wherein she exists, but she also represents as do others in the novel the pagan nature of mankind underneath the surface of social appearances. Like the line reprinted at the outset, Tess' unique nature despite being an example of common mankind is also evidenced when she rejects the vicar and his church. The vicar refuses to give her child a Christian burial and Tess replies, "'Then I don't like you!', she burst out, 'and I'll never come to your church again'" (Hardy 147). However, this is not meant to show Tess rejecting God or men of God, but, instead, it is designed to show us how sensitive and clear-headed Tess is when facing those who are so heartless that even when they are a man of God they could heartlessly act. She once again symbolizes the common lot of mankind (to be sensitive to heartlessness and human deprivation), but she also symbolizes a
Tess is enslaved here by her poverty, her pride and her eagerness to take all the blame for Angel?s desertion. In all three places, Hardy literally sets the scene with graphic description that immediately creates the mood of the place and gives an insight into the storyline, by its clever descriptions of nature, climate and season. He is conveying atmosphere and hidden emotion and his vivid descriptions of the environment are paralleled to the characters and the story. It is only when you start to analyse his words that you realise Hardy is leading you in a certain direction or putting you in a frame of mind relevant to the emotion of that particular part of the story.
she deals with her own morality. Tess can also be viewed as the symbol of valiant challenge against both the rigid morality and religious dogma of the old order, and the skepticism of the modern world. Tess' story is that of a woman who tries to respond to the changing world around her with honesty and integrity. The sex of the sex. She can be viewed as an independent, active heroine who chooses to be martyred.
To conclude I think Tess is a pure woman. I have shown how fate has
Her father abandons her mother and her which forces them to move into a shack by the docks on New York where her mother sells herself. Her mother becomes ill and dies, leaving her with her uncle Rab who tries to give her away. A man named Duke offers to adopt her and when Rab brings her to him Duke has Rab killed and then rapes her. After that Angel is raised as a prostitute for Duke and any of his friends. Throughout her life she was thrown into terrible situations she had no choice in. When she finally does escape “she saw clearly she had one simple choice: Go back to being a prostitute or be raped.” (48) This is pretty much her first real choice and it’s not really a choice. By this point in her life she already believes that “[w]e all just use each other in one way or another. To feel good. To feel bad. To feel nothing at all” (31) “[she] [doesn’t] even know [she’s] got a choice yet.” (150) When she meets Michael, he has to make her choice very obvious to her since she can’t seem to see that “[w]hatever anyone else has said and done to [her], it’s up to [her] now to make the decision.” (209) When Angel is considering running away because “[she] think[s] there’s only one way to go, and that’s straight downhill to hell” (150), Michael tells her that the way back to the brothel she worked in is “thirty miles, uphill all the way, and Magowan and the Duchess are waiting for you at the end of it” (162) while home is “one mile downhill” (162) and it has “fire food and [him].” (162) He leaves her there and she’s forced to finally make a decision that actually matters. Now that she can see her choices clearly laid out beside her, she choices to go home. This is the beginning of her making choices to better her life since she now sees she can
Hardy originated from a working class family. The son of a master mason, Hardy was slightly above that of his agricultural peers. Hardy’s examination of transition between classes is usually similar to that of D.H. Lawrence, that if you step outside your circle you will die. The ambitious lives of the characters within Hardy’s novels like Jude and Tess usually end fatally; as they attempt to break away from the constraints of their class, thus, depicting Hardy’s view upon the transition between classes. Hardy valued lower class morals and traditions, it is apparent through reading Tess that her struggles are evidently permeated through the social sufferings of the working class. A central theme running throughout Hardy’s novels is the decline of old families. It is said Hardy himself traced the Dorset Hardy’s lineage and found once they were of great i...
Alec had a love for Tess in which he forced her to love him, but