Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Endless Dissonance between Humanity and Nature

The scientific and technological advancements of the early 20th century entered people’s daily lives with the intention of bringing the whole of humanity into a brighter, more modern era. However, the darker side of such immense achievement was the increasing encroachment on the previously untouched natural world. Many great minds grew weary of such advances and conveyed their apprehension through the popular literature of the time. The pivotal novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy explores the impact that industrialists with access to technology had on the pastoral countryside and lower classes. Conan Doyle expands on this message in his novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, by examining how the well-educated elite began using science to their advantage, threatening nature in the process. While each novel warns against abusing available technologies, the authors differ in how they believe nature will eventually respond and have incited a debate that has lasted well into the 21st century.

Both Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Hound of the Baskervilles take a critical approach to humanity’s use of modern technology in manners that impose on or damage the natural world. The theme is explored in several instances in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, with the first clear example being a modernized mail-cart killing the Durbyville horse, Prince. The new form of transportation sped along the road “like an arrow” and drove into the Durbeyville’s “slow and unlighted equipage. The pointed shaft of the cart had entered the breast of the unhappy Prince like a sword, and from the wound his life's blood was spouting in a stream. [...] Tess became splashed from face to skirt with the crimson...

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... using it against the lower classes and the natural world. Both Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Hound of the Baskervilles explore this idea and take a critical approach to humanity’s use of technology in ill-intended manners. While Hardy describes nature as a passive entity that can be permanently damaged, Doyle portrays it as a primitive force capable of retaliation. This dialogue continues into the 21st century as scientific discovery has only accelerated, putting even greater strain on the environment and the people who inhabit it.

Works Cited

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles. New York: Penguin Books Ltd., 2001. Print.

Gatiss, Mark, Steven Moffat and Paul McGuigan. "Sherlock." The Hounds of Baskerville. 13 May 2012. Television.

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of D'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman. London: MacMillan & Co. Ltd., 1953. Print.