Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a movie based on a novel by Thomas Hardy. The story involves a young girl named Tess who will be the victim, the prey, and sometimes the lover of many men. She will go through this without ever understanding what it is that those men want of her.
The first man in her life is her father, whose name is John Durbeyfield. He was a drunken farmer. John discovers from the local parson that he is related to the noble local family of d'Urbervilles. After finding out this information, the farmer and his wife immediately send their beautiful daughter, Tess, off to meet and introduce the d'Urbervilles and if everything works out win a position in their household.
Tess is almost immediately seduced by one of her cousins. She became pregnant, but her child dies soon after it is born. She never tells the cousin that their child has died. But later, after she falls in love with the son of a local minister and marries him, she confesses her past. This is to much for her new husband to deal with. He "married down" because he was attracted to Tess's humble origins. Back then, men married down to lower classes if the women was beautiful because it would make the man look good. Obviously women were not well respected. But he is not prepared to accept the reality of her past. He leaves on a bizarre mission to South America.
While he is on his mission to South America, Tess has to do rough manual labor for a few pennies an hour. She is eventually reunited with her cousin, who is not a complete bastard. She complains that he should have been informed of her pregnancy. She becomes his lover. Then her new husband returns, and the physical and psychic contest for Tess ends in tragedy.
Tess of the d'Urbervil...
... middle of paper ...
...
One truth we learn about human nature is that men often use women for there looks because thats the only thing that attracts them. As soon as the women lose their beauty, or if the beauty comes with to much baggage then the men back out leaving the women hurt.
Another truth we learn about human nature is that people are so quick to judge someone without getting to know them. An example is in high school classes when a student might ask a question that everyone already knows he/she can be labeled as stupid or slow. Maybe the kid wasn't paying attention or maybe they need to be taught in a different way.
The final truth we learn about human nature is from the past and how badly women were treated back then. Women had no rights and basically had to worship the ground their husband's walked on.
Tessie Hutchinson, or Bill’s wife played a major role in this story. There are many signs of Duality of Human Nature in Tessie. Once Tessie arrived, realizing that she was late, she started to casually talk with Mrs.Delacroix, “Clean forgot what day it was,” she said to Mrs.Delacroix, who stood next to her and they both laughed softly.”. Everyone appeared to be in a good mood, “The people separated good-humoredly to let her through,”. Even her husband was joking around with her, “Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie,” and, “and a soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's
Tess is no stranger to casual wrong. Throughout her life indifferent nature has occurred. Her parents were not the greatest of parents. She had a tough life, she was poor. When she met Alec d'Urberville, she was considerate and kind, but later on Alec took advantage of her and seduced her in a forest called the Chase, "He knelt and bent lower, till her breath warmed his face, and in a moment his cheek was in contact with hers.
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.
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
toy car in his hand, he will hit it against places and throw it around
The name itself can also be foreshadowing Tessie’s death towards the end of the story. In particular, Mrs. Delacroix is portrayed as a significant member of the family who is swept by the ignorance in following tradition. When Mrs. Hutchinson arrives late to the lottery, Mrs. Delacroix is seen as a lighthearted woman who laughs along with Mrs. Hutchinson about the incident. It is also Mrs. Delacroix, however, who throws a large stone in Mrs. Hutchinson’s direction in the end. She is also the only one who exchanges quiet remarks with Mrs. Graves, the silent wife of the somber and silent Mr. Graves. In retrospect, the two people with disturbing last names exchanging commentary may foreshadow Mrs. Delacroix’s horrifying attempt to throw a large stone at Tessie, someone the audience thinks is Mrs. Delacroix’s acquaintance. Mrs. Delacroix’s hypocrisy and ignorance of her actions depict exactly what blindly following tradition can cause individuals to do
handed her over to the crowd to let her suffer her fate. After he gave her to the “wolves” they all stood there not wanting to be the ones that starting the atrocious act.Every villager had the same thing in mind. They all wanted to get it over with so they could go home and forget about everything, but nobody said anything until someone spoke up and said,”All right, folks.”Mr. Summers said.”Let’s finish quickly.”.(Jackson pg.6) Her husband did nothing to help her out and frankly she was mad about everything screaming and shouting. Her husband and her were in an external conflict throughout the story helping strengthen the different forms of conflict. Tessie and her husband were having an external conflict as the story progressed that eventually
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 ...
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.
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
The narrator also compares Tess to a “fly on a billiard-table of indefinite length, and of no more consequence to the surroundings than that fly.” By comparing Tess to a fly he is saying that her life, is small and unchanged by her environment, as she is working on a huge farm and is of no real importance, much like a fly. The narrator also states right after that quote that she is much like a heron, with no real importance to the valley. She and her environment are not affected by one another. The only way Tess has changed is her spirit has become more dull. The narrator describes that “Tess followed slowly in the rear.” Tess has changed to follow the pragmatic but lethargic routines of the dairy farm life, and is doing the daily motions to get through the
According to the dictionary, Hypergamy is any marriage between someone of lower class marrying into someone of a higher class. Another definition says that it is a custom that forbids women from marrying anyone of lower social standing than them. In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, this isn’t so much as forbidden as highly desirable, especially for the main character Tess. When the Durbeyfield parents find that they are descended from nobility, they immediately begin to look into the ways that they can regain their social standing as well as the money that came with it. So, it would only make sense for them to send their daughter off to Alec D’Urberville in the hopes that the two would marry. As an added perk to their marriage, Tess and in turn, her family would regain their fortune and Tess would be married off into a higher class.
Tess’s first encounter of bad luck is when she kills the family horse, Prince. Tess is with her brother Abraham in their wagon whilst discussing about the stars and how they are worlds just like Earth. Tess continues with saying that, “Most of them splendid and sound-a few bligh... ... middle of paper ... ...
The Victorian Age was a virtuous era, full of chaste women and hard-working men. As with any seemingly utopian society, there are the misfits: those who always seem to go against the grain. Hidden in the shadows of towns were bastardized babies and public outcasts. The flourishing literature of the era attacks the societal stereotypes and standards that make for such failures and devastating tragedies. In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, Tess Durbeyfield's initial loss of innocence brings her down to an insurmountable low, and the victorian society, of which she is a part, dooms her to a horrible fate with its "normal" shunning of her innocent misbehaviors. Tess' rapid downward spiral to her death is caused by the chauvinistic actions of the men in the story, solidified by society's loss of acceptance of Tess based on the actions taken against her, and brought to home by Tess' imminent doom to the rigid ways of the Victorian society.
It is said that a man should not marry a woman that he can live with but instead with a woman he cannot live without. Although this statement may hold true for some relationships, it does not pertain to the marriage of Tess and Angel in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Although Tess and Angel are married, they spend almost the entirety of their marriage separated from each other with no communication. As a modern reader, it is difficult to relate to these parts of the story. Nowadays, would a man leave his newly wed wife for over a year? More than likely this would never happen, but the themes of marriage in Tess of the d’Urbervilles are still very relevant to modern relationships. Today people still rush into marriage and believe that marriage will fix all just like in Tess and Angel’s situation. People also still utilize marriage a resource for