Injustice in Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

1803 Words4 Pages

"Life is not fair" is one of the most commonly used idioms in the world today. As recurrent as it is now, it has also been a quite common theme for contemplation throughout history. This unfairness is always blamed on someone or something, but often this blame is misplaced, which is unfair in itself. In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy depicts the injustice of life and the effects of mislaid blame through his use of imagery and diction.

Hardy uses imagery throughout the novel in order to explicitly define the ways in which life is unjust. This injustice is first displayed at Prince?s death, then again at his burial. Hardy chooses specific words to enable the reader to see exactly what is happing. He describes the mail-cart to be ?speeding along?like an arrow.? He explains that the mail-cart had ?driven into her slow and unlighted equipage,? and now the horse?s ?life?s blood was spouting in a stream and falling with a hiss into the road.? (Hardy 22). The descriptive words, such as ?speeding,? ?arrow,? ?driven,? ?unlighted,? ?spouting,? and ?hiss? allow the reader?s senses to capture the enormity of the situation. This quote also helps the reader to envision the misery of the situation. Tess is only attempting to help her family by bringing the hives to market to draw some income them. Her desire to help her family backfires with Prince?s accidental death, as he was their only form of income. The desperation induced by Prince?s death is shown when Hardy explains that Mr. Durbeyfield worked harder than ever before in digging a grave for Prince. Hardy states that the young girls ?discharged their griefs in loud blares,? and that when Prince was ?tumbled in? the family gathered around the grave (Hardy 24). Hard...

... middle of paper ...

...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.

In Thomas Hardy?s novel Tess of the d?Urbervilles, Hardy accurately exemplifies the injustice of life, along with the effects of misplaced blame through his use of diction and imagery. It is a well-known that life is not fair. It is also quite common that blame for this unfairness is pinned on the wrong subjects, an act which is unfair as well. Whether one is blaming himself, another or a superior power for said injustices, blame is not always given where it is due.

Show More
Related

  • Tess Of The D Urbervilles And Heart Of Darkness Analysis

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis of “Between the World and Me” By Richard Wright

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Richard Wright’s intentional figurative language presents the correlation between sympathy and empathy given the remains of the injustices dealt in the past. Understanding the connections between the past and present enable a growth in character development as well as honoring those who suffered before. In a global context, many individuals suffer from inhumane deeds stemming from certain discriminations and prejudices towards brutal dictatorships. Only in experiencing empathy may the extremity of the suffering bear the true sympathy and equate to a recognition of the sacrifices forever scarring society’s corrupted judgments.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Flowers Of Evil By Baudelaire

    132 Words  | 1 Pages

    Criticizing the cruelty of society, Baudelaire begins his book, Flowers of Evil, with a warning. To foreshadow the disturbing contents that his book focuses on, Baudelaire describes the unpleasant traits of men. Lured by the words of the Devil, people victimize others. Grotesque images of torture and swarming maggots exemplifies the horrors of our actions. Yes, our actions. Baudelaire puts shame to every human, including the reader, through the word “ours.” Humiliated, the reader dare not to allow himself to be guilty with the worst sin – boredom. Separated by dashes, the last sentence commands the reader to choose whether to fall to the worst or save himself a little bit of dignity. Accused and challenged, the reader is pressured to ponder

    Read More

  • References to Sue's Homosexuality in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    With this, his last novel, Hardy is moving away from the convention of the "inner life of the characters to be inferred from their public behavior" (Howe 513), so, although Sue...

    Read More

  • Unpalatable Truths In Atonement By Ian Mcewan

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ian McEwan reflects such truths in his novel 'Atonement ', surrounding the morals of Briony Tallis, wherein her single mistake led to immense consequences. While in the further stages of her life, the unpleasant truths that the author has made the reader aware of are found in acceptance of miss accusation, and the ramifications of war. Thus, texts prompt us to become aware of fundamental truths of our humanity that may be unpleasant, heightening our understanding of what it means to be

    Read More

  • Theme of Inhumanity Invades in Symbols

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    By developing the symbols of scarecrows, blue-flies, and dogs, Dickens portrays the theme of man’s inhumanity. But, the French Revolution was not the first time ruthlessness and savagery have overcome mankind. Throughout history the same power struggle between upper and lower classes repeats itself over and over again, with the result always being the same—bloodshed. Mankind is a greedy, power-craving race who is never satisfied with what they have. Due to the fact that man will do anything to gain more authority no matter how morally wrong it is, bloodshed and war is inevitable. Wickedness and barbarity will continue to poison the human race so long as it is in human nature to yearn for power.

    Read More

  • Nineteenth Century Literature Heroines and Conformity

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tess' two "choices" as her husband, Alec d'Urberville and Angel Clare, hold many of the patriarchal stereotypes of the Victorian Age, chasing Tess as more of a metaphorical piece of meat than a passionate lover. As their secrets are revealed on their wedding night, it becomes harder and harder for Angel to love Tess, seeing her as "another woman in your shape" (Hardy 192). The author, at this point in the relationship between Tess and Angel, perfectly exemplifies the values and culture of the Victorian age. Though both Angel and Tess are guilty of the same misbehaviors in their pasts, Angel believes that "forgiveness does not apply to [Tess'] case" (Hardy 191). Under the reign of Queen Victoria, the role of men in sexual relations was strictly reproductive, and the sex act was considered a release of helpless energies, basically holding no sins of love or conjugal travesties. For women, however, it was a softer, more passionate act, meaning more of the love than the fertilization, and emotionally pulling the sex partner too close to just scoff the happening off and move on with life (Lee 1). Such conflicting views in the perspective of sexual intercourse make it nearly impossible for Angel to "forgive [Tess] as you are forgiven! I forgive you, Angel" (Hardy 191). Jeremy Ross also believes that Hardy "abandoned his devout faith in God, based on the scientific advances of his contemporaries" (Ross, Jeremy 1).

    Read More

  • Mr. Boldwood as Being Oblivious to Bathshebas Beauty

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sometimes these events are questions of luck or forces beyond human control. Here, however, Hardy examines human agency: Bathsheba sends the valentine in jest, without thinking, but her act results in extraordinary consequences. Only one day after Gabriel's departure, the farm workers announce that another disaster has occurred--the sheep have eaten young clover, and their stomachs are expanding fatally.

    Read More

  • Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Tale of Much Imagery: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the novel, Dickens employs imagery to make the readers pity the peasants, have compassion for the innocent nobles being punished, and even better understand the antagonist and her motives. His use of personified hunger and description of the poor’s straits made the reader pity them for the situation caused by the overlord nobles. However, Dickens then uses the same literary device to alight sympathy for the nobles, albeit the innocent ones! Then, he uses imagery to make the reader better understand and perhaps even feel empathy for Madame Defarge, the book’s murderous villainess. Through skillful but swaying use of imagery, Dickens truly affects the readers’ sympathies.

    Read More

  • Victorian Era Literature

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    Unlike Hardwig’s poem Hardyd’s lacks any type of reverence or fear of the suffering he undergoes. In fact he mocks both the idea that suffering is something meted out by God and the idea that a man can do anything to effect the amount of suffering he experiences through out his life. In a sense the two author’s while expressing similar ideas, the idea of personal struggle and suffering, are in contention in a very similar way that religion and enlightenment ideas were during the Victorian period.

    Read More

  • The Themes of Loss and Loneliness in Hardy's Poetry

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Themes of Loss and Loneliness in Hardy's Poetry Introduction = == == == ==

    Read More

  • Analysis of Ah, Are you Digging on My Grace?

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Clarke, R. (n.d.). The Poetry of Thomas Hardy. rlwclarke. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://www.rlwclarke.net/Courses/LITS2002/2008-2009/12AHardy'sPoetry.pdf

    Read More

  • Depiction of Class in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy

    2548 Words  | 6 Pages

    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...

    Read More

More about Injustice in Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Open Document