“Remember my lady, I was your master once! I will be your master again. If you are any man’s wife you are mine!” (Hardy 335). These are the despicable words of Alec Stoke-d’Urberville, the antagonist and villain of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, authored by Thomas Hardy. Within this Victorian Age novel, a blossoming young woman by the name of Tess Durbeyfield finds herself in a sinister relationship with a malicious and cunning young man by the name of Alec d’Urberville. Although he is mistaken to be her cousin, to which he has the surname of the Durbeyfield’s ancient relatives, the d’Urbervilles, Alec is, in fact, unrelated to Tess. From the inception of their relationship, Alec develops a love, or rather, a lascivious obsession, for the young
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Alec d’Urberville is the villain of Tess of the d’Urbervilles in which his acts of deceit, temptation, and hatred spawns an insidious and hollow relationship that ultimately succumbs to his murderous death by Tess Durbeyfield. Three characteristics that serve to create Alec’s villainous persona are deceit, temptation, and hatred. After accidentally killing Prince, the family horse, Tess travels to Trantridge, the hometown of the supposed relatives of the d’Urberville family, in order claim kinship. At no point in the novel does Tess become aware that Alec is entirely unrelated to her. Alec, rather, is the son of a retired merchant, Simon Stoke, who changed his last name to d’Urberville, because of its antiquity and aristocratic semblance. When Tess arrives at the estate, she is first met by Alec. Once Tess explains her reasoning for her arrival, Alec stumblingly asks if she is of “poor relations” to the Stoke family, to whom Alec truthfully belongs. He then …show more content…
A key moment of the plot is the rape that Alec inflicts upon the dreary Tess. After saving her from the angry and drunken Car, Alec rides Tess deep into the foreboding forest, The Chase. It is here that Alec proceeds to rape Tess. Several weeks after the rape, Alec takes Tess back to her family in Marlott. The atmosphere of the commute between the towns demonstrates the damaging effect Alec’s rape had on Tess, “D’Urberville mechanically lit a cigar, and the journey was continued with broken unemotional conversation...He had quite forgotten the struggle to kiss her when, in the early summer, they had driven in the opposite direction along the same road. But she had not, and she sat now, like a puppet, replying to his remarks in monosyllables. (74). Hardy’s use of diction, using words such as “mechanical”, “unemotional”, and “puppet”, articulates the inhumanity of Alec, the resulting effect of the rape on Tess, and the severe emotional discord between the two characters. Alec’s supposed love for Tess is false, especially because of his disturbingly easy ability to disregard the aforementioned sexual act that he committed. From Tess’s perspective, it is clear that Alec’s affection is undesirable, “She had never wholly cared for him; she did not at all care for him now. She had dreaded him, winced
Alec d’Urberville is the villain of Tess of the d’Urbervilles in which his acts of deceit, temptation, and hatred spawns an insidious and hollow relationship that ultimately succumbs to his murderous death by Tess Durbeyfield. Three characteristics that serve to create Alec’s villainous persona are deceit, temptation, and hatred. After accidentally killing Prince, the family horse, Tess travels to Trantridge, the hometown of the supposed relatives of the d’Urberville family, in order claim kinship. At no point in the novel does Tess become aware that Alec is entirely unrelated to her. Alec, rather, is the son of a retired merchant, Simon Stoke, who changed his last name to d’Urberville, because of its antiquity and aristocratic semblance. When Tess arrives at the estate, she is first met by Alec. Once Tess explains her reasoning for her arrival, Alec stumblingly asks if she is of “poor relations” to the Stoke family, to whom Alec truthfully belongs. He then …show more content…
A key moment of the plot is the rape that Alec inflicts upon the dreary Tess. After saving her from the angry and drunken Car, Alec rides Tess deep into the foreboding forest, The Chase. It is here that Alec proceeds to rape Tess. Several weeks after the rape, Alec takes Tess back to her family in Marlott. The atmosphere of the commute between the towns demonstrates the damaging effect Alec’s rape had on Tess, “D’Urberville mechanically lit a cigar, and the journey was continued with broken unemotional conversation...He had quite forgotten the struggle to kiss her when, in the early summer, they had driven in the opposite direction along the same road. But she had not, and she sat now, like a puppet, replying to his remarks in monosyllables. (74). Hardy’s use of diction, using words such as “mechanical”, “unemotional”, and “puppet”, articulates the inhumanity of Alec, the resulting effect of the rape on Tess, and the severe emotional discord between the two characters. Alec’s supposed love for Tess is false, especially because of his disturbingly easy ability to disregard the aforementioned sexual act that he committed. From Tess’s perspective, it is clear that Alec’s affection is undesirable, “She had never wholly cared for him; she did not at all care for him now. She had dreaded him, winced