Tess of the d'Urbervilles

The Downfall of Tess in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles Tess of the D'Urbervilles is considered to be a tragedy due to the catastrophic downfall of the protaganist Tess. From the early days in her life, her father John had begun to destroy her, which then led to Alex D'Urbervill and eventually finished with Angel Clare. Each dominant male figure in her life cocntributed to her tragic downfall which the reader encounters at the end of the novel. It is unfortunate how one woman can be ruined by the three most important and dominant people in her life. Tess's downfall began with her experiences with her father. She grew up with a father who drank excessively and did not give her any type of guidance or support. His…

Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a tragic Victorian novel focusing on the condemned life of innocent Tess Durbeyfield. Tess plays a major role in the novel as she is not only the main character, but also the moral center of the novel. It is not until Tess reluctantly goes to claim kinship with the D’Urbervilles that she meets the catalyst to her downfall, Alec D’Urberville. Alec takes advantage of Tess which is an incident that continuously haunts her; especially as Tess begins to…

In Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, the men in Tess Durbeyfield’s life objectify her, trying to make her into a woman who would benefit themselves. In doing so, they shape Tess into the woman that they want her to be, who commits murder and is put to death. Tess’ father objectifies Tess by trying to use their name and Tess’ looks to “claim kin” with the d’Urbervilles and eventually become rich. Alec d’Urberville, the man whom Tess’ parents expect her to marry, objectifies Tess by…

set as the norm. Women’s lack of control and rights can be seen in several works of literature, such as Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, which gives audiences a glimpse into a young woman’s life in the late nineteenth century. Tess Durbeyfield is a simple country girl of the lower class whose life takes a different turn when her family discovers they are descendants of the d’Urbervilles, a once wealthy and noble family. From then on, fate took control of innocent Tess and led her to a…

Even more than Tess, Angel Clare’s view of religion is heavily influenced by his upbringing and his attempt to break away from it. Angel’s father is a parson, and both of his brothers studied at Cambridge to become ordained. Just as Tess resents her family’s more ancient traditions, Angel tells his father he does not want to study to become ordained because the church, “refuses to liberate her mind from an untenable redemptive theolatry” (Hardy 91). Despite Angel’s desire to be different from…

In the novel Tess of the d 'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Thomas Hardy presents a radical story of a young woman named Tess Durbeyfield. Rape, childbirth, loss of love, and death accompany sixteen year old Tess on her journey to maturing. Plagued by society’s influential ideals, she experiences the pain and hardship that surround growing up as a woman during this time. Tess’s misfortune is mainly attributed to society’s views especially the double standard set on women, which is exhibited through…

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy, in his famous novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles , creates a phenomenon protagonist, Tess Durbeyfield. Hardy describes Tess as an untainted, pure beautiful woman. She becomes the first from her family to get educated and bears more responsibility to take care of the whole family. Undeterred by her good nature, Tess soon falls prey to be a victim of fate. A serious of misfortunes overcomes her and she becomes victimized by an unforgiving,…

Two of literature’s greatest tragedies, Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman follow the lives of two memorable characters. Hardy’s Tess Durbeyfield is a young, beautiful peasant. Miller’s Willy Loman is an old, worn-out salesman. Although on the surface it does not seem so, Tess and Willy’s stories follow similar formats. They both have singular moments that drive the rest of their lives. Tess’s being when she was raped and Willy’s his extramarital…

In ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ Hardy presents the theme of innocence throughout the novel. This theme is directly linked to the character of Tess, and her loss of innocence, during the novel. Because of the pastoral genre, we expect as an audience for a loss of innocence to be a feature in the novel, which means Hardy presents this innocence as being dangerous and desirable. When we first see Tess, she is depicted as a girl of innocence, in her ‘white muslin’, as white has connotations of…

In the novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, sleep is a recurring motif that causes Tess, the main character, great harm throughout the book. In Phase I, Tess and Alec, a young man whom she meets while she is working, develop a friendship and talk frequently as she works long days. One evening they are riding through the woods and realize they have lost track of where they are, therefore Alec suggests he leave Tess by herself and search for a nearby cottage to ask for directions back…