Tess of the D'Ubervilles

by Thomas Hardy

Maddey Freedman and Carolyn Mueller

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/pictures/thomas_hardy.jpg

 tess graph.bmp

This graph is a simplification of Tess's unfourtunate circumstances throughout the novel. At the start of the novel, she in meager surroundings, but they are stable. As the novel progresses, she looses all stability and her misfortune increases.

The main themes of the novels are:

Naturalism

http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm

Religion

     Finding a balance in society with narrow Christian views versus a more natural philosophy.

Sexism

     Tess is at fault for being raped because she is no longer pure.

Identity

     This story is a coming of age story, Tess tries to find her identity in society that will not accept her for her past.

Some important characters:

John Durbeyfield- Tess's father who's lack of work ethics leads him into poverty

Joan Durbeyfield - Tess's mother who is described as childlike.

Alec D'Uberville- Tess's 31st cousin who fancies her.

Angel Clare- Tess's Husband

      Tess, a young girl from a poor farming family, goes to meet her rich "relatives" after her father finds out that his ancestors were upper class. Her relatives are really just new money people who took the old family's name.  One of them, a young man, rapes naive and innocent Tess.  She has a baby, which dies, and she spends a long time hiding from society.  Society shuns impure women, even though it was not Tess's fault.  She goes to work in a dairy, falls in love with a man named Angel who loves her back, and marries him.  Tess tells Angel about her past and he rejects her for it.  Tess spends a long time alone in misery.  Finally, her rapist (Alec) comes back and falls in love with her.  She feels cold and disheartened because of Angel's absence.  Her family needs money, and she can't find work, so Alec seems the only way she can support her family.  However, Angel returns to find her with Alec. Tess, angry because Alec told her that Angel was never coming back, stabs Alec and runs away with Angel.  The authorities eventually catch up with them and Tess is hanged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1aVQ3rYaSY&feature=related

Here are our discussion notes, they provide a good summary of the novel.

16/3/10

Pages 1-67

Chapters 1-10

Tess D'Uberville is a character seen by others as sensitive to an interruptive degree. She possesses a deeper knowledge of her surroundings than she is given credit for and is a character of purpose. Her deep rooted emotion comes from a dedication to the people and tasks that define her life. Her maternal instincts and ignorant innocence leave her a kindhearted yet clearheaded girl.

This story is not only about coming of age, it is a commentary on the lives of people so often forgotten by society. This story is about a breed of people who found themselves nearly useless after the industrial revolution.

http://photos.igougo.com/images/p86317-Bath-Bibury_in_the_Cotswolds.jpg

Hardy uses metaphors that fit the scene. His writing can be interpreted on both a literal and metaphorical level.

He writes about “small” events with profound tone and breaks the stereotypes associated with those occasions.

Tess views her life as small and vain. She tells her younger brother that the planet they inhabit is blighted.

Page 27- conterminous: sharing a common boundary; having the same area, context, or meaning.

Page 38- clash of human wills and destiny of human life assures that no one can achieve their best possible fate.

Page 48- road metaphor- green behind her, and unknown gray area descending ahead.

Page 62- Impossibility of spinning where you want to.

Emotion is a matter of the universe.

Alec D'Uberville wants to “spin” where he wants, riding on emotions, disregarding matters,

Tess is looking on, not dancing- she is trying to cling to matters practically. She is unsure of herself and holds a moral responsibility to her family, despite her own misgivings about situations. This is seen by her wish to remain in Marlott and teach, instead of work for her distant relatives.

Moral reservations vs. Alec's will (he is rich and powerful, she is a farmhand)

She defends herself for awhile from his desire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tess1891.jpg

17/3/10

Chapters 11-19

Thomas Hardy's descriptions of women make him seem a little sexist. He talks about “womankind” as being more in tune with nature, like a separate species from men.

Tess is terrified of her past. She feels immense guilt, which is characteristic of the times. Nowadays rape victims are pitied, not scorned. Even her parents put some blame on her, and her mom never prepared her against the act. Tess's extreme moral sense, which allowed to her take care of her family and gives her honor and dignity, backfires by loading Tess with an unnecessary amount of guilt.

Her existential dilemmas are typical of every teenager.

Hardy distinguishes Tess from the other farm people in looks as well as depth of thought.

On page 126, Tess speaks about her life being wasted for want of chances. Hardy often describes how the randomness and chaos of the universe ensures that nothing goes exactly “according to plan” and we must make do with what we get.

Controversy: Does an infatuation mean anything more than shallow sexual attraction?

Hardy uses nature very obviously to mirror the mental state of characters, as did Shakespeare. Tess, especially, is very connected to nature.

Tess seems to have recovered pretty well from her trauma, because she allows herself to fall under Angel Clare's spell.

The novel is full of religious overtones. Tess has been indoctrinated with Christian values, but she seems more in tune with nature than organized religion. Angel Clare actively rebelled against the deep religious dogma he grew up with. Hardy compares Tess and Angel to Adam and Eve. This is very fitting because both have metaphorically tasted the forbidden fruit of knowledge. Both are questioning existence and religion. Tess feels fallen because of her trauma, like Eve after the apple. Angel falls by falling in love with Tess (in her fallen state). Eve gives the apple to Adam.

19/3/10

End of phase the fourth

up to page 230

189- “it is surprising how many of the present tillers of the soil soil were once owners of it.”

There are no guarantees in life. You could come from a name but be incredibly poor.

The characters name's often relate their personality/ character.

Tess- means harvester

Cuthbert- Brilliant

Angel is the only one of the four children who did not chose a path in life of religion. His family imposed the life of a vicar on him, a life he denied. He wanted practicality, not a posh lifestyle. Tess also puts Angel on a plain of perfection, only seeing his positive attributes.

Angel only wanted the thrill of the chase, seeing her as a thrill to be had, not a wife. He disguises his intentions under the context of having a wife who is a good farmhand, but does not appreciate the mind of Tess and value her warnings.

Hardy's sexism reappears when he expresses Tess' taking the habits and mannerisms of Angel and implementing them into her own life. He does not see a need for a woman to exist outside the realm of her husband.

216- “Was she not more Ms. Alec D'Uberville?” Because Tess, a female, was raped, her rapist owns her. Men can do whatever they like with the opposite sex, because women are a passive, objectified species. Women may bear children and help out their superior men. Women are blamed for the actions of men; it is Tess's fault that she was raped, and now she bears the burden of guilt along with the scorn of society. She feels almost possessed by her rapist.

If Tess had told Angel her story immediately, they would never have played the back-and-forth game of loving, refusal, and coy courtship. He would have proven his unangelic character soon enough to save Tess from heartbreak.

Tess takes life too seriously! She's held back by fear and moral conventions.

End of the novel

3/22/10

pages 230-405

The novel's main themes were religion, sexism, and moral standards of society.

Alec calls Tess a temptress and uses her as an excuse for his weak behavior. She is the victim who bears the cruelness of the times in her portayal as a weak and emotional being.

Clare is seen in a progression of states. Such as being to harsh to being completely forgiving. His forgiveness should not have been necessary, as he should have realized the honesty and kindness of her character, and the fact that her “crime” was no crime of hers, but Alec's only.

This idea is alluded to by the traveling partner of Clare, on his route back from Africa. This man gives insight that Angel should not question what Tess was, but what Tess is now and will be. It reinforces the idea that certain old moral standards mean nothing in Nature, in the universe, in life. Just as Tess's old family died away, so our outdated conventions (against women) should also die away. When her family tried to revive the name and heritage, all of Tess's troubles began. Her troubles were founded on the old conventions being revived in a time when people should see clearly the falsity of such sexist beliefs.

The novel begins with the creation of Sir John, a simple peddler alerted of his rich past. This is when the trouble began. Hardy comments on the materialism and false hopes of civilization by focusing on the story of the Durbeyfields. Sir John would have had a much more successful life had he not squandered his money drinking and boasting of his old name, leaving Tess in a helpless position to claim familiar ties.

Hardy enlightens the reader of the instability of life and encourages them to work with what they are given. Heightening, let alone questioning, the position you have in life only leads to trouble.

Tess, in her pride, ignores the invitation of the easy path, referring to requesting finances from Angel's father. Her personality inhibits her success in some situations. Had she taken the money from her father-in-law, she could have spared herself from further dismay. Despite her cruel treatment she continually remains subservient to Clare, telling him she will be his servant. Society broke down her strong will and left her a shattered creature willing to serve and exist unloved.

Death in this novel is seen as release. Tess is very aware of her impending fate, as seen by her continual pleads to Angel that she wishes to stay in the house, living in the happiness that won't last. When the novel comes to a close, the reader is presented with the striking portrait of Tess lying on the alter, almost waiting to be sacrificed for her “sins”. The novel ends in a pagan setting, with a man who always rejected conventional Christian religion, a stark contrast to the narrowed, Christian views of society that fought against the couple. It is here that Tess accepts her punishment, ending her temporary nirvana with the man she hollowed herself for.

A song that may have been sung at the time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdFQdnR2XDM

~Lyrics~

Hark, said the fair maid, the nightingales are singing,

The larks they go ringing their notes up in the air.

Small birds and turtledoves on every bough are building,

The sun is just a-glimmering; arise my dear.

Rise up, my fair maid, and pick your love a posy,

It is the fairest flower that ever my eyes did see.

It's I will pick you posies, both lily-white pinks and roses;

So early in the morning before break of day.

Lemady, Lemady, you are a lovely creature,

You are the fairest flower that ever my eyes did see.

I'll play my love a tune all on the pipes of ivory

So early in the morning before break of day.

I'll play my love a tune all on the pipes of ivory

So early in the morning before break of day.