Tess of the D'Urbevilles - Hardys View on Industrialisation
Explore Hardy’s attitude towards industrialisation in phase the fourth.
Industrialisation became a growing presence amongst the Victorian Era and had an elusive yet undeniable impact on the population. Within the novel Tess Of The d’Urbervilles and in particular phase the fourth, Industrialisation is heavily focused on and explored. However Hardy establishes a balanced and ambivalent viewpoint towards the implications and presence of Industry as there is evidence to suggest both positive and negative aspects to its advancement. This therefore demonstrates that Hardy, especially through his effective use of binary oppositions offers a complex view which evokes a variety of Interpretations.
To successfully convey clear comparisons between industrial interventions and rural aspects of pastoral life, Hardy uses binary oppositions to effectively highlight these contrasts. For example, parallel distinctions between light and shade / symbolic colours (Industry vs. Country) are made apparent in chapter xxx. This is shown when a ‘feeble light was beginning to assert its presence’ used to describe the train and this is in contrast to the ‘expanse of shade’ which represents the countryside. The connotations of ‘light’ against what essentially is darkness may that the train of which modern life represents offers optimism, hope and a prosperous future compared to the harsh standstill that is rural life. However this can also be successfully challenged with the argument that the light is superficial and not real which can justify its feebleness, and offer a rather negative and weak view of industrialisation. Another interpretation to this comparison may be that the fact the light of the train ‘asserts’ itself suggests that industrialisation is imposing itself on rural life and the environment in quite a forceful yet inevitable manner. To further support this, the ‘fitful white streak of steam’ which asserted itself on the ‘dark green background’ can be effectively seen as
Industrialisation became a growing presence amongst the Victorian Era and had an elusive yet undeniable impact on the population. Within the novel Tess Of The d’Urbervilles and in particular phase the fourth, Industrialisation is heavily focused on and explored. However Hardy establishes a balanced and ambivalent viewpoint towards the implications and presence of Industry as there is evidence to suggest both positive and negative aspects to its advancement. This therefore demonstrates that Hardy, especially through his effective use of binary oppositions offers a complex view which evokes a variety of Interpretations.
To successfully convey clear comparisons between industrial interventions and rural aspects of pastoral life, Hardy uses binary oppositions to effectively highlight these contrasts. For example, parallel distinctions between light and shade / symbolic colours (Industry vs. Country) are made apparent in chapter xxx. This is shown when a ‘feeble light was beginning to assert its presence’ used to describe the train and this is in contrast to the ‘expanse of shade’ which represents the countryside. The connotations of ‘light’ against what essentially is darkness may that the train of which modern life represents offers optimism, hope and a prosperous future compared to the harsh standstill that is rural life. However this can also be successfully challenged with the argument that the light is superficial and not real which can justify its feebleness, and offer a rather negative and weak view of industrialisation. Another interpretation to this comparison may be that the fact the light of the train ‘asserts’ itself suggests that industrialisation is imposing itself on rural life and the environment in quite a forceful yet inevitable manner. To further support this, the ‘fitful white streak of steam’ which asserted itself on the ‘dark green background’ can be effectively seen as