Purity and Innocence –Comparing Tess Durbeyfield with May Welland
Purity and Innocence
–Comparing Tess Durbeyfield with May Welland
Tess Durbeyfield, the innocent and exceptionally gifted peasant girl of decayed aristocratic stock, is described as “A Pure Woman” by Thomas Hardy in the novel’s subtitle; May Welland, a beautiful girl immersed within the New York society upbringing, in Newland Archer’ eyes, is innocent, childlike and carefree. But as the two plots thickened, Tess is regarded as impure by everyone in the novel and we realize that May is more complex than we thought in the beginning. So are the two women really pure and innocent? Now I will find the answer in their similarities and disparities. In fact, the two women share a lot in common. Though they inhabit different social status, they both spare no efforts to support their families, and they persistently love their husbands no matter what the husbands have done. What’s more, they haven’t yet shaped a complete self-identity. Their husbands instill new ideas into their minds, and they simply echo what was told to them. This singularity makes Angel satisfied yet leaves Newland depressed. Judging from above-mentioned facts, they are women of no grand ideals and can count as perfect candidates for housewives. Last but definitely not least, at a certain juncture of life, they fell into the same dilemma that their own husband was standing on the edge of deserting them. But Tess and May used totally different ways to face the dilemma, and as a consequence Angel went to Brazil yet Newland stayed with May. A more detailed illustration of their different responses to the contingency will be given in following passages. In regard to May’s character, though Newland took her to be an innocent girl of pliable nature when he announced his engagement to her, yet deep down she is a frozen rigidity of her milieu and age’s doing. She is more knowledgeable about the complexities of interpersonal relationships than he is. May is skilled and sleek to deal with the society,
–Comparing Tess Durbeyfield with May Welland
Tess Durbeyfield, the innocent and exceptionally gifted peasant girl of decayed aristocratic stock, is described as “A Pure Woman” by Thomas Hardy in the novel’s subtitle; May Welland, a beautiful girl immersed within the New York society upbringing, in Newland Archer’ eyes, is innocent, childlike and carefree. But as the two plots thickened, Tess is regarded as impure by everyone in the novel and we realize that May is more complex than we thought in the beginning. So are the two women really pure and innocent? Now I will find the answer in their similarities and disparities. In fact, the two women share a lot in common. Though they inhabit different social status, they both spare no efforts to support their families, and they persistently love their husbands no matter what the husbands have done. What’s more, they haven’t yet shaped a complete self-identity. Their husbands instill new ideas into their minds, and they simply echo what was told to them. This singularity makes Angel satisfied yet leaves Newland depressed. Judging from above-mentioned facts, they are women of no grand ideals and can count as perfect candidates for housewives. Last but definitely not least, at a certain juncture of life, they fell into the same dilemma that their own husband was standing on the edge of deserting them. But Tess and May used totally different ways to face the dilemma, and as a consequence Angel went to Brazil yet Newland stayed with May. A more detailed illustration of their different responses to the contingency will be given in following passages. In regard to May’s character, though Newland took her to be an innocent girl of pliable nature when he announced his engagement to her, yet deep down she is a frozen rigidity of her milieu and age’s doing. She is more knowledgeable about the complexities of interpersonal relationships than he is. May is skilled and sleek to deal with the society,