Tess Durbeyfield And The Awakening

In a world where victimization exists, any man or woman who find themselves to be a victim should instead consider themselves a survivor. All human beings have the ability to define their own lives, but a problem arises when an individual loses the strength to decline someone else’s definition of their life. For emerging individuals in society, it is essential to understand that, “[a] victim mind-set causes people to focus on what they cannot do instead of what they can do. It is a recipe for continued failure” (Maxwell). Tess Durbeyfield, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, and Edna Pontellier, in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, develop a victim mind-set and shape themselves around inadequate men more deeply than Dominique Francon, in The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Tess Durbeyfield becomes a victim of the inadequate men surrounding her: John Durbeyfield, Alec Stoke d’Urberville, and Angel Clare, because they do not
This woman is Edna Pontellier who falls victim to two men, Robert Lebrun and Alcee Arobin. Due to the frequent absence of her husband, Edna is faced with an emptiness and is desperate to fill the void. Therefore, Robert Lebrun causes Edna to completely fall out of love with Léonce, causing her to struggle to maintain a respectable life with her husband and two kids. Edna becomes a victim of Robert when they both realize that their love is real; however, Robert refuses to break the standards of society, saying and says, “I love you. Good-by — because I love you” (Chopin 112). The relationship of Edna and Alcee Arobin leads to a love affair while Léonce is away on a business trip. In both cases, Edna does not have the strength to resist her physical desires and falls into two unhealthy relationships because her marriage to Léonce was “purely an accident… He fell in love” (Chopin