Tess of the Durbeveilles
Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy Discuss the concerns that are highlighted in phases one, two and three.
In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy emphasises many concerns to do with what is happening to the world and to Tess. The role of fate in Tess’s journey and the foreshadowing of future events have a heavy impact on her life. Resulting in her having to experience the injustice of life where she is punished for breaking what is thought to be a social law.
The injustice of life for Tess is conveyed through her unfortunate experiences which result in her having to face the consequences of an unfair life. At the beginning of the novel, when Tess takes her brother Abraham to deliver the beehives for her father, she tells Abraham that we live on a ‘blighted’ star. This implies that we are living on a fallen world – where also Tess’s family has fallen, they have lost their name, wealth, lineage and lands Unfairness toward Tess is shown from the beginning of the novel when the family horse, Prince, dies. Tess is blamed for this even though it was not her intention to kill Prince. She is also blamed by her family, especially her mother, Joan Durbeyfield, when she is raped by Alec D’Urberville and returns home without a husband. “‘And yet th’st not got him to marry ‘ee!’ reiterated her mother. ‘Any woman would have done it but you!’” After Tess tells of her misfortunes at the D’Urbervilles farm, her mother’s immediate reaction is disappointment and anger. She compares Tess to other women and shows no compassion toward her daughter’s experience. Hardy, therefore emphasising Tess’s innocence and the fact that she does not understand the extremity of what has happened to her, and her mother’s lack to inform her because of the greed and foolish thoughts that Alec would marry Tess.
The predominance of fate and God’s role in Tess’s life are shown through the foreshadowing of the unfortunate happenings of the future. The realization that they live on a
In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy emphasises many concerns to do with what is happening to the world and to Tess. The role of fate in Tess’s journey and the foreshadowing of future events have a heavy impact on her life. Resulting in her having to experience the injustice of life where she is punished for breaking what is thought to be a social law.
The injustice of life for Tess is conveyed through her unfortunate experiences which result in her having to face the consequences of an unfair life. At the beginning of the novel, when Tess takes her brother Abraham to deliver the beehives for her father, she tells Abraham that we live on a ‘blighted’ star. This implies that we are living on a fallen world – where also Tess’s family has fallen, they have lost their name, wealth, lineage and lands Unfairness toward Tess is shown from the beginning of the novel when the family horse, Prince, dies. Tess is blamed for this even though it was not her intention to kill Prince. She is also blamed by her family, especially her mother, Joan Durbeyfield, when she is raped by Alec D’Urberville and returns home without a husband. “‘And yet th’st not got him to marry ‘ee!’ reiterated her mother. ‘Any woman would have done it but you!’” After Tess tells of her misfortunes at the D’Urbervilles farm, her mother’s immediate reaction is disappointment and anger. She compares Tess to other women and shows no compassion toward her daughter’s experience. Hardy, therefore emphasising Tess’s innocence and the fact that she does not understand the extremity of what has happened to her, and her mother’s lack to inform her because of the greed and foolish thoughts that Alec would marry Tess.
The predominance of fate and God’s role in Tess’s life are shown through the foreshadowing of the unfortunate happenings of the future. The realization that they live on a