An Analysis of Tess?s tragedy in Tess of the d?Urberville s
Abstract
Tess of the D?Urbervilles is one of the great works by Thomas Hardy. It is a great tragedy，which was published in 1891.This tragedy centers on Tess, a peasant girl
born in a po or family. Everything happening has its causes. Tess?s tragedy is also not accidental. There are several aspects about the causes. In this paper,I try to explore the
causes for Tess?s tragedy in three aspects: (1) the influence of fatalism; (2) the social
factors concerned; and (3) Tess?s dual personality.
Key words: Tess of the D’Urbervilles;Thomas Hardy;tragedy; the causes
摘要
德伯家的苔丝是哈代的巨著之一，1891年出版的一部悲剧。这部悲剧围绕
着出生在贫苦农民家庭的少女苔丝展开。一切万物皆有因果，苔丝的悲剧也不例
外。苔丝的悲剧结局并不是意外，有各个方面的原因所在。在这里，我将从以下
三个方面，即：哈代的宿命论，社会因素，和苔丝的性格来分析苔丝悲剧命运的
原因。
关键字：德伯家的苔丝，哈代，悲剧，原因
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. (i)
Abstract (ii)
摘要................................................................................................................................................ i ii Table of Contents .......................................................................................... 错误！未定义书签。Introduction . (1)
Chapter One Hardy's Fatalism in the Tragedy of Tess (3)
1.1 The Development of Hardy's Fatalism (3)
1.2 Hardy's Pessimitic Fatalism in Tess' Tragedy (3)
Chapter Two The Social Factors in Tess' Tragedy (5)
2.1 The Social Environment and the Development of Capiatalism (5)
2.2 Tess' Poor Family and Her Parents' Stupid Requirements of Tess (5)
2.3 The Social Morality and its Influences on Tess (7)
2.3.1 The Hypocritical Social Morality (7)
2.3.2 The Influence of Moralism on Tess (8)
2.4 Male's Domination of Female (9)
Chapter Three Tess' Personality in Her Tragedy (11)
3.1 Tess' Rebellion (11)
3.2 Tess' Weak Point in Character (13)
Conclusion (14)
Works Cited (15)
Introduction
1 A brief introduction to Hardy
1.1 Hardy and his life environment
Thomas Hardy was a famous British novelist and poet in the nineteenth century. He carried forward and developed the literary traditions of the Victorian Age. He described the tragic plots vividly and truthfully in his works. He was considered as “Shakespeare of British novels”. Hardy was born in an a mason?s family in Drossier, south west of England, the area that later became the famous “Wessex” in many of his novels .He was expected to become an architect by his parents, and then he was trained as an architect and worked in London and Dorset for ten years. Hardy began his writing career as a novelist in 1871 publishing Desperate Remedies(《计出无奈》). He was soon successful and left architecture for writing. He became a great critical realist in the nineteenth century—the Victorian Age, during which great changes had happened in the history of western civilization. As is well known, a great social reformation took place in Britain. The various social factors including religion, politics, science, influenced people and tried to transform their mentality. Capitalism was highly developed and stretched to the vast countryside, and the British people were struggling for a bright future bravely and difficultly. It was during this special period that Thomas Hardy inherited and developed the Victorian literature, producing a lot of great novels，especially Tess of the D?Urbervilles.In these novels,he exposed the hypocritical morals, laws and people?s miserable life, especially the women?s life in social economic, politics, morals, custom, etc. after the invasion of industrial capitalism to the British villages.
1.2 Hardy's philosophical idea—fatalism and his novels
In Hardy life, he has written many novels. His major works are The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Caster Bridge (1886), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1896), the latter two considered masterpieces. Hardy's novels are all set against the tough and frightful Dorset landscape (known as Wessex
in the novels). The tragedy in his novels was certainly arranged by God's will. No matter how hard people worked and resisted, they couldn?t get rid of the domination. The characters of his novels, for the major part of the poorer rural classes, are sympathetically and often humorously portrayed. Their lives were ruled not only by nature but also by rigid Victorian social conventions. Hardy's style is always pessimistic and tragic. His idea had been vividly expressed in his novels. Everything in his story leads to one inevitable tragic ending. One?s personality determines one?s fate, as is thought, thus the heroes and heroines in Hardy?s novels are mostly rural men and women whose characters were provincial, tinted with the traits of rural people—passionate like fire, naive,innocent and narrow-minded—which on one hand make them so lovely and worth sympathy, but contribute to their tragedy on the other hand.
2 An tntroduction to the novel- Tess of the D’Urbervilles
As is well known, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is the most famous novel of Thomas Hardy. Focusing on the tragic experience of its heroine Tess,a peasant girl, who was born in a poor farmer?s family. She had lived a poor but peaceful life. However, God, began to play a cruel joke on this innocent girl when her father, John D'Urbervilles learned that they were descended from the D?Urbervilles, an ancient family o nce renowned in England. Tess?s parents were in an ecstasy of delight over the news. Her mother urged Tess to claim kinship with the remaining D?Urbervilles, so that Tess could marry a gentleman,and then they will get rid of the poor life. She was very unwilling,but when she thought of the death of their horse, the only means to make their living, she came to the D?Urbervilles. There she met Alec D?Urbervilles, who was attracked by Tess?s beautiful appearence and always tried to seduce her. Having received a job of tending to chickens, Tess stayed in the D?Urbervilles. Her tragic life had just begun.
Soon Tess was raped and lost her chastity.She returned home and told her mother of her terrible experiences,hoping to get consolation from her mother, but what her mother only worried about was whether Alec would marry Tess or not. Alec
utilized the fact of her poor family and wanted to help her. The brave girl refused and went to work in the field, but worse still, Alect followed her from place to place in order to possess her again. At last, Tess managed to get rid of Alec to give birth to her baby. The baby did not live long, however, and after its death, Tess went to a dairy farm as a dairy maid. It was here that Tess met Angel,son of a clergyman,and fell in love with him. He thought of her as a beautiful and innocent young girl. But her innocence caused her to feel that she was wicked, so she rejected Angel Clare's love. She refused his love and urged him to turn to one of the other girls even though she suffered much from a great grief. But Angel, acting against the wishes of his parents, insisted on marrying with her. Finally, they got married. It seems Tess would be happy from now on. On their wedding night, they told each other about their past hoping to be forgiven by each other. Tess forgave Angel's past, and then she told about her nightmare with Alec, thinking that he would forgive her as she had. But in contrast Angel deserted her and left for Brazil. In order to keep herself and her family alive, Tess had to became a labor in the field again. What?s worse, her father died. With the bad condition of her family and no hope to obtain Angel's return, the poor girl went to Alec again ,seeking help from Alec, who is a preacher now,and lived with him as his mistress.Unexpectedly, Angel returned from Brazil and repented of his cruel treatment of Tess.But Tess's relationship with Alec stopped her from living with Angel happily. She hated Alec and believed all her tragedy was caused by Alec. She killed him. After a short happy life with Angel, Tess was arrested by the police and hanged.
Chapter One
Hardy’s fatalism in the tragedy of Tess.
1.1 The development of Hardy's fatalism.
Fatalism is "that view of life which says all actions is controlled by the nature of thing or by fate which is a great impersonal, primitive force existing through all eternity absolutely independent of human will and superior to any good created by man. "(Force,Lorrain.M.1996). Hardy's pessimistic fatalism developed in his surrounding environment. He lived in times of a freedom of capitalism to imperialism by the United Kingdom after a period of a prosperous economy, but also deepened the plight of poor people at lower levels, especially in the nineteenth century. Hardy was born and bred in rural England which was full of the fatal idea by which his novels were deeply impacted. Thus he witnessed the invasion of capitalist farmers in rural areas led to bankruptcy, he depicted in his works that the capitalism had brought disaster to rural farmers, and sympathy to the plight of the farmers, but due to Hardy's social limitations of the era, even though he would like to find a way out to solve these problems,there was no right way to free poor people of their misery and to embrace a bright future, he ultimately failed,which led him to be a pessimist.In fact,Hardy did not understand the root causes of this decline and rules of social development.Therefore, he attributed the peasants' tragedy to blind chance or mysterious fate. This kind of fatalism is revealed in Hardy's many works especially in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Hardy gave to the interpretation of the story in accordance with his pessimist and determinist view of the world.( In a sense, Tess is the victim of Hardy's fatalism, and her tragedy is the tragedy of the time when Hardy lives.
1.2 Hardy's pessimistic fatalism in Tess' tragedy.
Tess's miserable life is linked with Hardy's fatalism.Hardy tried to explain the misfortune of his characters in the perspective of the superior power. In his novels, the characters' misfortunate fate is inevitable, and even hard to resist. In Tess of the D?Urbervilles,Hardy thought that it was the god?s will that made Tess? tragedy,
including her ups and downs of life, her painful love and her tragic death. He demonstrated his deep sense of moral sympathy for the pure, loyal, intelligent and charming young girl, Tess. He showed in many ways that Tess's fate was not determined by her own efforts but by the fatalistic fate. There were lots of coincidences and hints that show us the inevitability of Tess' miserable death.
Her misfortune starts from the sudden death of the only horse,which cut off all the family?s income. Just at that time, Tess's father learned of a rich family—Alec D'Urbervilles whi ch was his kinship. This was the start of Tess?s tragedy.So Tess is forced to claim kinship and not long after she is seduced. After the great frustration, desiring to live a tranquil life, Tess met Angel Clare and fell in love with him. Not wanting to deceive Angel, Tess wrote a letter to confess her "wrong doings", but the letter was misplaced and escaped the notice of Angel.It seems Tess would win happiness while actually this coincidence made her hurt much deeper. At that time, there were dual standards on morality: women are considered immoral if they conduct sexual intercourses before their marriage, be they passive or active. However men were not to blame if they have had sexual affairs before marriage, they could be easily forgiven. Just as Tess could forgive his sexual experience, but he couldn't accept Tess on similar grounds, thus he deserted her and left for Brazil. Though Hardy knew Tess was a victim and very innocent, at that time Hardy himself was also influenced by the social concept, as can be seen in Tess' miserable fate.
Father's death made the family lose their house and hardly able to survive. Tess came to Angel's family for help because Angel was her nominal husband anyway. Unfortunately, they all went to church and Angel's brother found her broken shoes and threw them away casually, so Tess missed the chance. She could not get a hand from husband's family so that she had to find a job to support her family. The next plot of the story is the best example of Hardy?s fatalism. He led Tess t o meet Alec—the man who ruined her life in the way back home from the Angel at this critical point. Faced with such a desperate situation, Tess had no choice but be Alec's mistress again and lived with him. Tess didn't surrender to fate after being insulted, for she was determined to overcome difficulties by herself, but after a series of resistance she had
to give up to the fate which was that powerful. Her life and the tragedy is really inevitable when Angel came back to look for her. If Angel didn't find her and told he had forgiven her and still loved her, Tess might just as well have lived with Alec and would not have killed Alec out of rage, and would not have been hanged as a murderer at last. Hardy devised this plot to show his dissatisfaction with the hypocritical society, as is manifest in the subtitle, Tess is a pure woman in spirit, what the society could insult was just her body.
Hardy's novel in this series of coincidences, on the surface, as if the tragedy of Tess's fate escape the fate of the arrangement, but from a deeper perspective, is Hardy's fatalism philosophy due to the environment.
Chapter Two
The social factors in Tess’ tragedy.
Throughout the story, Tess' experience has been rather miserable and rough, which makes readers deeply sympathetic with her. From the vivid description in the novel we can get a panorama of every social stratum in the Victorian Age. Tess, a beautiful, innocent and pure girl, is the victim of society. In this paper, it is thought that the bourgeois society should assume a great responsibility for Tess?s miserable death. Tess' s tragedy is the product of the society.Hence a probe into the causes for Tess' tragedy in terms of social factors in four aspects.
2.1 The social environment and the development of capitalism
Tess lived in the late 19th century in Britain,, in which the cruel capitalist exploitation had ruined the English countryside severely, Wessx was not immuned from the destruction. Capitalism brought a great harm to this old, rural and agricultural life of the place. The bourgeoisie controlled all rights, and the law served them. Peasants were at the bottom of society; they never had equal rights. Worse still, with the development of the industrial revolution, tremendous changes had taken place in almost every aspect. (Long Qiyu, 2010: 1) There is no doubt that agriculture could not be an exception, for the traditional life-style of the rural area had collapsed. Most farmers lost their land and were bankrupt.The self-supporting peasants were displaced and impoverished. They were extremely poor and lived a very miserable life and had to struggle for existence on the brink of death.
Tess, a daughter of a poor villager, and a wage labor later, seemed unlikely to live a better life with her family. All the family's income came from an old horse, whose death cut off all their income. To support the family, Tess had no choice but to follow her parents' advice to come to a more prosperous branch of the D?Urbervilles family for help. It was there that she was seduced by her so-called cousin, the son of the house, Alec, which led her to her misfortune fate.
2.2 Tess’s poor family and her parents’ stupid requirements ofTess
Tess? family is another important reason for her tragedy. On one hand, her family was very poor. Her father was a lazy vendor and her mother was a vulgar wash worker. She had young brothers and sisters who needed care. “Every day seemed to throw upon her young shoulders more of family burdens” (Hardy p37), so she had no choice but to try her best to make money to support her family out of her sense of responsibility. On the other hand, her parents wanted to live a better life and showed off the so-called “aristocrat” status.Her father went into ecstasies when he got knowl edge of their kindred with the noble D?Urbervilles. He began to spend his time thinking of ways to restore his family name to its former reputation. In fact, this dream could not support the family at all. But the father was only concerned about his reputation and did not want to get a job which he thought would sully(玷污) his dignity as an offspring of D?Urbervilles. So they compelled Tess to D?Urbervilles family to work and marry the wealthy gentleman. As the oldest daughter of the family, Tess had to come to Alec's family for help, which led to her loss of virginity. Even at this point, what her father considered utmost was other people's thought about the collapse of his reputation rather than his daughter's misfortune. Tess's mother hoped that Tess would marry with Alec without considering Tess' feeling. After Tess was seduced by Alec and went home, her mother thought Tess was stupid for her unwillingness to marry with him. To some extent, it is Tess? parents who make the chance for Alec. In other words, Tess is a tool used to get money and reputation for her parents. Tess would not enter D?Urbervilles family if her family is better off; Tess would not be insulted by Alec if her family does not give her any pressure. What?s worse, her family never teaches her anything that a girl needs to know. Tess says, “Why didn?t you tell me there was danger in men-fold? Why didn?t you warn me? I never had the chance o?learning in that way (reading novels), and you did not help me” (Thomas Hardy p89). This proves how he r mother treats her.
Tess loved her younger brothers and sisters, for her sense of responsibility compelled her to protect them. Alec was aware of this aspect and utilized his assistance to her family to possess her again. Tess? hatred of Alec?s conduct ma de her refuse and fight with him at first. But after the death of her father, oppressed by her
responsibility for her family, she became Alec's mistress again, which made Tess much more grieved and led to her killing of him in that she thought that it was Alec who had deprived her of her right to pursue happiness. Therefore, “it is this homeless despair of a family which has lost its rights and independence in the village community that gives Tess finally into the invader?s power” (Albert J LaValley p327).
2.3 The social morality and its influences on Tess.
2.3.1 The hypocritically social morality.
For women in the Victorian era, the key virtue is sexual purity, while adultery is the worst of all possible sins. At that time, even exposing an ankle or a shoulder is considered "improper" (Kramer, 1970: 136). Public conceptions on sexual morals are that women must remain virgins before marriage,or she would commit the most serious sin. In addition, a woman should be loyal to her husband all her life.Numerous examples can be found in many great novels, such as Tess and the heroine in The Scarlet Letter. The sexual morality is deeply rooted in people's mind. But these notions are always unequal for females. In the same case, men engaged in sexual lapses(丧失) would be forgiven, whereas women would be condemned, even if it is known that the woman sometimes is actually the victim. In the opinion of most common people, “all women are considered serious offenders " (Kramer, 1979: 227) People didn?t condemn Alec, the wicked rapist, while in contrast, they looked down on Tess who was pregnant due to a wicked man?s rape. For in their eyes, Tess? loss of her virginity was a shameful thing. So, though with similar sexual experiences, Angel was forgiven while Tess, the real innocent victim, was abused. While Angel swore his deep love for Tess, Tess won no consolation or sympathy, even from her parents. What she got was jeer and abuse and lots of ill words. Everyone around despised Tess, which made her feel sinful and guilty. At the very start, he loved Tess and did not care whether she was born in a good family or not. He regarded Tess as a girl completely innocent and pure, for in his eyes, Tess is “what a fresh and pure daughter of nature that dairy-maid is” (Hardy 1992: 91) .It seems that his love to Tess was true love. But in fact, he was a representative of the traditional moral concepts.When it comes to marriage, he still considered Tess?s social status. He wanted Tess to take “mistress
Teresa D?Urbervilles as her name and he claimed that the change “may take an appreciable difference to （society?s）acceptance of you as my wife”. Angel said, after he have made Tess the well-read woman that he mean to make her, his mother will think much better of her (Hardy p206). So all he wanted is a good wife who could serve him and he had never abandoned the Christian moral concepts even though he himself did not realize.After learning of Tess' past story Tess was nothing but a fallen woman who just looks like his lover, as is ev ident in his remark, “you were one person, now you are another.”(Hardy, 1992: 374). He loved Tess but could not forgive her. He used the conventional social morality which he criticized to judge Tess without considering whether it was fair to her or not, and finally deserted her. The whole society with deep-rooted traditional social morality was prejudiced against Tess, which somewhat led to her miserable fate.
2.3.2. The influence of morality on Tess
As a social system, the deep-rooted concept of chastity controls women tightly. It is very natural to judge a woman's purity in line with the traditional conception; Tess was influenced by the social morality though she thought it is unfair. She also wanted to resist against it, for example, when her mother asked her to marry Alec, she didn?t accept and replied “perhaps any woman will, but I am the exception” (Hardy 1992: 156) Tess was the victim of society full of hypocritical ethics. She really wanted to start a new life but she could not shake off her past.
After she was insulted by Alec, Tess suffered a sense of sin, guilt and self-abasement. she felt much guilty for not being pure in body. When Tess falls in love with Angel Clare, she still cannot get rid of her sense of guilt. At first,she dare not tell Angel her past story, let alone have the courage to accept his love. "Her love for him acts to blot out the memories of the past in her, but she is always aware that her forgetfulness is only temporary, that the doubts, fears, and shame were only waiting like wolves just outside the light. One night, when the two of them were sitting indoors, she suddenly exclaims that she is not worthy of him."(Thamas Hardy, 1993). After their wedding ceremony, Tess is sad by the time they come back to the farm. She is tortured by guilt. She asks herself, if she has any right to be Mrs. Angel
Clare. Tess's deep sense of guilt makes her submit to Angel's maltreatment without resistance, thinking she deserves it.So in her mind it was all her fault to lead Angel to desert her. It can be seen apparently that Tess's chain to morality made her suffer much more in spirit, thus deepening her tragedy.
2.4. Male’s domination of females
Critically speaking, men and women should be equal; however, it is not the case in reality. You will find that the entire development of western civilization is a history in which males have dominated. In this kind of society men are the center of the society at Victorian times. Women are just the possession of men. They have no right to make any decisions. A male made all decisions and controlled everything, his wife was only supposed to be his faithful companion.
Tess?s family had a strong sense of male chauvinism. When the horse died and her family lost the only possession. Tess?s family thought that the“fine chance” to get rid of poverty and get into the upper class was to marry a rich man. Her mother asked her to “claim kin” with the D?Urbervilles, hoping that the “gentleman” would marry her and got their poor family condition improved. As a woman and the elder daughter of her family, all she should do is making money to support her family. She had no choice but to follow what her family?s advice. In Alec's view, it's very natural that he could use his power and social status to get what he wants. He began to think of how to possess this girl when Tess first appeared in front of hm. What he thought of was how to possess the beautiful and pure girl. What?s worse, Alec has never had the idea to marry her even after he raped her. He just treated her as one of his possessions. But men would never have any fault even if they commit the most serious sin. Tess was rumored by people around her after she was raped by Alec. No one helped her out of the despair, including her family. While Alec was a typical representative of hypocritical bourgeois society. He was not affected by the affair at all. Instead, he finally became a clergy who could represent the mercy of GOD and was respected by people. There was no law which could give Alec any punishment for his fault. But the law did exist when Tess killed Alec for her true love for Angel. In Tess' opinion, Angel Clare was her …god? who would protect her and guide her to happiness. But even the
man who loved her denied the true identity of her just because her loss of virtue and deserted her. At that time, a woman deserted by her husband means she would be deserted by the whole society. Tess got the punishment, but men never did. . If we say it was Alec that insulted Tess and destroyed her happy personality, it was Angel who ruined Tess' mentality and was the executioner of Tess.That was the society under men?s dominion.
Chapter Three
Tess’ personality in her tragedy.
Tess's tragedy not only results from the external causes, but also the internal ones. And only through the internal causes, can the external causes become operative. The tragedy that results from the conflict between man and himself is the tragedy of character. Tess's tragedy is the tragedy of character. On the one hand, Tess struggles bravely against her destiny and the conventional morality. She desires for happiness and true love. On the other hand, she can not completely get rid of social conventions and moral standards of the day, which makes her believe that she has to pay for what she has sinned. She yields to the arrangement of the fate.This is the so-called Tess?s dual personality. The paradox of Tess?s personality was one of the important causes for her later tragedy.
3.1. Tess' rebellion
During the Victorian Age, women began to struggle against oppression in unfair bourgeois society. Tess was one of these women. In Tess' brief miserable life, she had never given up rebellion.
Tess fought against the male chauvinism all her life. A good way to become rich and get comfortable life was to marry a rich man at Victorian times. But Tess did not follow trends. On one hand, when the horse died, Tess?s family asked her to “claim kin” to D?Urbervilles, she was reluctant. She believed that she could make a living by working but not by marryin g a rich man. At Tess?s time, chastity was very important for a woman. If a woman was raped, the best choice was to marry the man without considering whether she loved the man or not. Otherwise, she would be rumored and lost all her face. Tess should have married Alec after she was raped by him for the sake of herself and her family. And Tess could avoid her miserable life if she married him in line with her parents? wish. Tess?s mother was disappointed that Tess would not marry Alec and bring some money and good reputation for her family. For Tess, that was silly and absurd. She did not want to betray herself even though she
would be condemned by the public. She just wanted to be independent. When Alec met her again and asked her to be his wife, Tess just told him that she had never loved him and she would never love him. (Hardy 341) Even though Tess was in difficulty at that time, she did not accept Alec, who once deprived her of her virginity. She wanted to keep her own dignity and ran for her true love. S he claimed to Alec that she “love somebody else”, which “seemed to astonish him (Alec)”. (Hardy 341) It did astonish Alec, of course, because he was always thinking that women were under men?s dominion. He was physically Tess?s husband, but Tess loved Ange l. He thought that was immoral and improper. Tess?s resistance reached climax after she killed Alec. Tess was actually resisting the male chauvinism. In the later part of the novel, Angel came back and found her and told her he still love her, she killed Alec and became a murderer for her happiness, even for just a few days. She struggled for her happiness all her life, though not successful, but she is a brave girl.
At that time, the law and religion served the upper class. We can see Tess?s dissatisfaction and rebellion against the hypocritical religion. Tess pointed out precisely: “I can't believe such a sudden thing!...you and those like you, take your fill of pleasure on earth by making the life of such people as me bitter and black with sorrow, and then it is a fine thing, when you have had enough of that, to think of securing your pleasure in heaven by becoming converted out upon such.... I don't believe in you --I hate it! (Hardy, 992:276) And when no parson would baptize her child and she should baptize it by herself. She told the parson she would never go to church any more when she knew her child could not get a Christian burial. In the later part ,Alec became a pastor telling people to do good even though he himself once raped Tess.She did no t believe in his “scheme of religion” (Hardy 333). Tess found that religion could not judge people correctly. Those evil force should be a pastor who represent God, but she, who did nothing wrong, should bare all the rumors and punishments.At last ,after Tess killled Alec and was hanging, she said in her will that she hoped Angel could marry her sister if she died. But Aaccording to the current religion:a man was not allowed to marry his sister—in—law after his wife died. Her will obviously showed her resistance against the Christian doctrine.
3.2. Tess’ weak point in character.
There is no doubt that Tess was brave and dare to resist against the unfair social morality in pursuit of her happiness.She was a rebel, and her brief life was full of constant rebellion and courageous struggle. On the other hand, there were some backward factors in Tess: she still had the old moral values that are conservative. The social conventional morality was deep-rooted in her mind so she turned out the victim of society at last.
She knew clearly that she was the victim and rather innocent, but meanwhile she began to consider herself sinful when lots of ill words flooded to her, she even thought she would destroy the purity of nature. Losing virginity was an evil that tortured and suppressed her for a long time. She believed she was the wife of Alec physically.So she dare not accept Angel's love before, because she was afraid and she knew she was different from other girls and she was not worthy of Angel's love.The clash between the love with him and her guilt was quite strong which causes her a great deal of mental suffering, as is evident in her conversation with Angel: "But, if you love me you would like me to be your husband?'
“Yes, yes, yes! But oh, I sometimes wish I h ave never been born!"
Tess should be angry or at least complain about Angel's crucial treatment to her. However, she just submitted to Angel's decision without any preconditions. In order to win Angel's forgiving and continue to live with him, she was even willing to be regarded as his slave, as is evident in the following conversation between them;
…And if I order you to do anything?'
'I will obey you as your wretched slave, even if it is to lie down and die.' (Hardy, 1992: 384) After Angel left for Brazil, she was lonely and helpless but she still wrote to him and wished that he could forgive her and came back to stay with her again. These have fully reflected her moral conservative character. To some extent, Tess herself should take on some responsibility for her miserable life due to her weak personality.
Conclusion
Tess is a misfortunate person in the novel; her tragedy is the outcome of many factors. As is stated above, the causes for Tess's tragedy depend on fatalistm belief, social factors, and Tess?s personality. As regards the belief of fatalism, Tess' fate is inevitable. In terms of social factors, capitalism is the fundamental cause for this tragedy. So Tess's tragedy actually demonstrates the same fate of British peasants, especially women of the lower class. The clash between her brave rebellion and her weak personality deepens her tragedy and makes her suffer spiritually. Tess, a good-natured,brave and pure girl, as is hinted in the subtitle, will be live in people's heart forever.
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The Tragedy of Tess in Tess of the D’ Urberville Abstract:Tess of the D’Urbervilles is the famous British novelist and poet Thomas hardy’s masterpiece. It is known as the treasure of English literature and world literature. The novel describes a pure gir l’s tragic fate. This thesis tries to probe the inevitable factors and significance of her tragedy from the aspects of social environment, religion, moral, family, nature and so on. Key Words:tragedy; factor; Tess; Alec; Angel. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is one of the representatives of English critical realism at the time of the 19th century. In his whole life he published fourteen accomplished novel, forty-seven short stories, more than nine hundred poems. In his youth, Hardy had been greatly influenced by some liberal thinkers such as Darwin and John Stuart Mill. In his novels, Hardy incorporated many of these themes in order to portray a real world. Darwin’s challenge led Hardy to lose faith in Christianity, and this lack of faith gave his novels their tragic, bleak element. Tess of the D’ Urbervilles written by Thomas Hardy in 1891, is a tragic story of a beautiful country girl, Tess Durbeyfield, who is the daughter of a poor villager. She is a pure and loyal young woman. In order to support the poor family, she has to follow her parents’ advice and visit the so-called distant relative—D’Urbervilles. Later, she is seduced by Alec D’Urbervilles, the son of a rich merchant. From then on her destiny changes greatly. At last, Tess manages to elude Alec and gives birth to her baby, but she loses the baby finally. After the death of her baby, she leaves home and goes to work as a dairymaid at a distant farm, where she meets Clare, a pastor’s son. They fall in love and get married. On their wedding night Angel confesses to her the sins of his past, Tess forgives him and tells him her story with Alec, b ut Angel can’t accept the truth, he deserts her and leaves her to Brazil. After Angel’s leaving, Tess lives a very hard life. She meets Alec again and is pursued by him once more. Without hope for Angel’s back, Tess has no choice but go to Alec again. Unfortunately, Angel comes to find Tess and tell her he still loves her. Now, Tess hates Alec deeply. With deep sad she kills Alec and runs away with Angel. They live a
浅析《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧命运的根源的论文 摘要：《德伯家的苔丝》是英国文学巨匠托马斯?哈代的代表作。女主人公苔丝的悲剧和不幸是由多种原因造成的。本文以女性主义的角度为出发点，从两个方面分析导致苔丝悲剧命运的根源，即：教育和苔丝自身因素。 关键词：哈代；苔丝；悲剧命运；女性主义 一、引言 19世纪末出现妇女解放运动第一次高潮。而“哈代的作品中反映了与时代相吻合的女性解放的思想,而且在作品中,女性对传统道德观念和社会的反抗是非常激烈的”。托马斯?哈代大胆地将创作的目光投向农村，深入的关注普通农家的悲剧命运。他十分擅长刻画女性人物悲剧命运,旨在揭露男权社会给女性造成的伤害,批判男性中心主义。 二、托马斯?哈代及苔丝简介 托马斯?哈代是横跨19世纪和20世纪的著名小说家和诗人，英国批判现实主义文学的代表人物，被沃尔夫誉为“英国小说家中最伟大的悲剧大师”。其作品即承接英国维多利亚时代的文学精髓又体现二十世纪的文学创新,气势磅礴。以辽阔深远的背景与渺小的人物形象之间的巨大反差和动人的对比描写，给读者以深刻的印象和心灵的震撼。 《德伯家的苔丝》刻画了一个善良、坚强、自尊、宽容而美丽的女性形象——苔丝。由于天真无知而受到富家浪子的侮辱，身心饱受摧残。但“她并没有自暴自弃，怨天尤人，而是勇敢地面对挫折；为减轻家里的负担，应付虚荣的父母，她勇于承受重担，奔走于不同农场，养家糊口；对待爱情，她自尊又执着”。她被“认为是唯一的一位逃脱了决定主义的人”，颠覆了传统的伦理道德。哈代极力要摧毁的正是这种道德观念，让女性摆脱僵化的传统习俗的控制。他对“堕落女性”的处境给予了极大的关注，对苔丝给予了深切的同情和宽容，带给读者对妇女生存状态的反思。 三、从女性主义角度分析苔丝悲剧命运的根源 苔丝从一位天使般的少女到绞刑架上的杀人犯,是何种邪恶力量在逼迫、摧残、毁灭着这“有自我意志，完整个性的女性？”，把这一优雅迷人的高尚女性一步步推向死亡深渊?苔丝悲剧的根源何在?以下从女性主义的角度审视《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝被压迫的血泪史,剥下男权中心主义这张丑陋的外皮。 （一）教育。 英国女权主义思想家朱丽叶?米切尔在《妇女:最漫长的革命》中指出“歧视存在的基础是教育,而不是经济。在英国要求同工,首先要求接受同等教育,因为这一原因致使妇女从事社会地位较低的工作”。从这一理论出发,剖析苔丝走向悲剧的一个主要因素:教育的贫乏。 “她最早的职业梦想是成为一名教师,但天不遂人愿”。由于家庭贫穷,苔丝很早就步入社会，她做过很多体力活，而且是同工不同酬。因所受教育贫乏,她无法获取较高社会地位与收入的工作,个人与娘家均陷入极度贫困,最终不得不接受亚雷克庇护。“接受庇护”是当克莱尔归来,苔丝杀死亚雷克,走向毁灭的直接导火线。另一方面教育对于女性的重要影响,表现在提高女性心智与觉悟上。苔丝受骗失身带着委屈,饱含心酸地控诉“名门小姐们都了解该防备什么,怎样去防备,因为她们都读小说,小说中会谈到这些男人们的诡计,可我从没机会读小说，哪能知道呢”。中国有句古话“女子无才便是德”,同样说明男权控制下的整个社会对女性受教育的排斥。压迫女性的邪恶力量让女性心智处于不开化状态,使女性沦为其奴隶。在这传统观念笼罩下,苔丝的梦想只能是幻想。教育问题不解决,苔丝式的妇女悲剧将不可逆转,女性终为男权社会的牺牲品。正如西蒙?波伏娃所说:“女人在父兄所支配的家庭中,处于奴隶或仆人的地位,她始终是由男性做主而嫁给另外的男性。” （二）苔丝自身的因素。
浅谈《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧命运的根源 姓名：杨锐 学号：201330280219 班级：1332802 专业：汉语国际教育 指导老师：熊进萍
浅谈《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧命运的根源 摘要： 《德伯家的苔丝》是英国著名小说家托马斯?哈代进入晚期小说创作的代表作。小说反映的时代背景是传统的威塞克斯农村社会已大体上被资产阶级社会所占领，社会秩序发生了根本性的变化，农民为了生存不得不去寻找一条同过去完全不同的生活道路。于是哈代将创作的重心放到了浓厚的人道主义色彩，在主题上更加广泛和深刻地表现了维多利亚时代资产阶级的伦理道德、宗教法律、婚姻爱情、教育制度、人际关系等等重大社会问题，从对资产阶级社会的一般性描写转入整个社会的揭露、控诉和批判。 故事内容： 在小说中女主角苔丝?德北是一个美丽善良的农家姑娘，但由于家境贫寒，她不得不听从母亲的劝说，跑到地主的庄园去做工，后被地主的大儿子亚雷奸污。怀着身孕的她回到了家乡。孩子夭折后，她又到一家牛奶厂当挤奶工，在那里遇到了牧师的儿子安琪?克莱尔，两人产生了爱情。新婚之夜，苔丝出于一片忠诚，向克莱尔坦白了自己失身的遭遇，想不到丈夫不仅没有原谅她，反而翻脸无情，独自到了巴西。苔丝被遗弃后，又跑到一家农场做苦工。恰在这时亚雷又突然出现，一再跑来纠缠苔丝。后来家庭发生变故，使得苔丝一家人沦落街头,而克莱尔又杳无音讯的情况下，苔丝只好舍身救家，答应与亚雷同居。谁知克莱尔经过一场磨难，终于回心转意，从巴西回来寻找苔丝。苔丝悔恨交加，怒不可遏的刺死了亚历克。她在逃亡中与丈夫度过了几天幸福生活，最后被捕，并被判处绞刑使悲剧达到了项峰。 关键字： 苔丝、悲剧、社会、命运、性格
浅析苔丝悲剧成因——《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧命运分析
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浅谈《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧命运的根源
姓名：杨锐 学号：201330280219 班级：1332802 专业：汉语国际教育指导老师：熊进萍
浅谈《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧命运的根源 摘要： 《德伯家的苔丝》是英国著名小说家托马斯?哈代进入晚期小说创作的代表作。小说反映的时代背景是传统的威塞克斯农村社会已大体上被资产阶级社会所占领，社会秩序发生了根本性的变化，农民为了生存不得不去寻找一条同过去完全不同的生活道路。于是哈代将创作的重心放到了浓厚的人道主义色彩，在主题上更加广泛和深刻地表现了维多利亚时代资产阶级的伦理道德、宗教法律、婚姻爱情、教育制度、人际关系等等重大社会问题，从对资产阶级社会的一般性描写转入整个社会的揭露、控诉和批判。 故事内容： 在小说中女主角苔丝?德北是一个美丽善良的农家姑娘，但由于家境贫寒，她不得不听从母亲的劝说，跑到地主的庄园去做工，后被地主的大儿子亚雷奸污。怀着身孕的她回到了家乡。孩子夭折后，她又到一家牛奶厂当挤奶工，在那里遇到了牧师的儿子安琪?克莱尔，两人产生了爱情。新婚之夜，苔丝出于一片忠诚，向克莱尔坦白了自己失身的遭遇，想不到丈夫不仅没有原谅她，反而翻脸无情，独自到了巴西。苔丝被遗弃后，又跑到一家农场做苦工。恰在这时亚雷又突然出现，一再跑来纠缠苔丝。后来家庭发生变故，使得苔丝一家人沦落街头,而克莱尔又杳无音讯的情况下，苔丝只好舍身救家，答应与亚雷同居。谁知克莱尔经过一场磨难，终于回心转意，从巴西回来寻找苔丝。苔丝悔恨交加，怒不可遏的刺死了亚历克。她在逃亡中与丈夫度过了几天幸福生活，最后被捕，并被判处绞刑使悲剧达到了项峰。 关键字： 苔丝、悲剧、社会、命运、性格
龙源期刊网 https://www.doczj.com/doc/b67652862.html, 论《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧的根源 作者：贾红王雨容 来源：《智富时代》2017年第02期 【摘要】《德伯家的苔丝》是英国著名作家托马斯·哈代描写女性形象的典型代表作品。本文从社会环境、家庭条件及自身性格三个方面解读苔丝的悲剧根源；其悲剧的产生与资本主义的发展有必然联系，也与她的自身性格息息相关。 【关键词】苔丝；悲剧；根源 诺贝尔文学奖得主克洛德·西蒙曾说：“《德伯家的苔丝》是19世纪英国文学的一颗明 珠，奠定了哈代在英国乃至世界文学的地位。在美丽的苔丝身上人们至始至终看到的是她纯洁的本性对逼迫她的恶势力的苦苦挣扎。”[1]哈代塑造了众多的悲剧人物形象，苔丝形象的塑造格外鲜明，她的悲剧命运不仅引起了广大读者共鸣；也在激励着一代又一代与不幸命运抗争的人们。 苔丝的不幸，不仅有来自社会的因素，也有个人因素。聂珍钊先生曾明确指出：“直接决定这个女子悲惨命运的是她的贫穷、社会上虚伪的伦理道德和不公道的法理制度。” [2]苔丝生活的社会环境是其悲剧的前提条件，贫穷的家庭时其间接因素，双重的个人性格是其悲剧的直接因素。 一、前提因素：社会环境 19世纪后期的英国，资本主义得到空前发展，资产阶级力量日益强盛；给贫苦农民带来 了深重灾难，给工业文明和社会市场经济带来了巨大冲击；使得社会两极分化严重，也让自给自足的个体农民陷入失业、贫困的悲惨境遇。然人的发展离不开社会，社会属性是人的根本属性。故苔丝命运悲剧，是社会进步的悲剧，也是那个时代社会生活的必然。[3] （一）社会制度：给予身体打击 资本主义制度和法律对其不公正待遇是重要因素。她的悲剧是由所处的社会制度造成的，当时正处男权主义社会，虽然富家子弟亚雷侮辱苔丝，将苔丝一步步推向苦难；但当时的社会并未保护弱势群体。世俗不仅没有给予苔丝应有同情，其反而却遭到人们的讥讽和嘲笑；亚雷不仅没有受到法律制裁，反而逍遥法外，继续过着骄奢淫逸的生活。至此，我们不得不感慨，其悲剧是时代的悲剧，是社会的必然。 （二）社会道德：给予精神摧毁 资产阶级道德的败坏、宗教信仰的腐朽是另一重要因素。“当时英国的社会，是以男权主义思想的社会；男人不仅是社会的中心，也是家庭的主宰。女人只是社会和男人的附属品，无
[摘要] 托马斯·哈代是19世纪末英国杰出的小说家,诗人。他的巨著《德伯家的苔丝》讲述了一个贫穷纯洁的农村姑娘被“诱奸,抛弃,最后由于谋杀罪而被绞死”的凄惨故事。本文以《苔丝》的故事梗概为源头,从作者的创作思想、当时的社会环境、女性主义视角、家庭背景、苔丝的性格特征等多角度探讨造成苔丝悲剧命运的种种原因。具体分析了小说中造成苔丝悲剧的两个主要人物安琪·克莱尔和亚雷·德伯的形象特征,这两个人物形象包含了哈代的哲学和社会思想,具有深远意义。 [关键词] 马斯·哈代苔丝悲剧宿命论 托马斯·哈代(1840—1928)是英国杰出的批判现实主义小说家,诗人。他的名作《德伯家的苔丝》以批判社会和悲观主义为主要特征,真实地再现了19世纪末期英国下层农民的悲惨生活,以及女主人公苔丝的悲剧命运。在小说中,苔丝经常被比喻成“一只陷入囹圄的小鸟”,在当时社会里,她就是“一只不幸的孤鸟”,鸟的意象突显了她的孤独与无助。本文主要从作者的创作思想、当时的社会环境、女性主义视角、家庭背景、苔丝的性格特征等多角度探讨酿成苔丝悲剧命运的各种原因。 苔丝是一个美丽善良的农村姑娘,由于家境贫寒,不得不到富人家攀亲,不幸被亚雷·德伯诱奸而蒙羞回家。 由于不堪忍受乡里邻居的风言风语,苔丝到远离家乡的奶牛场打工,在那里她与牧师的儿子安琪·克莱尔相遇、相恋,并决定结婚。在新婚之夜,苔丝坦白了自己过去的不幸遭遇,然而克莱尔无法忍受这个现实,抛弃她远走巴西。 为了贫困的家庭,苔丝被迫再次沦为亚雷的情妇。经过一番痛苦的挣扎,克莱尔从巴西回来请求苔丝的谅解。在愤怒和绝望中苔丝杀死了亚雷,和克莱尔一起度过了短暂的幸福时光,最后由于谋杀罪而被绞死。在小说的结尾,哈代带着嘲讽的口吻写道:“‘典刑’明正了,埃斯库罗斯所说的那个众神的主宰,对于苔丝的戏弄也完结了。”苔丝的悲剧结束了,是什么逼迫她一步步走向毁灭的深渊呢?笔者从以下几方面分析造成苔丝悲剧的原因: 受德国哲学家叔本华的悲观主义思想的影响,哈代认为人世间充满了忧患和痛苦,“没有一条通向幸福的路,甚至也没有一条避免不幸的路”,“人在现实社会中的生存,本身就是极大的悲哀”。人类悲剧的原因不是人类本身的行为造成的,而是一种超自然的力量主宰着人类的命运。 “人们在情势以及支配情势的命运面前是软弱无力的”。 正是这种宿命论和悲观主义思想为小说女主人公的命运奠定了悲剧基调,苔丝的悲剧人生在作者的笔下是不可避免的,也是命中注定的,无论她如何与命运抗争都无法彻底摆脱这种悲惨的结局。 造成苔丝悲剧的根源就在于当时英国不合理的社会制度、资产阶级的虚伪道德和不公正的法律。19世纪后期,资本主义生产方式逐渐侵入落后的农村地区,造成小农经济的迅速瓦解,给广大农民阶级带来了空前灾难,苔丝正是这一剧烈冲击下的可怜的牺牲品。在当时社会,只要她处于被压迫被剥削的地位,就无法彻底摆脱被毁灭的命运。在某种意义上,哈代指出:“纯洁的姑娘苔丝悲剧正是古老的威塞克斯广大农民的悲剧,二者都被现代文明的资本主义所侵袭,抛弃。” 从女姓主义视角分析造成苔丝悲剧的原因,苔丝是“男权社会不平等婚姻制度的牺牲品”,同时也是命运的牺牲品。在以男性为中心的社会里,男性作为“第一性”,是社会的主体,拥有绝对的权力;而女性则被视为“第二性”,是男性的附属品,“被排除在男性视野之外”,夫妻之间根本无法实现真正的平等,苔丝的悲剧也正因为她是父权制社会的一名女性,而且温柔善良,楚楚可人,这正是资产阶级流氓恶少竭力捕捉的“猎物”。按照传统婚姻制度妻子的贞操就是丈夫的特权,如果女人在婚前失去贞操就是“不纯洁”,就会遭到社会的唾弃。苔丝婚前失身是被迫的,却受到世谷社会百般指责;亚雷·德伯是一个行为放荡的公子哥,见到漂亮姑娘就要想方设法勾引到手,当时社会却没有谴责他的“不洁”行为;安琪·克莱尔婚前也曾“跟一个成年妇女有过四十八小时的放荡历史”,他从来没有为自己的“不忠”感到内疚,甚至在新婚之夜要求苔丝原谅自己过去的荒唐行为,而且,他刚刚遗弃了新婚妻子,就打算带伊兹·休爱特到巴西去,当时的社会也没有谴责他的这种行为,这就是“男尊女卑”
浅析苔丝悲剧的原因 摘要 托马斯.哈代是19世纪英国批判现实主义的代表，他既是一个小说家，又是一个诗人。德伯家的苔丝是他最为有影响力的一部巨著。该小说主要讲述了一个美丽纯真的少女失身后悲惨的命运。文章通过对小说中社会环境，他人影响及苔丝自身性格三个方面描写，由此揭露出苔丝的命运所在。她对命运有着反抗的一面也有着妥协的一面。所以，作为普通人的苔丝与当时社会抗争是无助的，最后会像所有一切与道德，伦理相悖的事物一样，被沦为社会的牺牲品。 关键词：悲剧；社会环境；他人影响；苔丝自身性格；牺牲品 托马斯·哈代（THOMAS HARDY，1840年6月2日－1928年1月11日）英国诗人、小说家。他是横跨两个世纪的作家，早期和中期的创作以小说为主，继承和发扬了维多利亚时代的文学传统；晚年以其出色的诗歌开拓了英国20世纪的文学。《德伯家的苔丝》（1891）是他最优秀的小说，写出身贫苦的少女苔丝被本家恶少奸污，后在牛奶场当了挤奶工，不久与牧师之子克莱相爱、结婚，新婚夜坦诚地向克莱讲了往事，结果遭弃，最后她杀死亚雷，被判绞刑。《苔丝》中的悲剧原因主要有家庭悲剧、社会悲剧和性格悲剧三个方面，三者融为一体，呈现出强大的立体感和层次感。 一、家庭悲剧 苔丝是在一个贫穷的农民家庭出生，从一开始她的父母就送她上了一条悲剧之路。苔丝来到亲戚家时，恶少艾力克便被她的美貌吸引对她起了邪恶的念头，他利用苔丝的无知与善良，骗她做一些不该做的事，当苔丝被诱奸后，使她受到身体与心理的双重煎熬，她是那么的无助与无奈。当遇上安吉尔时，苔丝对生活爱情看到了新的希望，安吉尔聪明、耿直，这正是苔丝所欣赏的，然而在新婚前夕，苔丝告诉丈夫自己的不幸遭遇，并没有得到丈夫的理解，而产生了鄙视与嫌弃，于是安吉尔抛弃了苔丝，就这样苔丝失去了丈夫，失去对生命、爱情、婚姻的信心，使她再一次陷入人生的悲痛之中。假如不是她那么单纯，相信丈夫会接受并理解，那个秘密也许永远也不会被安吉尔知道。安吉尔是精神的象征，但他敏感，不现实。 二、性格悲剧 从苔丝自身的性格而言，苔丝的悲剧又是性格的悲剧，她集人类美貌、善良、聪慧、勤劳、坦诚、坚贞于一身，是个纯情高洁的乡村田园姑娘。还有个突出的特点就是具有反抗性，但是信念和现实发生矛盾时，她又反抗的不彻底。就是她双重的性格给她带了灾难。当她父母让她去攀亲时，她毫不犹豫的答应了，她是那么的天真无邪，单纯。殊不知当她进入远房亲戚家门的那一刻，厄运正一步步的向她靠近，艾力克用尽一切手段想得到苔丝，涉世不深
Social Factors 1.Hypocritical Religion In the history of moral development in the west, the influence of religion is quite profound and extensive. In the novel of Tess, people regard Sunday as the most important day during a week. People often equate religion with morality. Religion ascribes the morality of human society to god, and preaches that god created human beings "in his own mode and likeness" and made moral precepts for people. Religion restrains people's thoughts and behaviors with strict moral discipline and governs people spiritually. Christian doctrine has become the standard for judging people's moral behaviors. When Tess told her mother she had been seduced, her mother believed it was right. Not only did she endure the pain of being raped, but she faced an even greater disaster. In a capitalist society, the bourgeoisie so that they safeguard the interests of its own class, tends to integrate religious morality with its own ethics. Angel’s father insists that a wife who agrees is more important rather than who can manage a farm well. It is under the judgment of religious morality that Tess becomes the model of moral depravity and the embodiment of evil. Tess's destruction relates to religion. 2. Legal System The hypocritical religion destroyed Tess, just like the unjust legal system. In capitalist society, morality, religion and law are closely linked. The bourgeoisie protects its own interests by law and punishes those who violate bourgeois morality and religious morality. Tess was sentenced to death for violating the so-called "law" of the bourgeoisie. Tess is not an adulterous slut, a victim instead. The essence of this religious morality is reactionary and serves for the ruling class. Under the pretext of the slogan of god, the bourgeoisie cheats and fools the laboring people, and religion becomes the opium that paralyzes the people's spirit and a ruling tool that oppresses the people.
浅谈《德伯家的苔丝》的悲剧性 ——从亚里士多德理论看苔丝的悲剧 《德伯家的苔丝》是英国巨匠托马斯·哈代的代表作。女主人公苔丝的悲剧和不幸是由多种原因构成的。本文以亚里士多德悲剧理论为背景，将时代、个人、命运三个角度为出发点，分析导致苔丝悲剧命运的根源。 1、社会环境背景引发了苔丝的悲剧 亚里士多德认为，悲剧是对某种严肃、完美和宏大行为的摹仿，它借助于富有艺术润色功能的各种语言形式，并把这些语言形式分别用于剧中每个部分。从时代悲剧上看，《德伯家的苔丝》真实地反映出在资本主义的压迫和剥削下，个体农民贫困破产的悲惨状况，愤怒的控诉资本主义制度，揭露资产阶级的压迫和剥削，资产阶级道德和宗教的伪善以及法律的不公。作者通过对苔丝遇见亚雷、克莱发生的一系列故事行为摹仿来营造一种悲剧氛围。 2、苔丝性格是悲剧产生的内在因素 亚里士多德还提到，悲剧的主人公之所以不幸，是因为他们性格上的缺陷造成的。从性格悲剧上看，苔丝性格中最主要的特征是真诚、勤劳、坚强，富于牺牲精神和反抗性，她很早就承担家庭生计，对家庭的责任感，人的尊严感和对生活的热爱，使她在困难和不幸面前表现出坚强的性格。苔丝的形象有农村妇女的美德。她淳朴、善良、真诚、热爱劳动，她生活的原则是自食其力，不羡慕荣华富贵，没有虚荣心，她对贵族家世并不稀罕，对克莱德爱是真诚纯洁的，丝毫没有参杂贪图财富与地位的想法。她一直憎恶痛恨亚雷，当她明确的意识到自己的一生是被亚雷毁掉时，便毅然刺死他，这一行动虽表现出她对社会恶势力强烈的反抗精神，但最终她逃脱不了死亡的悲剧。 3、哈代的宿命论思想为苔丝命运抹上浓重的悲剧色彩 从命运悲剧上看，苔丝的一生都带有偶然性和命中注定的色彩，它们相互扭结在一起，形成一股巨大的力量，制约着苔丝的一生，这些看似偶然的因素，却形成了一种必然的趋势，将她推向悲剧的结局。在她为了一家人的生存而被迫按照父母的意愿到所谓的本家那里找活干，成为一个雇佣劳动者开始，她不断遭受到资本家的残酷剥削。同时，传统观念也强烈的压迫着她，使她难以逃脱。苔丝虽然能够反抗亚雷的肉体压迫，却无法避免克莱在精神上的打击迫害。小说通过对苔丝无辜受害的描绘，对资产阶级社会及其法律、道德和虚伪的宗教，作了有力的揭露，进行了愤怒的控诉。 鲁迅先生对悲剧有一句精辟的概括：悲剧是把人生有价值的东西毁灭给人看。小说中的苔丝，在亚雷面前是刚烈的，而在克莱面前又是温柔的；在困难面前表现出难以想象的承受力，而在强大的命运面前，却脆弱无助；在克莱的心目中，她是天使；当真实地袒露于他面前时，她却仿佛变成了魔鬼；她的外表被男人视为欲望的源头，而她的内心又是无比的纯洁。
浅析苔丝悲剧形象分析提纲 《德伯家的苔丝》是19世纪末20世纪初英国著名小说家兼诗人托玛斯· 哈代的一部重要作品。卡尔·韦伯评论说:“没有人会为这种评价争论，即它是他最伟大的小说。”小说的女主人公苔丝是哈代无与伦比的女性画廊里最令人难忘的一个形象。这个身上流着诺曼底贵族血液的农民的女儿，她丽质天生，她有着天然的清新气息，也就是哈代先生笔下其他农民所共有的泥土气，同时她又有着他们所没有的天然的力量和高贵品质。她的故事纯粹是悲剧—依我们看来，是伊丽莎白女皇时代以来所创作的最大的悲剧。 一、苔丝的纯洁与资产阶级道德的虚伪 苔丝是“一个纯洁的女人”。苔丝的道德品质无疑是纯洁的，威塞克斯人的善良、纯朴、忠实、容忍和自我牺牲等传统美德在她身上得到了充分体现。但具有美好品德的苔丝不幸生长在维多利亚王朝。这是英国资本主义表面上繁荣昌盛的时期，是统治者引以自豪的英国史上又一个“黄金时代”；崇尚繁文缉礼，提倡虚伪道德，正是当时的社会风习。资产阶级所标榜的伦理道德实质上是资产阶级利益在意识形态领域的反映，它的核心是利己主义原则。资产阶级的利己主义者自私、冷酷、固执、虚伪、狡诈、淫邪、唯利是图、损人利己，他们破坏了威塞克斯社会天然的道德秩序，导致了具有传统美德的威塞克斯人的悲剧。 二、苔丝的善良与宗教的伪善和法律的不公 苔丝是一个具有威塞克斯人的善良的传统美德，但伪善的宗教和不公正的法律制度毁灭了这个善良的农家女子。 宗教是毁灭苔丝的又一种精神势力。在西方的道德发展史上，宗教的影响是相当深远而广泛的，人们往往把宗教等同于道德。宗教用严格的道德训条束缚着人们的思想和行为，对人们进行着精神上的统治。宗教道德对人们起着潜移默化的作用，它渗透在人们思想行为的各个方面，基督教教义成为了判断人们道德行为的标准。资产阶级利用宗教对人民实行思想上的统治资产阶级假借上帝的口号欺骗和愚弄劳动人民，宗教成为了麻痹人民的精神鸦片，成为了一种压迫人民的统治工具。 资产阶级通过法律来维护本阶级的道德原则，惩罚违犯了资产阶级伦理道德和宗教道德的人。苔丝正是被维护本阶级道德的资产阶级法律判处了死刑，是不公正的法律制度的牺牲品。 三、苔丝的悲剧与自我道德意识 苔丝的悲剧是为资产阶级服务的腐朽的伦理道德，伪善的宗教以及不公正的法律制度共同作用下的悲剧。 苔丝的痛苦在一定程度上来自自我，苔丝为自己织起了一张道德罗网。“作为一定历史时期的个人，她不仅在整个历史的进程中形成了特定历史时期的社会意识和道德观念，而且其思想和行动也始终受到历史和社会意识的制约。因此，苔丝遭受痛苦的心理原因，归根结蒂仍然是当时的社会和时代，她的痛苦是遭到毁灭的农民阶级集体意识的典型表现。
作家杂志Writer Magazine2010No.1借鉴与比较 彭雪梅张美兰摘要《德伯家的苔丝》是英国现实主义作家哈代最优秀的长篇小说，主人公苔丝是个悲剧人物，其悲剧成因是多方面的。本文试从家庭原因、社会原因、苔丝自身性格的原因，来解读苔丝的悲剧命运的形成。 关键词：苔丝悲剧原因家庭社会性格 中图分类号：I106.4文献标识码：A 试析苔丝悲剧命运的产生原因 一引言 托马斯·哈代是英国19世纪末的批判现实主义小说家和诗人。其作品多反映资本主义侵入英国农村城镇后所引起的社会、经济、政治、道德、风俗等方面的深刻变化以及下层劳苦人民（尤其是妇女）的悲惨命运，揭露了资产阶级道德、法律和宗教的虚伪性。哈代的创作时期正处于从“自由”资本主义向帝国主义过渡时期。他看到资本主义制度给劳动人民，尤其是给农民，带来的不幸和灾难。因此，对市场经济文明的发展采取了坚决的批判的立场。作为人道主义作家，哈代认为人民的生活是悲惨的，他对人民的命运表示同情，而他所塑造的主人公的悲剧命运也是人民命运的缩影。他认为性格和环境的冲突造成了个性的毁灭，《德伯家的苔丝》就是这样一部为他赢得了巨大声誉的悲剧小说典范，它奠定了哈代杰出悲剧作家的地位。 苔丝出生在一个穷苦的农民家庭。在一次事故中，家里的马意外死去，家庭失去唯一生存依靠。苔丝的父亲得知自己是名门望族之后，强迫苔丝去认亲。由于年幼无知，苔丝被恶少亚力克诱骗失身。她怀孕并生下一个婴儿，可惜婴儿很快就死了。不久后，苔丝在一个农场做工时遇见了安吉尔，两人相爱并结婚。在新婚之夜两人互诉过去。安吉尔过去的堕落得到了善良的苔丝的原谅，然而苔丝的过去却得不到他的谅解，安吉尔独自离家去了巴西。苔丝被迫回到娘家，生活也越来越艰难。父亲死后，由于付不起房租，母亲和四个弟妹流浪街头，为让母亲和年幼的弟妹有个安身之所，苔丝被迫再次回到亚力克身边做他的情妇。一年后，后悔万分的安吉尔回来寻找苔丝，而苔丝又受缚于亚力克。在绝望和愤怒中，满怀仇恨的苔丝杀死了亚力克，弱者做出了最后的反抗。在与安吉尔过了短暂的美好时光之后，苔丝在黎明时分被逮捕。 在《德伯家的苔丝》中,作者描写了一个美丽、善良、纯朴的农家女孩子的悲惨遭遇。他把她完美的道德品质和资产阶级的虚伪、堕落作风对比,对封建宗法制家长统治的英国农民所受的痛苦深表同情,从苔丝的生活和命运我们可以看出,哈代对待弱势社会中纯洁少女的态度,也可以看出作者自身的悲观态度和某些悲剧色彩，《德伯家的苔丝》包含了哈代对社会的无情控诉。苔丝的悲剧，即是社会的悲剧，同时又是性格悲剧，其悲剧的成因不仅有客观的而且还有主观的，亦即说不仅有外在的，而且还有内在的。本文试从家庭原因、社会原因、以及苔丝自身性格的原因，来解读苔丝的悲剧命运的形成。 二家庭原因分析 苔丝的家庭决定了她的苦难并把她推向了悲剧。苔丝的家庭原属于在当时农村不受欢迎的岌岌可危的阶层。苔丝的父亲是个懒散无能、虚荣愚昧而且好酒贪杯的小贩，母亲则是个浅薄庸俗不谙世事的洗衣妇。两个无能的父母却有着七个孩子，沉重的家庭负担随时都可能落到苔丝头上。偏偏苔丝又深情地爱着几个弟妹，不忍心看他们受苦。这个形势已决定了苔丝的命运。她的悲剧迟早是会发生的，只是表现形式可能不同而已。 苔丝只是一个农村姑娘，并非是什么女性的懿范。若不是因为家庭的贫穷和社会的歧视她原可以跟别的农村姑娘一样平平安安地过一辈子纯朴的劳动生活的。但是多嘴的牧师带来了有关她的贵族家庭历史的消息，让她的父亲多喝了几杯，不能按时到卡斯特桥送货。勇敢的苔丝只好带了弟弟一起去赶马车，没想到闯下大祸，弄死了“王子”，开始了她的悲剧。 苔丝的父亲，虚荣的老约翰，偶然得知苔丝家原是名门望族德伯维尔家的后裔，就执意要女儿去亚力克家认亲，从此攀上了一户好人家，全家人跟着享福，苔丝的母亲也劝女儿去拜访德伯维尔家。纯洁的苔丝本不愿去，但因内心愧疚，只好硬着头皮去认亲，她在那里工作并受到亚力克的诱骗，从此就开始了她悲惨的人生之路。在老约翰死后，家中所有的一切都得依靠苔丝，“在村里没有了权利和独立，无家可归的绝望把苔丝一家赶进了入侵者的强权中。”亚力克提供了抚养，苔丝屈服了亚力克。她的家庭能以这种方式过得不错，而苔丝付出了自己的身体，失去了最后的希望—— —跟安吉尔一起生活。家庭的贫困成为苔丝悲剧的重要因素。 三社会原因分析 这是苔丝悲剧的最根本原因。当时的英格兰有着严格的等级制度。作为最为低下的阶层，苔丝的家人们过着最苦最累最没有尊严的生活。在成为上层阶级的欲望驱使之下，苔丝的父亲竟会送他的漂亮女儿去所谓的望族德伯维尔家攀亲戚关系。社会是残酷的。劳动者成天劳作却没有一片田地，穷苦的农民被资产阶级社会所控制，成为上层社会贵族的想法让糊涂的农民没了头脑，没了判断力。苔丝的悲剧由她生活的最低下阶层所决定。 《苔丝》创作于19世纪80年代的维多利亚时期。维多利亚时期的英国妇女以温顺胆小、循规蹈矩、逆来顺受、信神奉神为美德。在那个时代，在婚姻问题上以遵循基督教道 050
浅析苔丝悲剧的成因 托马斯·哈代擅长以悲剧的眼光来审视人生, 以悲剧性的感悟及独特的方式来描绘人生的苦难，因此被评论家誉为“英国小说界的莎士比亚”。其代表名作《德伯家的苔丝》讲述了农村姑娘苔丝的悲剧命运。任何悲剧的产生都不是孤立或偶然的，而是由许多因素共同作用的结果。 关键词：苔丝；人为因素；社会因素；作家因素 正文部分： 一、苔丝是19 世纪末英国著名作家托马斯·哈代在《德伯家的苔丝》中，用现实主 义的笔触鲜明生动地塑造的一个美丽纯朴的农村姑娘。 《德伯家的苔丝》描述了发生在19 世纪的英国的一个悲惨的故事，5 月的一个夜晚，农村赶车汉约翰·德伯菲尔在回家途中，听一位牧师说他是名门贵族德伯维尔家的后裔。他兴奋异常，信以为真，一心想借此摆脱贫贱家地位，便要女儿苔丝到特冉特瑞齐去，向一家冒名德伯维尔姓氏的富户认亲戚。17 岁的苔丝姑娘，纯朴美丽，毫无人生经验，终于去那个“本家”帮佣，结果被恶少亚历克诱骗失身。苔丝悲愤回家，抑郁度日，生下的孩子也未能保住。后来，她来到一个牛奶场当挤奶工，在日常的劳动和生活中结识了一个青年安吉尔·克莱尔，两个人产生了爱情。然而苔丝内心矛盾：缠绵的爱情常常让她忘却往事;清醒的理智却又让她记起往事。悲痛的历史好似沉重的十字架压在她的身上，她多次欲言又止。在克莱强烈的追求下，两人终于结婚。新婚之夜，苔丝决心把自己的“罪过”都告诉克莱。不料克莱首先开口，向苔丝吐露了他自己过去的一段荒唐情事，苔丝当即真诚大度地宽恕了他。然而，当苔丝向他倾诉自己的不幸之时，却没有得到同样的饶恕。克莱尔以“身份不一样，道德观念就不同”，“乡下女人不懂什么叫体面”为由，冷酷地离开了她。之后为了养活全家，满足父母的虚荣心，维护所谓“丈夫”的尊严，苔丝又不得不饱受无尽的屈辱到一家农场干着跟男工同样繁重的劳动，并苦苦等候远走巴西的丈夫归来。可没过多久，亚历克又来纠缠她，而这时她的父亲不幸死亡，母亲又重病，房主逼租，全家沦落街头。在失去父亲的痛苦和生活窘况的双重逼迫下，绝望的苔丝再次接受亚历克的保护，答应跟他同居。但是，不幸总是降临到可怜的苔丝的头上。正在这时，克莱尔从巴西匆匆赶回。他让苔丝的生活再次失去平静，她悔恨交加，最终刺死了亚历克，跟克莱逃进森林过了五天幸福生活，之后被处死。苔丝的命运是悲惨的，究竟是什么导致了苔丝悲剧的发生?谁是罪魁祸首?苔丝的悲剧命运产生不是孤立或偶然的，而是由社会及其它因素共同作用的结果。 下面我将从人为因素、社会因素和作家因素三个方面具体深入的分析苔丝的悲剧成因。 二、导致苔丝悲剧的人为因素。 （一）苔丝的性格决定了悲惨的命运。 苔丝是一个孝顺、善良、纯洁、自尊、富有责任感、勇于反抗的英国乡下姑娘，但正是她的孝顺、善良、纯洁、自尊、责任感不断地给她带来灾难，正是她的性格造成了她的悲剧命运，这是莫大的不公平。 1、苔丝对父母孝顺，对家庭富有责任感。苔丝为了帮助她的父母，她可以付出一切苔丝先后两次失身都是由于家人生计所迫。苔丝第一次失身，是由于家里老马死亡，迫于生活压力和对父母的愧疚之情而去德伯家认亲戚、做帮工，但却遭到亚历克的强奸。苔丝第二次失身是为了家人，是在孤立无援的情况下发生的：苔丝新婚后遭到克莱尔的遗弃，为了生活，为了维护所谓”丈夫”的尊严而四处流浪打工，参加极其艰苦的劳动，生活极端艰苦，但仍然
苔丝悲剧的原因 令狐文艳 摘要：《伯德家的苔丝》中的女主人公出生在一个贫苦的农民家庭，她天生丽质、自认淳朴、责任心强并且勇于自我牺牲，但这样一位优秀的女孩一生却充满了磨难，并最终沦为杀人犯走上刑场。许多评论家认为命运是导致苔丝悲剧的根本原因。的确，命运在一定程度上酿成了苔丝的悲剧。但是除此之外，还有其他因素直接或间接造成了这场悲剧。因此，本文将从社会悲剧、命运悲剧、性格悲剧三个方面来进一步分析苔丝悲剧的原因。 关键词：命运悲剧社会悲剧性格悲剧 一、作者简介 哈代是一位享有世界声誉的英国小说家和诗人。他一生横跨了两个世纪，共发表了14部长篇小说还有4部短篇小说集，其中最著名的当推《德伯家的苔丝》、《无名的裘德》、《还乡》和《卡斯特桥市长》。他的作品反映了资本主义侵入英国农村城镇后所引起的社会经济、政治、道德、风俗等方面的深刻变化以及人民（尤其是妇女）的悲惨命运，揭露了资产阶级道德、法律和宗教的虚伪性。 二、作品简介 哈代在《伯德家的苔丝》中刻画了一位天生丽质、美丽又纯
洁的女性。在性格上她是那么的完美，但是如此聪明、可爱、勤劳善良的一个女孩。在她无知的情况下被亚雷克侵犯后，等待苔丝的不是社会的同情和怜悯，而是人们的异样眼光和唾弃。由此，苔丝与命运之间展开了激烈的争斗。苔丝竭尽全力摆脱萦绕在脑海中的不光彩的过去，奋力追求属于自己的幸福，但这一切都无果而终。她被世俗和社会打上罪人的烙印，并屡次被侵犯她的人设计陷害。更可悲的是当侵犯者亚雷克逍遥法外时，苔丝却独自承担所有的不公。最终，绝望中的苔丝刺死了亚雷克，并为此付出宝贵的生命。 三、苔丝悲剧的原因 （一）社会悲剧 1、无情的资本主义社会 苔丝生活在一个动荡的时代，在十九世纪到二十世纪这个时代的英国，资本主义生产的入侵使得小农经济解体，迫使小农走向破产。苔丝就生活在这个时代的一个的小农家庭里，作为长女，她很早就承担起帮助父母养家的重担。那匹老马“王子”是这个贫穷家庭唯一的财富和经济支柱。但是在她和弟弟给小商贩们送蜂蜜的途中，王子意外的死亡。苔丝认为是她导致了王子的死亡，因此她很自责。王子的死对这个本来就很贫穷的家庭来说无疑是个致命的打击，从此以后家里的生活变得更加穷困不堪。苔丝的父母比较无能和贪慕虚荣，这事之后他们想到的第一件事就是让女儿去认清，从此攀上好人家过上好日子去，全家人也跟着享福。苔丝本不想去认亲，因为自
淮北师范大学信息学院 2014 届学士学位论文 《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧成因分析 系别:外语系 专业:英语 学号: 20101843021 姓名: 指导教师: 张立友 指导教师职称: 讲师 2014年 5 月 15 日
Information College, Huaibei Normal University A Study on the Causes of Tess’ Tragedy in Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Under the Supervision of Lecturer Zhang Liyou Submitted to the Foreign Language Department in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature Huaibei, P. R. China May, 2014
淮北师范大学信息学院 本科生毕业论文（设计）诚信承诺书 本人郑重承诺所呈交的毕业论文（设计）《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝悲剧成因分析，是在指导教师张立友的指导下严格按照学校和学院有关规定完成的。本人在毕业论文（设计）中引用他人的观点和参考资料均加以注释和说明。本人承诺在毕业论文（设计）选题和研究内容过程中没有抄袭他人的研究成果和伪造相关数据等行为，若有抄袭行为，由本人承担一切责任。 承诺人：2010 年级英语专业 签名： 2014 年6 月 6 日