The tragedy of TessIntroduction of the novel and its influenceTess of the D’Urbervilles, published in 1891,was Thomas Hardy’s last and most significant work. In this novel, Hardy reached the height of his achievement as a novelist. Readers are attracted not only by the innate beauty, but the tragic fate of Tess, the heroine.Tess of the D’urbervills, is about the tragedy of Tess Durbeyfield, who was born in a poor peasant family. When their horse was killed by an accident, the family lost the only me ans to make a living. As Tess’s father got a piece of news from a parson that he was the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d’Urbervilles, Tess’s mother persuaded her to visit the d’Urbervilles clan at Tranreidge. Tess worked t here and was seduced by Alec d’Uberville. Tess gave birth to a child, but it was unlucky, it died very soon. A long time later, Tess worked at the dairy farm at Talbothays, where she met Angel Clare again, he was a pastor’s son, and wanted to study farming. After a short time, they loved each other. On their wedding night Angel told Tess about an evening of debauchery in his won past. Tess forgiven him andtold her affair with Alec, thinking that he would forgive her as she did for him. But Clare disappointed Tess and did not forgive her when she told him her past story with Alec. Clare left her for Brazil. With the great poverty of her family, Tess had to work under the hardest condition at Flintcomb-ash. Then her father died and the family was expelled from their cottage. In order to support her family, Tess was driven to go back to Alec d’Urberville. One year later, Angel Clare returned from Brazil, being chastened and repented of his cruel treatment of Tess, but the relationship of Tess and Alec, Angel cannot live with Tess. She hated Alec and killed him. After a short happy life with Angel, Tess was arrested at dawn.She was a woman of integrity, and pure in heart, yet she was driven to the hell by the society. Tess lost her virginity, which was caused by Alec. At that time, she only was a 17- year –old- girl. So the main responsibility should be blamed on Alec. At the second time, Tess had to live with Alec, this was caused by her parents and Angel. At last, she killed Alec, this was the weakling’s resi stance.From the character of Tess, I can see the hardship of her life. In herheart, she was a pure girl. At the end of the novel, Thomas Hardy described it full of meaning that “Justice” was done, and President of the Immortals in Aeschy lean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess (Thomas Hardy 2004). From this part, I understand that was Hardy’s strong accusing of British social system.Analysis of the cause of Tess’s tragedyThe social environment made Tess’s tragedy inevitable. At the end of 19th century, capitalism prevailed in the whole England that made broad masses of peasant went bankrupt and then they had to live in poverty and grave situation. The destruction of English peasant caused by capitalism. It was the decisive force that had driven “Tess” to tragedy doom. In the novel, there are many descriptions of Tess working in the field. Though, she was exhausted with manual labor, she could hardly support her family. The self-supporting peasants were displaced and impoverished.Both Alec a nd Angel violated and made fun of Tess. Tess’s physically was injured by Alec d’Urberville, and mentally was affected by Angel Clare. Alec and Angel by different way made Tess’s tragedy from bad toworse.Alec was a lecher, also was a man to do wrong to others to benefit for himself. From this point, it both reflected the landlord class’s nature characteristics in countryside, and emerging capitalist’s feature. But Angel’s circumstance was more complex and volatile. On one hand, he was capitalist with a freedom of mind. He look down upon the material distinction of rank and wealth, and scorned the class’s prejudice and with other concepts. He disliked the life of busy section of the city, and went to the countryside to study the agricultural skills. In the nature life, he got acquainted with Tess who was pure as the nature .I can say it affirmatively that Angel loved Tess at first, because he gave up his parents’ arrangement to marry Mercy Chat, even that was a marriage between the families that were of equal social rank. On other hand, Angel had an idea of egoism, even though, himself was not a pure man, and he could not to accept Tess who was not a really pure bride. He considered her as a “fallen woman”. He still judged “purity” with the conventional value and moral standard that were implanted in him when he was a boy. He was the slave to the custom and conventionality. Obviously, what he loved was not Tess, but another in her shape (Thomas Hardy 2004). He abandoned his wife for Brazil, which was adeathblow to innocent woman Tess.Tess’s father only was a ped-lar, but he with full of vanity and ignorant, he also was a drinker. After Tess’s father Jack Durbeyfild learned that he was descended from the famous d’Urberville family, He felt very proud, and from then on, there might add “sir” before his name, it was glory for him. And then he became indolent and sluggish. He had never done more work than was necessary to keep his family supplied with meager food and himself with beer but from that day on he ceased doing even that small amount of work. Durbeyfild won’t be able to take the journey with the beehives in the early morning, but somebody must go. In his family, no other fit for the job only himself. Tess was obliged to do the difficult job. There happened an accident, and killed their poor horse Prince. The death of the horse destroyed the family’s livelihood and finished the family’s hauling business. From then on, Tess thought that she had dragged her parents into quagmire.Tesss’s mother Joan Du rbeyfield was an unenlightened happy woman, as her husband full of vanity. She had a beautiful and lovely daughter, and felt that was glorious for her family. She tried Tess’s fatein the Fortune-teller, and it brought out that every thing, and Tess’s skin was as sleek as a duchess’s, so she was sure that Tess likely enough to marry a noble gentleman (Thomas Hardy 2004). The unrealistic thought led she to persuade her oldest daughter, Tess, to visit the Stoke-d”Urbervilles which was the claim kin .The first time of Tess left home for work at Alec’s family, as a mother, she did not tell her anything about a man maybe danger for a woman, at that time she only was 17 years old girl, but her full of vanity mind did not think over it much, her only hope was that Tess would make a good impression on the rich d’Ubervilles and perhaps a good marriage with one of the son.Tess’s tragedy was not only caused by external reason, but also the internal reason. Tess herself was pure in heart and had a kind heart, and without experience. It just unlucky that Tess met Alec, who was a man of easy virtue, so she could not escape from entice into unlawful sexual intercourse of Alec. After the dishonorable thing, Tess left Alec. During the following times, Tess met Angel Clare at the dairy farm. He loved Tess and treated Tess “equally”, which made Tess trust him and fell in love with him. Tess loved Angel deeply, with the result that she acted on impulse. And besides, she was affected deeply by the society and belonged to conservative, so she was thinking about it all the time thatshe was not a virgin girl. So that she didn’t want to marry Angel and refused many times of the offer of marriage by Angel. But she was unable to bear the enticement of emotion and agreed to marry him at last. Because of his “noble virtue”, Tess opened her mind to him and told him all her past story with Alec on their wedding night, thinking that Angel would forgive her as she did for him. From then on a series of graver tragedy took place in her future life.Tess’s tragedy was the tragedy of character. On one side, struggled bravely against her destiny and the conventional morality. She desired for happiness and true love. On the other side, she could not completely get rid of social conventions and moral standards of the day, which made her believe that she had to pay for what she had sinned. In chapter 37of Tess of the D’Urberilles, Hardy described that Angel occasionally walk in his sleep:Angel had instinctively manifested a fondness for her of which his common-sense did not approve, Angel might have a faint recollection of his tender vagary, and was disinclined to allude to it from a conviction that she would take amatory advantage of opportunity it gave her ofappealing to him anew not to go (Thomas Hardy 2004).From this point, I think that Tess was very obstinate. She yielded to the arrangement of the fate .The later was the weak point in her character.Summarize the process of the tragedy.Tess Durbeyfeild’s misfortune started from the sudden death of the only horse. At that time, Tess’s father learned that his family belonged to the ancient and knightly family of the d’Urberilles. Also there had a rich family of Stoke d’Urbervilles. In fact, Alec was the son of a rich merchant who added the name of d’Urberille to his own name, stoke, because it had historical association and the d’Urbervilles were supposed to be extinct. So Tess was sent to visit the claim kin of Alec d’Uberville.At the end of chapter 5, Alec said: “well, I’m damned! What a funny thing! Ha-ha-ha! And what a crumby girl!”(Thomas Hardy2004). From this point, I learned that Alec was a lecher. Of course Tess could not leada very easy life at Alec’s family. Alec was shrewd and crafty wrote a letter by his mother’s tone ask ed Tess to look after a litter fowl-farm, which was her hobby. It just was a trap for Tess. Even though, Tess’s mother knew it just an artful way of getting Tess went to there, but she didn’t know it just Alec’s wish.On the way to Alec’s family, Alec be gan to take liberties with Tess, and kissed her. Tess worked there for four months and was seduced by Alec. Then Tess gave birth a child, but it died very soon.At the dairy farm Tess was liked and well treated, at that time, that was Tess’s happy life i n her experience. At the dairy farm Tess met Angel. At first Tess seemed to regard Angel Clare as an intelligencer rather than as a man. By this way, Tess fell in love with Angel, but she cannot get rid of her sense of guilt. Her love for him acted to blot out the memories of the past, but she was always aware that her forgetfulness was only temporary, that the doubts, fears, and sham were only waiting like wolves just outside the light. Although Tess was in love with Angel by this time, the memory of her night with Alec caused her to refuse Angel again and again. At last she could not bear any more, and agreed to marry him.On the night before the wedding, Tess wrote a letter to Angel for telling everything about herself and Alee, She shipped the letter under his door, but Angel did not discover the letter, because she had put the letter under the carpet. When she realized that Angel had not found the letter. She attempted to tell him about her past. But Angel did not discover the letter,because she had put the letter the carpet. When she realized that Angel had not found the letter. She attempted to tell him about her past. But Angel did not think it was important, thinking that such a pure girl could have no black sins in her history.On their wedding night, Tess made a final decision to tell him all her past, but it was easy, Angel said at first that he wanted to make a confession to her. It was easy for her to forgive him, so she began to tell him all her past. It was difficult for Angel to forgive Tess, he could not accept this fact. Form then on Tess’s tragedy form bad to worse. For several days later, Angel left Tess for Brazil.Angel had left Tess some money and some jewels, but her family went hungry once more, for her father still thought himself too high-born to work for a living. After her father died, her family was expelled from their cottage, and her family’s homelessness made Tess found no was out, Tess had to again go from farm to farm. At that time, Tess’s tragedy reached the climax.While Tess was working in the field, She met Alec again. Alec began to pursue her once more. Frightened, Tess wrote to Angel told him that she loved him and needed him, and begged him to forgive her and to return to her. For long time she did not receive an answer from Angel. In order to support the family, Tess had no other means to choose, only to accept Alec’s “help” for the second time. Angel was late just for a few days, although he should have reunited with Tess a few days earlier. These series of chance happening seems to decide Tess’s tragedy, and each of them put Tess further into the mysterious entrapment until her. Throughout the whole story, Tess was constantly involved in the mysterious fate, which led to the tragedy step by step.ConclusionHardy created Tess as an attractive and warm-hearted pure woman who has the quality of endurance and self-sacrifice. Thus result Tess has become the victim of her family and the society in which she exists. Through the above analysis and the summarizat ion of Tess’s tragedy, it is obvious that the poverty, Alec’s wickedness, Angel’s conventional ideas, Tess’s character as well as Hardy’s fatalism are the direct causes of Tess’s tragedy. But the direct causes are deeply rooted in the cruel social environment: the impoverished peasant, the unjust law and cruel convention. Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that the society is the real and deeply rooted cause of Tess’s tragedy.。
