Tess of D’Urbervilles
Analysis of each character’s impact on Tess’ adversity
1. The story of Tess
In the book Tess of D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy portrayed a poor innocent girl Tess who was seduced, abandoned and ultimately hanged on account of murder. The essay aims to explore the multiple reasons led to Tess’final mishap through the analysis of each character’s personal traits and influence on Tess.
Tess, a comely innocent country girl, was born in an impoverished family. Her good-for-nothing father accidentally acquired the knowledge that they were kin to a noble family who was still in existence and sent her to claim kindred. Unexpectedly, the man called Alec D’Urbervilles was stunned by her beauty and sought all possible means to seduce her. Poor Tess lost her virginity when she was asleep. Bearing the crushing guilty and shame, she left there and later gave birth to a baby who died before long. Tess, in the hope of evading the floating rumors prevailed the village, sought a job in the adjacent dairy-house. It was there her fervor towards life was kindled again. She felt deeply in love with a gentleman named Angel Clare. Though shamed of her past misfortune, Tess accepted his ardent pursuit and married him before she could sought the proper chance to confide her secret. On the very night of their marriage, Tess retailed her heart-wrenching history to her loved one. Nonetheless, the story was too much for Clare who had been regarding Tess as a pure and innocent girl. He abandoned her in spite of her earnest and desperate imploration and left for Brazil. For the sake of her impoverished family, Tess was forced to resume toiling in another village where she ran into the culprit of her misery——Alec D’Urbervilles. Detesting him to the utmost degree, Tess rebuffed any favor he offered and wrote to Clare begging his forgiveness and return. However, her father’s abrupt death plunged the whole family into a homeless impasse. With no one to turn to, desperate Tess was forced to subdue to Alec’s pursuit. On the other hand, Clare, who had gone though a fierce psychological struggle, eventually resolved to forgive and accept her abandoned wife. However, things all changed dramatically. When Tess found the return of her loved husband, she was again trapped in extreme anguish. She killed Alec in anger and despair. The couple, who have finally unit, enjoyed transient
bliss and felicity before Tess was hanged. And, the story ends.
2. Each characters personal traits and influence on Tess
The harrowing story of Tess is no individual’s fault, but is the collective result of a bevy of people emerging in her life. They shaped the trajectory Tess plodded along. Some of them were good in nature and bore no ill-will towards Tess, however, their ignorance and selfish inflicted immense torment on her. In the passages to come, I shall analyze each character, with their influence decrease progressively, to better understand why fine innocent Tess would end so tragically.
2.1. Alec D’Urbervilles
Alec D’Urbervilles is the arch criminal of Tess miserable life. He is a profligate, skittish, self-centered, irresponsible and oscillatory dude.
Since the very first sight of Tess, he had been obsessed by her gorgeous appearance and coveting her body. Taking advantage of Tess’ parents’ vanity and desire, he flattered, coaxed Tess and even won support from her family with money and materials. Seeking his own happiness and lusty desire, he seduced Tess in the condition of her sound sleeping without the slightest consideration, especially in that time when girls’ virginity was so important, of the consequences of his conducts. Worse still, he left Tess after the misconduct with no further inquiry of what might befall her. It was on account of his selfish and imperious behaviors that Tess was pregnant with helplessness and humiliation; it was because of his recklessness and irresponsibility that Tess lost her child grievously beyond measure even without a formal funeral for her baby. Seems that he had tortured Tess enough, however, his reappearance after Tess was abandoned by his husband once again stirred her life and exacerbated her misfortune. Years after their departure, Tess encountered him when he was preaching among clusters of people. A former devil with bloody crime was persuading people to believe in God, he looked more like a clown. However, the outward devoted priest relinquished all his belief in God the moment he glanced at Tess and resumed his ardent and brazen pursuit of her despite her marriage. In order to make him drop his love, Tess told him the story of their poor baby and her tragic life after his departure. It seemed that there was a moment that Alec took on the coat of kindness. He offered to help her out but was
