Declaring Tess’s Tragedy

hongyan Su

Abstract： One of the most famous novels of Hardys is “Tess of DUrbervilles”. In this novel Hardy created a beautiful country girl with emotion vividly. It tells us the tragic life story of Tess.It states Tesss tragedy from three perspectives， namely， the tragedy of love， tragedy of life and tragedy of fate.

Key Words： Tess， tragedy， love， life， fate

1.Tess 's tragedy

1.1 Description of Tesss tragedy

Tess is a beautiful and pure country girl. She has beautiful life hope and advanced thought. Tess should have lived a happy and peaceful life. But because of a series of difficulties， she becomes poor and pitiful. She lives a miserable live and has a miserable fate. Now it is aimed at stating her tragedy from the three aspects following：

1.1.1 Tragedy of love

Tess is very beautiful and kind. She， like other girls， wants a beautiful love. But at her early age， she meets Alec who is the son of a rich merchant. Alec seduces her and makes her pregnant. So she gives birth to an illegitimate child. But the child dies. This gives an innocent girl a huge shock. With these unlucky things， Tess goes to a farm to start her new life. There she meets Angel Clare whom she loves most. But because of her past， she cant express her love to Angel. Tess is very painful. She thinks that she has no qualifications to gain Angels love. But due to their true love， Tess chooses to live with Angel， but she must tell Angel her past. So at the wedding night， she tells him that. He feels that he is deceived by her. Tesss image in his heart hasnt been like that before. He casts her off. Tess is abandoned by her husband who ever loves her. This unfortunate pushes her into the abyss again. She returns Alec and lives with him. But the life doesnt last too long. At last， this love pushes her towards the guillotine.（李有華，12-13）

Love gives Tess a miserable experience. First it gives Tess misfortune. Then it gives her happiness. But at last， she is pushed towards abyss by her love. So her tragedy can be regarded as love tragedy.

1.1.2 Tragedy of life

Tess and her family live a poor life. They are the farmers. Their life if very hard.In her family，there are seven children and they cant afford the food. Tess is the eldest.So she always helps her mother do much work.Due to the hardship of life， she goes to Alec for help.Her tragedy starts here. She is seduced bu Alec and has a child.This is not enough.In order to shake off her misfortune and poor life， she leaves home and goes to a farm.There she has a true love with Angel.But because of her past，she is casted off.Then she is forced to go home.After returning ，her father dies and her family are fored with starvation.Tess yields to Alec and returns to Alec again，This causes Tesss death.Because Tess shouldnt have returned to Alec and have waited for Angel，but due to the hardship of life，she is forced to return to Alec again.Life lets Tess not be with Angel at last.So from stating her life，Tesss tragedy is tragedy of life.

1.1.3 Tragedy of fate

Tess always fights against her fate through her whole life.Her whole life is full of tragedy.From the day when she was born，she fights against her fate because she was born in a farmers family.She lives a poor life.She always tries her best to change her life.But the hardship of life and the the society force her to be a double-characteristics person.Tess has a beautiful life hopeand expects to change her life by her hands. But the hardship of life she is forced to yield to Alec.At the same time，the capital society develops very fast.It brings the new generation many new thoughts.Tess and her lover have advanced and new thoughts，but they cant cast off the old morality completely.Then she is casted off by her husband after telling her past to him.In the end ，however，she is pushed towards the guillotine because she kills Alec.Her whole life is very miserable and she cant cast off all the ties.This decides that she has no good ending.Tesss life is not only short but also bitter and astringent.So Tesss tragedy can be regarded as her tragedy of fate.（石曉杰，《從哈代的宿命觀看苔絲悲劇的必然性》） .

To an innocent girl，this shouldn't have occurred to her.What does Tess commit exactly？Why does she undergo two unfortunes？After the first，she should have had a brand-new life.But the reality is not like punishment on her.As a matter of fact，she is a victim.It is unjust for her.Her fate shouldn't be like that.What causes the all actually？

2Conclusion

Tess is the image of the poor and pitiful farmer in that time.She is the victim of the capitalism.Her fate reflects the social background and the peoples life in that time.In that period，poor people have no social status and live a miserable life.They suffer from the rich peoples exploitation and oppression.They have no freedom and right.Although they want to get rid of the poverty by themselves，they cant do that because of the exploiting class.Tess is the representative of them.Tesss life and fate are the epitome of those people.From Tesss experience，it is known that those people are very painful.And Hardy expresses his understanding towards the society..

作者簡介

蘇紅艷（1982-），女，四川新津人，學歷：學士，職稱：助教，研究方向：英語教育。