The Tragical Causes of Tess of the D’Urbervilles

楊苗

Abstract： Thomas Hardy was a famous critical realistic writer at the turn of the 19th century in England； Tess of the DUrbervilles is one of the most influential all his works. This novel was going to expose Hardys frustration and pessimism towards social mobility， moral collapse and the class structure. Tess was scapegoat of narrow-mindedness， she always wanted to be independent from the man-dominated society and won the respect for men. Tess was a victim of male ideology. The man-dominated society and hypocritical religion controlled and ruined Tesss whole life.

Key words： the fatal destination hypocritical religion man-dominated society

When Tess of the DUrbervilles appeared in 1891， the hypocritical bourgeoisie invaded the countries in England，which is as one of the most famous novels reflecting the change of social economical， political， moral and traditional reforms. Tess of the DUrbervilles brought him notoriety—it was considered quite scandalous—and fortune. The tragedy story begun with a ordinary thing： Tess became involved with Alec who gave her employment but took advantage of her， seduced her in unpleasant circumstances. Tess and Alec had a child together who died early and can not be baptized because he was illegitimate. The second stage of the novel concerned the family of the Reverend Mr Clare and his son Angel. Angel and Tess fell in love and got married， but she admitted the incident with Alec when she had a marriage ceremony， their relationship was torn apart. Finally， Angel made a decision of departure for South America and deserted Tess. During Tesss difficult time， Angel did nothing to help her， she went suffered the poverty and had no economical support， she had no choice to live with Alec after he attempted to ensnare her again. This confusion and depression led to murder and crime， the so called “Justice” ，finally destroyed superficial impurity on the part of Tess. This was an exceptionally bleak novel that offered little relapse from the persistent cruelty of fate or as the novel would have it the President of the Immortals against Tess.

Tess of the DUrbervilles had demonstrated the controlling England society of nineteenth century. The process of morality collapse and the performance can demonstrate the convention and the man-dominated society of Victorian age. Tesss shape characters contributed greatly to the fatal destination. The whole process was that she just wanted to pursue the true love and equality； unfortunately， she was destroyed by the man-dominated society and man authority. She defended herself by committing a violent act； she was brought to injustice and execution. Even she just got nothing in the end， Tess was unjustly forced to suffer such tragic end. We needed a light to explore and change the unfair society ； women can not always be victim of the society. Tess devoted himself to search the power and courage from the rebellion.The Christian morality and bourgeois view of class destination destroyed the belief and hope. The tragedy of Tess was her decisions which were made with good and pure intentions but resulted in damaging consequences. She was a victim of circumstance in that her individuality made little difference to her fate， she was a scapegoat of narrow - mindedness and convention. In the man–dominated society， woman had to suffer the injustices of the man-made law； woman and man were treated unequally in the term of the morality. Living in a society overwhelmed by capitalist law， religion and state apparatus， Tess obviously has the dual nature of the social character― resistance and compromise， her endurance and self-sacrifice forced lead her into tragedy.

From the tragic story of Tess short life， we could see in a deeper sense that it is the capitalist society of the time that ruined her， Tess finally went to her collapse. She suffered a weakness of will and reason， struggling against a fate.The balance between the society and person was lost； people would suffer the disappointment and pain then create new life styles to adjust to the society.Tess wanted to pursue the economic independence， unfortunately， she finally failed to support his family and earned the living with her own pain and courage. Tess had hope and ambition and wanted to make a place in the world， when all the other ways were disappointed， she finally accepted assistance， then accepted the fact that is fate.

References

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