The Analysis of Tess’s Character

曲憲明

【Abstract】Tess of The DUrbervilles is one of Hardys powerful novels. The time that Hardy wrote Tess of The DUrbervilles was in the late nineteenth century. Then British society was experiencing severe strains in its attempts to adjust to vast alterations in its structure. And this novel reflects several of the most pressing problems of that time.

【Key words】chastity； tradition； strength； religion

1. HISTORY BACKGROUND AND THEMES OF THIS NOVEL

The age in which Hardy wrote Tess of The DUrbervilles， sometimes called the late Victorian period （after Queen Victoria， who reigned from 1837 to 1901）， was one of great change and many difficulties. English society was experiencing severe strains in its attempts to adjust to vast alterations in its structure， and Tess of The DUrbervilles reflects its authors concern with several of the most pressing problems of his time. Hardy depicts the effects of the pressure of the new， urban， and industrial civilization on the old， rural， and agricultural life of Wesssex. He exposes the hypocrisy of the rules that govern sexual behavior and the position of women in society. The third theme of the book is the question， especially acute in his day， of how to live in a time when religion no longer provided acceptable rules of conduct. Both Angel and Clare are typical young men of the age， sufficiently enlightened to reject the traditional standards， but unable to create new ones for themselves. Thus both are alone in relation to their society. Tess is one of the first novels to examine this theme of the effects of spiritual and moral isolation in modern society. They form the background of ideas and feelings against which the characters move and act.

2. THE SHORT STATEMENT OF TESSS CHARACTER

Tess is the heroine and main character of the story. Although she has more education than was usual for most girls of her class and time， she is still basically a simple and pure country girl. Although most of Hardys country people are strong and enduring， Tess possesses these qualities to an astonishing degree. She is oppressed by misfortune after misfortune as the book proceeds， but not until the very end does she abandon hope and give away under the terrible strain she has undergone. Even then it is only because she despairs of seeing Angel， the man she loves more than life itself， that she breaks down. She consents to be Alecs mistress， but only because this seems to be the sole means of assuring the welfare of her family. When Angel returns， and the possibility of love reenters her life， she no longer can tolerate her position. She kills Alec， and runs away with Angel. Tess is the only morally sound person in a world otherwise populated by morally fragmented individuals. And it is this wholeness， along with her striking beauty， that is so attractive to Alec and Angel. It is， paradoxically， this very spiritual nobility that makes her so vulnerable to men like Angel and Alec， who do not and cannot commit themselves to another person as she does. She is the only major character who is not completely and disastrously bound up with her own ego. She is the only one who does not exploit and use people.

3. TESS CONFRONTED WITH TRADITIONAL CHASTITY CONCEPT

Tess burdens herself with the whole family so early that she meets with a lot of unlucky events. She is too pure， too brave， so that she often takes no account of her own interests to help her family and other people. This kind of character， however， causes a lot of misfortunes to her from beginning to end. After Alec cheats her into coming to the chase where he seduces Tess， Tess makes up her mind to leave Alec and go back to her own poor family. That is a very simple decision. She does not want to be love with a man who she does not really love， and force that man to get married with her；she does not want to fool about with that man either. Therefore she chooses to go off. Her logic is just so simple， though she knows the serious consequence of this decision very clearly. The decision is also simple and brave. In this place， there is a problem about the traditional chastity concept that is governed by males. According to the traditional chastity concept， the wifes virginity is the husbands prerogative， and the woman has sexual relations with a man， the only way that she can choose is to be married with that man， no matter whether she loves him. Males， however， have not the obligation to keep their virginity. Such a man as Angel Clare， who himself thinks that his thought is very enlightened， does not care about his own dissolute life either. He has ever had a forty-eight-hour dissipated history with an adult woman in London. And moreover he has ever intended to go to Brazil with Izz Huett， a milkmaid at Talbothays， a friend of Tess. But he does not feel guilty about these things at all. Instead， he takes Tesss losing her virginity to heart.

The choice of Tess is basically a challenge to the traditional chastity concept by means of her simple logic， which shows her instinctive purity. This kind of character is worth being praised. The spirit of strength and revolt is a main character of Tess. She endures a series of living strikes and the pressure of common morals. But she never surrenders to difficulty and evil. She is never backward and has no urge to make progress. The dignity and will of supporting herself by her own labor makes her show tremendous strength in front of hardship. She sticks to earning her living by her own labor. She is not willing to be a plaything of Alec. She not only revolts Alec， who represents the violent power， but also bravely looks down upon religion. As an ordinary country girl， she herself baptizes her bastard in the name of Father， Mother， and Holy Spirit， which shows her amazing bravery. When Tess feels the illusion of God in the hardship of life， she firmly breaks off the relations with the church and laughs at the injustice of God. Hardy cherishes a deep feeling of humanitarianism and praises her good human nature and noble quality of the daughter of Nature. Hardys purport lies in making it clear that Tess is innocent and her lifes tragedy is caused by capitalist society. The family of Tess is a typical representative of thousands of poor peasants in the country of England. Owing to her wretched and helpless family， Tess has to bear the burden of life， and slave away for landlords by herself. As a result， she suffers Alecs seduction. Alec， who represents the upstarts of the capitalist class， stands for the power， wealth and evil in dark society. Alecs soiling Tess not only means the oppressors persecution to common people， but also means the modern civilizations aggression upon the simple life in the country. Because of Alecs devastation， Tess becomes an “impure” woman and a sinner of social laws and regulations in civilized society. After the heroine and main character suffers humiliation， Hardy angrily writes， “Where was Tesss guardian angel？ Where was the Providence of her simple faith？ …… Why it was that upon this beautiful feminine tissue， sensitive as gossamer， and particularly blank as snow as yet， there should have been traced such a coarse pattern as it was doomed to receive；why so often the coarse appropriate the finer thus， many thousands of years of analytical philosophy have failed to explain to our sense of order.”（Thomas Hardy， Tess of The DUrbervilles， Beijing：The Commercial Press， 1996. P.86）

However， the traditional chastity concept still has a great influence upon Tess. She has ever been a strong and brave woman. But after the event of her return from the house of her rich kinfolk， Tess is overwhelmed with the sense of sin， guilt， and inferiority forever. Later as soon as she meets with similar problems， she will flinch and shrink weakly. In the church， when the people who had turned their heads turned them again as the service proceeded， and at last observing her they whispered to each other， Tess thought that they were talking about her and grew sick at heart， feeling that she could come to church no more. She is always thinking of the prostitute in the Bible and at times she looks on herself as a prostitute unconsciously. Hardy points out， “Tess had drifted into a frame of mind which accepted passively the consideration that if she should have to burn for what she had done， burn she must， and there was an end of it.” （Thomas Hardy， Tess of The DUrbervilles， Beijing：The Commercial Press， 1996. P.112） .

It is striking that Tess expresses a pessimistic view of life in its emphasis on the all-powerful quality of fate. If mankind is in the hands of blind forces against whose power they can do nothing， then obviously the outlook is gloomy. We see such a view presented again and again：in the way that Tess will not pray for Alec because she does not believe that any supreme power will change its plans because of her wishes；in the repeated comparison of Tess to a bird in a trap， completely helpless. Tess not only must contend with these great forces but， Hardy makes clear， she lives in a society whose rules have a great part in crushing her. When she leaves Alec to return home， Tess feels that she is a sinner because of the beliefs that have been implanted in her by society. By the end o f the book she comes to realize that she has been judged and condemned by a completely unreasonable and arbitrary moral law. It is possible to maintain that Tesss life would not have been tragic at all had it not been for the problems arising from social conventions. Had it not been for the disapproval of those around her， her seduction might simply have taught her something about the world without ruining her life. Therefore， society is so largely to blame for the fate that befalls Tess. Hardys fatalism reflects his own confused and depressed mood in exploring human fate.

References：

[1]Morgan，Rosemarie.Women and Sexuality in The Novels of Thomas Hardy.London：Routledge，1988.

[2]Steel，Gayla R.Sexual Tyranny in Wessex，New York：Peter Long Publishing Inc.，1993.

[3]Thomas Hardy，Tess of The DUrbervilles.Beijing：The Commercial Press，1996.