A Closer Look at Tess’s Tragedy

SUN+Li-ying

【Abstract】Tess of the Durbervilles is one of Thomas Hardys masterpieces， which depicts the tragic life of a pure， beautiful and hard-working country girl named Tess. This paper first reviews the tragic and remorseful life of Tess. Then， it explores the deep and fundamental causes behind a series of seemingly accidental affairs， and concludes that， Tesss tragedy is a social one. She is crushed by the destructive social forces including the utter poverty of her family， the hypocritical religion， the double social moral standards set for men and women.

【Key words】Tess of the DUrbervilles； Thomas Hardy； Tess； tragedy

【摘要】《德伯家的苔絲》是托馬斯·哈代的代表作之一。它描寫了一個純潔、美麗、勤勞的農家姑娘苔絲的悲劇一生。文章首先回顧了苔絲令人惋惜的悲劇生活， 并探討了一系列貌似巧合的事件之后所隱藏的深刻的悲劇根源。最后指出：苔絲的悲劇是社會造成的， 她是被邪惡的社會勢力所摧殘， 包括家庭的極度貧困、偽善的宗教以及社會對男女的雙重道德標準等。

【關鍵詞】《德伯家的苔絲》 托馬斯·哈代 苔絲 悲劇

Tess of the Durbervilles（1891） is one of Thomas Hardys masterpieces， which depicts the tragic life of a pure， beautiful and hard-working country girl named Tess. She is sent by her parents to claim kinship with her supposed relative， but falls into the traps of two men—Alec and Angel. One of them destroys her physically by depriving her of virginity， while the other deserts her and tortures her spiritually. Tess is led to a tragic end step by step. Her life is a complete tragedy.

“A pure girl， out for life， lost in mire”（Huang[1] 20）， which is a very common and regretful theme found in many literary works. But Tess of the Durbervilles is not a mere story of love and marriage， and its significance goes far beyond this. The paper first takes a look back at Tesss tragic and remorseful life， which seems to consist of a series of coincidences. Then， it analyzes the deep social causes of her tragedy underlying the seemingly accidental events， thus highlighting the deep theme of the novel.

1. The Tragic and Remorseful Life of Tess

Tesss tragedy starts from her fathers casual discovery of their familys noble inheritance. Being eager to regain their familys fortune， Tesss parents send her to claim kinship with the prosperous durbervilles， in the hope that she can marry a rich man. But， Tess is seduced by Mrs. dUrbervilles son， Alec. She leaves Alec， unmarried but pregnant. Later she gives birth to a baby， who dies in infancy. After Tess recovers from the sorrow of her childs death， she finds a job on Talbothays dairy farm， where she and a young man named Angle fall in love with each other. Under his persistent proposal of marriage， Tess agrees to marry Angel， even though she is always troubled with her seduction by Alec. On their wedding night， Tess confesses her past to Angel， who can not accept this fact and resolves to leave her.endprint

After Angel forsakes Tess， he goes to Brazil for his own development， while Tess returns to her home， enduring the disgrace of separation from her husband. Again， poverty forces her out for work. After many vain attempts， she goes to Flintcomb-Ash to do arduous toil. One day， Tess happens to meet Alec when he is preaching. Alec can not resist Tesss beauty and vows to marry her. But， Tess still waits for her beloved husband， who remains out of touch， however. Then， with the death of her father comes the expulsion of her family from their cottage. Receiving no support from Angel， the desperate but dutiful Tess has to live with Alec again， who reciprocates her by providing accommodation for her family.

Later， Angel seems to repent of his harsh treatment of Tess and returns from Brazil to claim her， only to find that Tess has already become Alecs paramour. His unexpected return from abroad does not make reparations to his marriage， but puts Tess in a dilemma and leads her to a greater tragedy. Tess， with her love for Angel rekindled， murders Alec and escapes with Angel. After a short-lived happiness with Angel， Tess is arrested， tried and executed for her murder at last.

2. The Deep Social Causes of Tesss Tragedy

Tesss tragedy is no doubt connected with her parents and the two young men， Alec and Angel. In the course of her destruction， some events seem to happen coincidently， such as the casual discovery of her familys noble inheritance， the death of her familys horse in an accident， the chance reencounter of Tess and Alec after she is deserted， the unexpected return of Angel from Brazil， etc. All these chance happenings seem to lead Tess to her tragedy step by step. But behind the seemingly accidental facts， also lie the deep causes of her tragedy， i.e. the utter poverty of her family， the hypocritical religion， and the double moral standards set for men and women.

First， it is the utter poverty of the family that forces her to improper relations once and again with Alec. The story takes place in the late 19th century English countryside， when England is in a transitional period. The capitalist invasion into countryside causes the disintegration of peasantry. More and more peasants are forced to leave their land and become wage earners， subject to the exploitation and oppression of capitalists. Poverty， hunger and death continually befall the ordinary people. Their living conditions go from bad to worse. In this novel， the horse is the only financial aid of Tesss family， and its death becomes the event that motivates Tess to visit the durbervilles， which results in her seduction by Alec. At Flintcomb-Ash farm， Tess and other women laborers have to do strenuous work under adverse circumstances， but are badly paid. With her fathers death， Tesss family again falls into great predicament. In order to win financial help from Alec， she has to become his paramour. The fundamental cause of Tesss misfortune is the poverty of her family.endprint

Second， the two characters who have brought about great adversities to Tess are the embodiment of the hypocritical religion and unjust social moralities.

Alec， a typical bourgeois upstart， takes advantage of Tesss simplicity and innocence and deprives of her chastity. He is not punished for his crime on Tess. Instead， he enters clergy to “save people from sin”. His conversion is superficial. He falsely reprimands parents for “bringing up their girls in such dangerous ignorance of the sins and nets that the wicked may set for them” （Hardy[2] 281） He attempts to renew his former relationship with Tess but attributes his backsliding as her temptation. He says， “…why then have you tempted me？…You temptress， Tess；you dear damned witch of Babylon， -I could not resist you as soon as I met you again！”（Hardy[2] 288） What ridiculous excuse！ It is manifest that he himself can not resist her beauty. Most ironically， as a clergyman， Alec even leaves off his already arranged preach in order to impose his sexual desire on Tess. When he is refused， he threatens her：“Remember， my lady， I was your master once！ I will be your master again. If you are any mans wife you are mine！ ” （Hardy[2] 296）. From Alec we can see the cruel nature of a bourgeois upstart and the hypocrisy of religion.

Angel， an intellectual with seemingly emancipated thinking， is also the slave of social conventions and moral values. He shows contempt and despise at the orthodox Christianity and its ethics and determines to serve not for God but for“the honor and glory of human kind.”（Hardy[2] 104）. He does not enter clergy as his father has expected. In some sense， he is an outsider of religion， who seems to bear some similarities to the outcast Tess. His unconventional view of ethics finally moves Tess， who at last agrees to marry him. In Angels eyes， Tess is “a fresh and virginal daughter of Nature” （Hardy[2] 108）. He thinks of her as the type of woman he wants. But， when he learns of her disgraceful past with Alec， his perception of Tess completely reverses. To Tesss appeal for forgiveness， he says：“…forgiveness does not apply to the case！ …” （Hardy[2] 204） “…forgiveness is not all.”（Hardy[2] 208）“…different societies different manners.…”（Hardy[2] 208）. In his mind， chastity is still an important criterion for the judgment of a woman. In Victorian period， man can live a dissipating life， but women cant. It is this unjust moral standard that causes him to desert Tess mercilessly.endprint

Finally， the influence of evil social forces also finds its expression on Tess herself. When Angel proposes marriage to her， she does not accept him bravely， simply because she is troubled with her past experience. Her love for Angel is pure， because she says that：“…having begun to love you， I love you for ever—in all changes， in all disgraces， because you are yourself.…” （Hardy[2] 205） She shows great obedience and patience to her husband. In her letters to him， she calls herself “an unworthy wife”；she writes， “…the punishment you have measured out to me is deserved…”（Hardy[2] 300） “I would be content， ay glad， to be live with you as your servant， if I may not as your wife；…”（Hardy[2] 301）. Though it is not her own fault， Tess considers herself an impure and sinful person who deserves punishment. Facing the harassment from Alec， she violently rebels， but still admits her fate：“…Once victim， always victim—thats the law.” （Hardy[2] 296） Her passivity in love， her absolute obedience to Angel， her self-abasement and her readily admission of sin all indicate that the traditional social conventions have been so ingrained in peoples mind that no one can escape its influence. It is these evil social forces that continually suppress Tess and drive her to a dead end.

3. Conclusion

Tess， a pure， beautiful country girl is not rewarded with a happy life and marriage for her womanly virtues. Instead， she is forced to suffer tremendously and at last dies so tragically. From the above analysis， we can conclude that， all her mischief comes from the society in which she lives. She is crushed by the destructive social forces. Tesss fate is not an individual one. It can be the fate of any country girl of her upbringing in that society. In this sense， the description of Tesss tragedy is an exposure of the miserable life of laboring people and also an attack on the hypocritical religion and the unjust Victorian moral standards.

References：

[1]Huang Li-ling.“A Bright Pearl in the Egdon Heath—Having Another Look at the Artistic Charm of Tess”[J].Journal of Jing Dezheng Junior College.1996，（1）：20-24.

[2]Hardy，T.Tess of the DUrbervilles[M].Xian：World Books Publication Company，1999.

作者簡介：孫麗穎（2000.4-），女，江蘇省南通第一中學高三（3）班。endprint