Essay/Term paper: Tess of the d'urbervilles

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Research Papers

Tess of the d'Urbervilles


Through life people may fault, or get on the wrong side of the tracks.
Yet hopefully they keep faith and then willingly they may recoup and redeem
themselves by recovering. Many believe that, Tess in, Tess of the d'Urbervilles
was a great example of this. In Hardy's Victorian age novel, Tess of the
d'Urbervilles, he illustrates casual wrong, the will to recover, the growth of
love, and death.

Almost everybody has done something casually wrong and not think much
of it, many call this indifferent nature. Tess is no stranger to casual wrong.
Throughout her life indifferent nature has occurred. Her parents were not the
greatest of parents. She had a tough life, she was poor. When she met Alec
d'Urberville, she was considerate and kind, but later on Alec took advantage of
her and seduced her in a forest called the Chase,

"He knelt and bent lower, till her breath warmed his
face, and in a moment his cheek was in contact with
hers. She was sleeping soundly, and upon her
eyelashes there lingered tears." 1

She then later fell in love with Angel, and married him. Angel found out about
Tess' past experience with Alec, and he could not forgive her, even though it
was all Alec's doing. Thus it is clear that casual wrong follows her and yet
the wrong is not made by her.

Tess' true strength is her determination to overcome her misfortunes.
When the Durbeyfields' horse, Prince died, Tess took control of the situation
of the horse's death and the beehive delivery. She takes care of the kids and
she had done well in school, even though Tess seems to go nowhere. Also when
she leaves her job of taking care of the flock at the d'Urberville household,
because of her experience with Alec, it showed she tried to take control of the
situation. Even when Alec was following her home on his carriage asking her why
she left,

'Her lip lifted slightly, though there was little scorn, as
a rule, in her large and impulsive nature. "I have said I
will not take anything more from you, and I will not-I
cannot! I should be your creature to go on doing that,
and I won't"' 2

Indeed it is shown that Tess has a very strong will to recover.

There was a growth of love shown by Alec, Angel and Tess. Alec had a
love for Tess in which he forced her to love him, but Tess refused until
eventually she had no choice.

'"....,you agree willingly to let me do it again, and no
handkerchief."
She sighed. "Very well, sir!" she said.' 3

When Tess first met Angel, they both had a growing love for each other, but it
all stopped when they got married and Angel found out about Tess having sex
with Alec. Angel, then did not want to have anything to do with her, but Tess
still loved Angel. While Angel was in Brazil, he learned what a fool he was to
just leave Tess, so he came back to England. Tess then killed Alec in order
for Angel to feel better about the old situation, but it was not a good plan,
because now they are wanted. The growth of their love seemed to go to far in
this case.

Although Death is a natural part of life, it is not a pleasant one.
When the Durbeyfields' horse died, it seemed to foreshadow worse things to come.
Tess' own death and Alec's who was murdered by Tess, "....She listened. The
dead silence within was broken only by a regular beat. Drip, drip, drip." 4
Consequently the murder of Alec, by Tess, will lead to her own death.

In Hardy's Victorian age novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, he
illustrates casual wrong, the will to recover, the growth of love, and death.
It seems nothing went right for poor Tess in her life. She was confused, and
had a lot of expectations on her, from her mother, and she put a lot on herself.
She tried her hardest, but her life ended up as a tragedy.