Hardy does not deny Tess has weaknesses see Characterisation: Tess , but when Tess blames herself excessively, the reader tends to defend her against herself, e. Linked themes: Laws of nature vs. See also: Colour symbolism ; Characterisation. Tess as a 'Pure Woman' Although Hardy only added the novel's subtitle, 'A Pure Woman' at the last minute in one of the later editions, various changes in the text suggest he had been changing his emphasis to bring out Tess's purity.
Victorian and present-day attitudes to purity When Tess of the d'Urbervilles was first published in , there was a huge debate about whether Hardy should have described Tess as pure. Establishing purity Hardy establishes Tess's purity in a number of ways: Omission Hardy does not actually provide the details of the worst things that happen to Tess: Her violation by Alec Ch 11 The period of living with Alec immediately afterwards Ch 12 Tess's confession to Angel by letter Ch 33 Her confession to him face to face Ch 34 Her arguments against Christianity that help cause Alec to lose his faith How she was persuaded to live with Alec again The act of murdering Alec.
Bringing out the flaws of Alec and Angel In revising the text, Hardy makes the men seem worse: An element of force is added to Alec's seduction to make it seem as though it could have been rape in the initial serialisation, Alec involved her in a bogus marriage Alec's conversion is made to seem more superficial Angel's hypocrisy is emphasized. Including dramatic and symbolic episodes Hardy creates a number of dramatic situations which symbolically reinforce Tess's innocence: The baptism of her baby Ch 14 Angel's sleepwalking and Tess's 'burial' Ch 37 Her purgatorial sufferings at Flintcombe-Ash Ch 42, 43 Her idyllic stay with Angel in the New Forest Ch 57 The final sacrifice of herself at Stonehenge Ch Direct comments Direct comments about Tess's virtue are made either by Hardy as narrator or other characters, for example: Angel's assertion to his mother, with Hardy's comments Ch 36 Izz's confession of Tess's love for Angel Ch 40 Emphasising Tess's virtues Tess is frequently seen to act with integrity and responsibility, such as: Her sense of responsibility for her hapless family Ch 3, 4, 38, 50 Her efforts to commend the other girls to Angel Ch 22 Her patient acceptance of Angel's judgement Ch 35, 36, 37 , linked to her loyalty, resignation and renunciation, all of which were regarded as female virtues by the Victorians Ch 44, 45 Her refusal to pity herself Ch Emphasising her self-condemnation Hardy does not deny Tess has weaknesses see Characterisation: Tess , but when Tess blames herself excessively, the reader tends to defend her against herself, e.
Term for a worshipping community of Christians. The building in which Christians traditionally meet for worship. It kills me quite, that! I have thought what joy it will be to do it, what an unworthy wife I shall be if I do not! If it is I you do love, O how can it be that you look and speak so?
It frightens me! Having begun to love you, I love you for ever—in all changes, in all disgraces, because you are yourself. I ask no more. Then how can you, O my own husband, stop loving me? The problem, of course, is that Angel loved the woman of his imagination rather than Tess herself.
I suspect we are all guilty of that, certainly when we first fall in love with someone. I was a child—a child when it happened! I knew nothing of men. This night the woman of his belittling deprecations was thinking how great and good her husband was. But over them both there hung a deeper shade than the shade which Angel Clare perceived, namely, the shade of his own limitations.
With all his attempted independence of judgement this advanced and well-meaning young man, a sample product of the last five-and-twenty years, was yet the slave to custom and conventionality when surprised back into his early teachings.
No prophet had told him, and he was not prophet enough to tell himself, that essentially this young wife of his was as deserving of the praise of King Lemuel as any other woman endowed with the same dislike of evil, her moral value having to be reckoned not by achievement but by tendency.
Moreover, the figure near at hand suffers on such occasion, because it shows up its sorriness without shade; while vague figures afar off are honoured, in that their distance makes artistic virtues of their stains. In considering what Tess was not, he overlooked what she was, and forgot that the defective can be more than the entire.
Only when it is too late does Angel seem to free himself enough to accept Tess for who she really is:. During this time of absence he had mentally aged a dozen years. What arrested him now as of value in life was less its beauty than its pathos. Having long discredited the old systems of mysticism, he now began to discredit the old appraisements of morality.
He thought they wanted readjusting. Who was the moral man? Still more pertinently, who was the moral woman? The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not among things done, but among things willed.
Viewing her in these lights, a regret for his hasty judgement began to oppress him. Did he reject her eternally, or did he not? He could no longer say that he would always reject her, and not to say that was in spirit to accept her now. Of course. Thread Tools. BB code is On. Smilies are On. Trackbacks are On. Pingbacks are On. Refbacks are On. Forum Rules. Disclaimer: All messages made available as part of this discussion group including any bulletin boards and chat rooms and any opinions, advice, statements or other information contained in any messages posted or transmitted by any third party are the responsibility of the author of that message and not of CSSForum.
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We encourage visitors to the forum to report any objectionable message in site feedback. User Name. Remember Me? English Literature Notes and Topics on Eng. Literature here. Last Island Royal Queen of Literature. Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Tess - A Pure Woman Tess was a simple, innocent, guideless and hypersensitive girl, trapped in a traditionally bound society.
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