Thomas Hardy's Tess Of The D'Urbervilles is a novel in which his protagonist and other
characters are confronted by an almost endless array of moral and socially acceptable
choices. Thomas Hardy makes the reader to take a critical look at the character's
situation, the character's thought process and the impact of the character's decision
making in the society in which they live.
Thomas Hardy presents his reader with three major characters. They are the protagonist
Tess Durbeyfield, Angel Clare (Tess's longtime love and husband)and Alec D'Urberville
(Tess's seducer and husband). It is these three major characters whom Hardy chooses to
place in the most precarious moral and social dilemmas. It is through these characters
and their dilemmas that Thomas Hardy displays the social issues found in Tess of the
D'Urbervilles.
Hardy's protagonist seems to have been born in a dilemma. Tess was the oldest of a very
large family and she had the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings. Young
Tess had many concerns to cope with in her life. Her father who drank too much came to
understand that the Durbeyfield family could very well be the descendants of a royal
family known as D'Urberville. Motivated by greed of becoming part of a higher class, with
no thought for Tess, her mother and father made the conscious choice to send Tess to the
D'Urberville mansion to acquire work and marry a wealthy man.
While employed at the D'Urberville mansion, Tess was confronted with her first major
social dilemma whose name is Alec D'Urberville. The young Alec is portrayed as a spoiled,
almost evil person; a high class snob. From the first time he laid eyes on Tess, he
begins to seduce her. Hardy's use of Alec D'Urberville and his relationship to Tess, sets
the standard for the cruelty of society in this novel. We (the reader) come to know that
Alec D'Urberville is the cause of Tess's social problems. That is, he has no conscience,
no morals and above all feels no remorse for his actions and it reflects upon Tess. His
seduction of her results in her pregnancy and she chooses to leave the D'Urberville
mansion. Hardy tells the reader that the moral sin which Tess has experienced is taboo in
her society and she becomes the object of ridicule and rejection. Although she is a
"fallen woman", she maintains her high moral standards as well as her beauty and
innocence.
In analyzing the above mentioned scenario, can the reader hold Tess completely
blameless. Was she not a conscious participant in her own seduction? The answer is
certainly yes, however, Hardy does a wonderful job of exonerating her and her social
sins. Hardy (if not Angel Clare), is convinced, not only of her purity but also of her
capacity for ascendancy. Although her society chastised such behavior, Hardy bestows upon
his protagonist the ability to overcome the moral and social stigma and thus Tess
maintains her dignity and sense of self.
Through what could be labeled "divine intervention," her baby dies. The priest would not
give it a proper Christian burial because of the social rules regulating religion. The
baby had not been properly baptised at birth. The priest says that if it were up to him,
he would, but he must follow the social laws surrounding him.
The years pass and we find our lovely, innocent protagonist once again canvassing the
countryside in search of serenity and work. She is hired as a milkmaid on a large dairy
farm and it is here that Hardy places his protagonist as well as her future husband in
their most troublesome and disturbing moral and social dilemma.
While working on the dairy farm, Tess happens to meet Angel Clare, the man she will
eventually marry. Angel and Tess fall in love and make plans for their marriage. As their
courtship continues, Tess knows in her heart that she must tell Angel about her past.
However, she fails to do so for fear of losing him. She feels that the moral sin that she
has experienced will most certainly drive Angel away from her. One can argue that there
is no evil in this deception, only a young girl's fear of losing her the man she loves
and her future husband. The question here is that of society's acceptance of this union.
Would Angel accept her even though she is not accepted in society?
The novel now takes a very interesting turn. Concerning Tess's relationship with Alec
and the moral and social sins commited, Angel feels that the sins are not only sins
against man, but also God. The reader would most certainly state that Angels reaction to
his dilemma placed much pain and hardship on his wife. Hardy is exposing the hypocrisy of
his time by pointing out that a man could divorce his wife for committing adultery;
however, a women could not divorce her husband for it. Here the reader can see what is
wrong in nineteenth century society's norms and values compared to those of today.
Alec D'Urberville returns into her life, this time not as a spoiled young man, but as a
"preacher." He explained to Tess that he had received a calling from God and was
compelled to preach the gospel to the sinners around him. He pretends to realize what he
had done wrong and now wants Tess to forgive him and return to him. Tess confesses to him
about their child and also about her marriage to Angel. Alec, who has already been
perceived as the social evil, literally haunts her until she agrees to marry him. Her
seduction by Alec is slow and methodical, much like his seduction of her early in the
novel. He used his profound art of psychological manipulation to persuade Tess that Angel
has left her forever. He further enhanced the seduction by telling her that even if her
husband returned, she should never look upon him as a husband.
The reader, no matter how naive, now knows that Angel will return and attempt to find
his beloved wife Tess. Angel searches diligently for Tess and finds her at her home with
her husband Alec. Tess reacts to Angel in a manner of anger and resentment. However, Tess
knows in her heart of hearts that she is still in love with Angel and decides to confess
her love for him to her husband Alec.
Alec does not take the news very well and proceeds to cast insults toward Tess. Tess, in
a fit of emotional passion kills Alec with a knife and flees the area with Angel. For the
first time in this novel, Hardy has our protagonist committing a deliberate act of social
evil. She has taken a human life. Even now after Tess has committed murder the reader
asks, but was the murder not committed for the sake of love? Could it not be justified?
The reader remembers the innocence of Tess Durbeyfield. The reader understands the
sacrifices she made for her beloved Angel. The reader knows what an evil man Alec
D'Urberville was, but society does not care.
Would not love, innocence and purity justify the taking of a human life? Thomas Hardy
has exposed Tess D'Urberville to many evils of society and of mankind. He has placed upon
her every conceivable moral and social dilemma that mankind could experience. Through all
of her trials she has remained a saint, a pillar of virtue, spirit and self-reliance.
Tess is not evil, those around her were evil. By placing their moral and social evils
upon her, her demise was the murder of a human being.
The novel reaches it's climax when Tess and Angel reach the area known as Stonehenge, a
heathen temple known for its immense healing powers. How ironic that Hardy would have his
heroin and heroines complete their life's social journey at such a mystical temple. For
Tess, the site is a destination, a sanctuary, and the ancient court seems to pass
judgement and absolve her, for she awakens completely at peace. Tess is apprehended by
the local townspeople and subsequently executed for her act of murder.
Hardy, through moral and social manipulation places Tess in situations that we all have
experienced. Can we as human beings confess to maintaining the high standards of
dignity, purity and innocence that Tess D'Urberville held? Would we have not sought
revenge on Alec, Angel or even our parents for the wrong they had done to us? Tess is not
at fault in her story. The fault lies in the constant moral and social demands placed
upon her by Hardy's peripheral characters and their roles in society.
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