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TESS OF D’UBERVILLES

Thomas Hardy

Thomas-Hardy

Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in the English village of Higher Bockhampton in the county of Dorset, one of the most popular poets and novelists in English literary history. He died at Max Gate in 1928, a house he had designed for himself and his first wife, Emma Lavinia Gifford, a few miles from his birthplace in Dorchester. Hardy's childhood was inspired by his father's musicality, a stonemason and fiddler, and his mother, Jemima Hand Hardy, was often identified as Hardy's true guiding star in early life. Although he was an architectural student in London, and spent time there until his late 70s each year, Dorset provided inspiration for his fiction and poetry to Hardy. Alive to the past, Hardy was also open to the future as a writer; he was visited by dozens of younger writers including William Butler Yeats, Siegfried Sassoon and Virginia Woolf, and he debated poetry with Ezra Pound. In comparison, Hardy's well-known war poems spoke eloquently against some of his present tragedies, especially the Boer War and World War I. In works such as "Drummer Hodge" and "In Time of' The Breaking of Nations," Hardy presented the conflicts in vivid prose, often using colloquial speech and ordinary soldiers ' point of view. His job has had a profound influence on other writers of the war including Rupert Brooke and Sassoon.

Victorian Age

In British history, the Victorian era corresponds approximately but not precisely to the time of Queen Victoria's reign (1837–1901) and is characterized by a class-based society, an increasing number of voters, a rising state and economy, and the status of Britain as the world's most powerful empire. The Reform Bill of 1832 gave the middle class the political power it needed to consolidate — and hold — the already gained economic position. Burgeoned with industry and commerce. While the affluence of the middle class grew, the lesser classes were living ever more miserably, throwing away their land and into the cities to create the great urban working class. The social changes were so rapid and violent that Godwinian utopianism quickly gave way to attempts to either explain, or alter, the new economic and urban conditions.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles- Novel

Tess of d’Ubervilles is a Victorian novel by Thomas Hardy. It constitutes of social, moral and psychological contexts within it. It is basically a tragic tale of a young girl named Tess Durbyfield. Throughout the novel there are many instances of adventures and miseries revolving around the character. We are brought to light, the incidents taking place in Tess’s life for a period of four years. The scenes of the novel are woven around the maiden’s house, the farms of the countryside, the church and the neighbouring village or town. Mainly, the story has Alec d’Ubervilles , tess and Angel Clare for the main characters. Hardy, here, tries to project the human fate and also how we humans are unconsciously connected our surrounding environment. In this story, we find a constant idea of life and death, human desires and also human happiness. Hardy’s artistic skill at writing a novel comes to life with this book when each chapter or each incident is seen as having a link, by which the plot gradually grows and leads to the denouement. The novel although simple, is well-crafted, observing every gesture and sensitivity of the characters. The protagonist is shown to be a beautiful, pure and kind-hearted girl who takes on the responsibility of her family upon herself. We see that she is very hardworking. The change of fortune in the life of Tess is visible from the scene where her horse dies. In fact, this triggers the upcoming changes in the life of Tess. She then leaves home and risks herself by taking on responsibility at the estate of one Alec d’Uberville. This becomes an important point in the life of Tess as it makes a mark, permanently on her life thereafter. It is more precisely seen as a scar, imprinted upon her life forever then on. Her place of work is seen as not less than hell, as she is treated unjustly and to make things worse, she is assaulted by Alec, who dishonours her as well as her emotions. Tess remains strong outwardly, until she goes home to deliver her illegal child born out of her troublesome courtship with Alec. In a way she is seen as a victim of the cruel practices of her master. Yet, at some point her being a victim is lessened when she makes a choice for herself. Her decisions are not met without doubt though. This incident causes a lot of trauma in the heart of the young girl as she is tormented by confused thoughts and puzzled understanding about love and dignity. She does not find mercy for herself. Tess who is found as being a symbol of purity and innocence or a ‘pure woman’ of the Victorian society, as was the idea of Hardy while writing the novel, is later on looked at as not so pure and naïve when she makes an unforgivable compromise of killing Alec. Thus, this novel is categorised as a tragedy, even though seen as a pastoral novel, owing to the countryside settings and lifestyle of the Victorian era.

Further reference

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tess-of-the-DUrbervilles https://www.aresearchguide.com/the-durbervilles-summary.html