Analysis of the Causes of Tess's Tragedy

Analysis of the Causes of Tess’s Tragedy

姓名：马琳 学号：060714011 班级：06本教一班

It is known to all that Tess of the D’Urbervilles is the most significant work of Thomas Hardy.Readers are attracted not only by the beauty of the heroine-Tess,but also the tradegic life of her.

A.Social Background

1.Condition of the Small Farmers

The story has happened in the southern countries of England in the late 19th century.At that time,the economic crisis took place in the bourgeois world,thus created the social change.Many peasants lost their lands and went bankrupt.So they had to work for the rich as labors and be mercilessly exploited by the landowners.Though,they were exhausted with manual labor,they could not support their family.The self-supporting peasants were displaced and impoverished.

It is the same with the Tess D’Urbervilles.Poor as they were,it was hard to make their family live.Tess was born in such a family with many sisters and brothers.When the old horse “Prince”was killed by accident,the condition of her family was worse. The death of the horse destroyed the family’s livelihood and finished the family’s hauling businessKind and responsible as she was,she had to go to the distant relative of D’Urbervilles ,hoping to exchange for the improvement of her family position and the happiness of her family members.Unfortunately,when she went to the noble D’Urbervilles,the young master Alec seduced her,which opened the door to her tragic life.

2.Condition of the Poor Family

Tess was born in such a miserable family,whose parents were inresponsible,selfish and hypocritic.Her father was a poor countryside hawker who was pretty lazy and always drunk;her mother was a dairymaid who was simple-minded and never thought about the future.they were incompetent to earn enough money for their family while they admired the vanity.They sacrificed their daughter’s happiness just for a better life and a higher status. The moment Tess’s father heared that they were the offsprings of the D’Urbervilles, he showed off to the others that he was the “Norman’s descent,not for the support of Victoria 1800,the wealth,a very inconsequential”. Also,they sent Tess to claim kinship to the noble D Urbervilles to get rid of their depressed situation as soon as possible.Thus led to Tess’s tragedy.

3.Condition of the Hypocritical Captalism Morals and Laws

The story has taken place in the Victorian era,which was the patriarchy society.At that time,man controlled all the things,while woman had no real rights and equality.As a lady,she should obey all the rules of the capitalistic systems,especially in chastity and marrige .

Tess was a pure beautiful girl with lower social level in the Victorian era,so she had to do all the things under her father’s order, no matter she liked it or not,such as claiming kinship to the noble D’Urbervilles.Then she met with the young master of the noble-Alec. Alec was a lecher, also was a man to do wrong to others to benefit for himself.In order to exchange for a warm,sufficient situation for her family,she bent to the playboy-Alec,and finally raped by http://ter,she ran into Clare and fell in love with him . She loves he extremely,she looks he as the god”, So she told him her past shadows.However,the gentle ,mild, perfect Clare can never accept this. Am I to believe this?From your manner I am to take it as ture.O you cannot be out of your mind!You ought to be!You are not…My wife,my Tess-nothing in you warrants such a supposition as that？ Now, Clare’s selfish,hypocritic nature compeletely appeared.What he did can be forgiven while Tess can not. O Tess,forgiveness does not apply to the case!You were one person;now you are another.My God-how can forgiveness meet such

a grotesque_prestidigitation as that!” Clare had an idea of egoism, even though, himself was not a pure man, and he could not to accept Tess who was not a really pure bride. He considered her as a “fallen woman”. He still judged “purity” with the conventional value and moral standard that were implanted in him when he was a boy. He was the slave to the custom and conventionality.

In the patriarchy society,women were impossible to obtain the fair treatment as men.This paved the way to Tess’s tragedy.

B.Tess’s Character

Tess was a pure,honest,kind-hearted beautiful girl.Due to these,she believed Alec easily and seduced by him.Due to these,she came to Alec again when her family was in thick and thin.Due to these,she told Clare her past “crime”and was deserted.

Although she was an independent woman and had the spirit of rebellion, struggled bravely against her destiny and the conventional morality, desired for happiness and true love,her revolt was not complete.After seducing by Alec,she left and wanted to start a new life.In the following time,she met Clare and in love with him. She thought every line in the contour of his person the perfection of masculine beauty,his soul the soul of saint ,his intellect that of a seer……the compassion of his love for her,as she saw it,made her lift up her heart to him I devotion.”To search for her true love,she told Clare her past story but couldn’t be forgiven.Her weakness and incompelete revolt led to the blind of her love and the lost of herself. Don’t-don’t！It kills me quite,that……O have mercy upon me –have mercy……I will obey you like your wretched slave,even if it is to lie down and die.”

All these Tess’s characters made her the sacrificial victim.

C.Tess’s Fate

The writer Thomas Hardy was a pessimistic man who believed in fatalism.In his eyes,the hero or heroine’s fate is the miniature of human beings.So in his novel,the protagonist always suffered lots of hardships and had a tragic life.

There are lots of coincidences in Tess’s life. She was a pure beautiful girl born in a poor farmer’s family in the Victorian era,whose parents were incompetent,selfish and hypocritic. In order to help her father to send honey,the old horse was killed by accident.She felt guilty,and agreed to claim kinship with the noble D’Urbervilles.At the noble D’Urbervilles,she met the young master-Alec,and seduced by him.When she decided to start a new life,she ran into Clare and lost herself in front of love. To her sublime trustfulnesshe was all that goodness could be-known all that a guide,philosopher,and friend should know……”So she wrote a letter to Clare to tell him her past and beg for forgiveness.But the letter was sent under the carpet and Clare didn’t see it.Consequently,when Clare knew her past behavior,he felt Tess was a lier,she must do it on design.So he told Tess forgiveness does not apply to the case!You were one person;now you are another.My God-how can forgiveness meet such a grotesque_prestidigitation as that”and left her.What’s worse,at the same time,Tess’s father was died,the heavy burden of the family was on her shouder again.Tess can not bear all these any more,so she went back to Alec’s thunder bosom who called himself Satan.In the end,Clare returned and admitted he was wrong,he wanted to be together with Tess.But Tess felt bitterly unhappy,beause she considered Alec was the source of her tragic life.So she killed Alec and lived with Clare for several days,then accepted the punishment and ended her happiness.

At the end of the novel,Thomas Hardy described it full of meaning that ‘Justice’was done,and President of the Immortals in Aeschy lean phase,had ended his sport with Tess.

Conclusion:

Thomas Hardy created Tess as an attractive and warm-hearted pure woman who has the quality of endurance and

self-sacrifice. Thus result Tess has become the victim of her family and the society in which she exists. Through the above analysis of Tess’s tragedy, it is obvious that the poverty of the small farmers,her parents’ vanity and inresponsibility, Alec’s wickedness, Angel’s conventional ideas, Tess’s character as well as Hardy’s fatalism are the direct causes of Tess’s tragedy. But the direct causes are deeply rooted in the cruel social environment: the impoverished peasant, the unjust law and cruel convention. Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that the society is the real and deeply rooted cause of Tess’s tragedy.