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    Tess' last minute decision not to plead the...

    Tess' last minute decision not to plead the Clare's for assistance is probably the most frequently cited example of her passivity. To me, it's more the opposite. She felt responsible for Angel...
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    More interesting than how this reader takes this...

    More interesting than how this reader takes this twist, imagine yourself being invited to MaxGate for dinner with Tom and Emma. Over a nice meal you mention your idea suggesting that in a hundred...
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    Statutory Rape

    [QUOTE=kelby_lake;1253112]The problem is, Tess can't fully consent. /QUOTE]

    There's a crime called statutory rape in some places. If a female has sex prior to an age, say 18, at which age she is...
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    Kev, if you're fairly described as not being...

    Kev, if you're fairly described as not being very familiar with Greek mythology, your knowledge of this subject is vast compared to mine. I know nothing and have never been able to get into it.
    ...
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    Kev, on misshapen Christian views, Angel's two...

    Kev, on misshapen Christian views, Angel's two brothers, Mercy Chant and the Marlott vicar are all portrayed with their religious views misshapen.

    Where others may see most of the novel's...
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    The longer I think about Tess the more I rethink...

    The longer I think about Tess the more I rethink every feeling about the novel I've had. On the question of who's the greatest villain, Alec, Angel or Joan, I've at some time picked each of them....
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    Kelby, I appreciate your insight that Tess wasn't...

    Kelby, I appreciate your insight that Tess wasn't as timorous as many readers find her. As you note, she spoke up to Joan. When farmer Groby demanded an apology from Tess, she told him it was he who...
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    I read somewhere that a while after Tess'...

    I read somewhere that a while after Tess' publication he met an important judge at a social event. When the subject of Tess' punishment came up the judge told Hardythat absolutely her execution was...
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    Kev, what's the novel you're referring to? Could...

    Kev, what's the novel you're referring to? Could it be Far From the Madding Crowd? I dunno about Britain, but the punishment for killing someone in the US during my lifetime encompasses quite a...
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    Kelby, yes, Tess had nothing to be ashamed of,...

    Kelby, yes, Tess had nothing to be ashamed of, but that's not the thing that concerns me here. Noble as Tess' reasons were to make a full "confession" to Angel and as willing as she was to endure the...
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    The Consequences of Uncompromising Virtue

    When people dear to us experience misfortune, we may offer them sympathy even as we might be thinking their misfortune was partly their own fault. The Tess novel is largely about a wonderful girl we...
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    Do We Condemn Joan?

    When it comes to Tess' villains, the usual candidates are Alec, Angel and Joan. Alec the obvious melodramatic villain. Angel doesn't intend to be cruel to Tess, but he makes her more miserable than...
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    A "Grotesque Prestidigitation"

    One of Angel's responses to Tess' wedding night confession was that there had been a "grotesque prestidigitation." The implication was that he'd been duped into marriage by Tess’ clever deception. In...
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    Who was Tess? If we were to ask the characters in...

    Who was Tess? If we were to ask the characters in the novel who knew her, this is what we'd learn. To Angel, she's an idealized image of woman in nature, a pagan earth goddess, but if not that she's...
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    Regarding viewing Tess and Giles and very chaste,...

    Regarding viewing Tess and Giles and very chaste, might it be that both were behaving with respect for the social norms of their Victorian time? Tess, of course, would have been regarded as...
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    Kev, everything you said about Felice C. is on...

    Kev, everything you said about Felice C. is on target. Particularly in Woodlanders Hardy has more passion for describing the plants, the typography and man traps than developing the characters. He...
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    Every reader of Tess would surely appreciate...

    Every reader of Tess would surely appreciate Hardy's poem, Tess' Lament, which can be easily found on the Internet.

    In context of the idea that Tess never had the reunion with Angel this poem...
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    Kev, the Kibbutz, as I understand it, is a close...

    Kev, the Kibbutz, as I understand it, is a close knit communal existence in which children of similar age bond with each other similar to siblings within families. Also in the Kibbutz communities...
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    Kev, I agree. It is sad about Marty's unrequited...

    Kev, I agree. It is sad about Marty's unrequited love for Giles; unrequited love by a good person is sad. But there are few if any characters in The Woodlanders with happy love lives. Giles love for...
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    Kev, following Giles death Fitzpiers suggests it...

    Kev, following Giles death Fitzpiers suggests it was typhoid that killed him. What was in the vial (phial, if you must) that Fitzpiers provides Grace that prevents the disease is a mystery.

    On...
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    Why did Giles sacrifice his dwindling health for...

    Why did Giles sacrifice his dwindling health for Grace's comfort and purity? Wasn''t Giles health and life was worth far more?

    It's a good question because it's hard to imagine any readers not...
  22. Thread: Fitzpiers

    by Maple
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    Kev, you're right, the Flintcomb-Ash tenant...

    Kev, you're right, the Flintcomb-Ash tenant farmer did have a name, Groby. My mistake and thanks. But, by my reading Groby (thanks again) was a minor character. His role in the novel was a simple...
  23. Thread: Fitzpiers

    by Maple
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    Kev, you're right that we don't know the future...

    Kev, you're right that we don't know the future for Fitzpiers, whether he'll actually be a good husband and physician or relapse into his old ways. We only have good reason to believe he's intent on...
  24. Thread: Fitzpiers

    by Maple
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    Kev, you present interesting thoughts about...

    Kev, you present interesting thoughts about Fitzpiers.

    It shouldn't be hard to accept that Hardy drew many of his character qualities from himself. As a very thoughtful man with broad interests,...
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    Seriously, Hardy presented Tess as the novel's...

    Seriously, Hardy presented Tess as the novel's tragic hero, in the Greek tragic hero mold. She had to die, victim to her fatal flaws. In the cases I know, tragic hero fatal flaws, like hubris, aren't...
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