Did Tess and Angel consummate their marriage during their hideout at the mansion?
It appears the BBC series (and even the ending of the 1979 movie version) I watch often depict that (better censor them for PBS, 2008 version) Tess and Angel made love. I remember thinking WHAT? In no way would an author have that in an his book. No wonder that book was controversial for its time.
I have only read tibits of the book and have a fair understanding of the entire plot about the dangers of double standards and society.
Ummmm, when I checked the text of the mansion scene. It did appears ambiguous to me.
This can be found on Ch. 58: "elegance of Tess's gown hanging across a chair, her silk stockings beside it, the pretty parasol, and the other habits in which she had arrived because she had none else, that her first indignation at the effrontery of tramps and vagabonds gave way to a momentary sentimentality over this genteel elopement, as it seemed."
So, if her dress was on a chair, it might have implied Tess was not wearing anything.