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Tess of the d'Urbervilles


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Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) is generally regarded as Hardy's finest novel. A brilliant tale of seduction, love, betrayal, and murder, Tess of the d'Ubervilles yields to narrative convention by punishing Tess's sin, but boldly exposes this standard denouement of unforgiving morality as cruelly unjust. Throughout, Hardy's most lyrical and atmospheric language frames his shattering narrative.

The novel centers around a young woman who struggles to find her place in society. When it is discovered that the low-class Durbeyfield family is in reality the d'Urbervilles, the last of a famous bloodline that dates back hundreds of years, the mother sends her eldest daughter, Tess, to beg money from relations with the obvious desire that Tess wed the rich Mr. d'Urberville. Thus begins a tale of woe in which a wealthy man cruelly mistreats a poor girl. Tess is taken advantage of by Mr. d'Urberville and leaves his house, returning home to have their child, who subsequently dies. Throughout the rest of this fascinating novel, Tess is tormented by guilt at the thought of her impurity and vows to never marry. She is tested when she meets Angel, the clever son of a priest, and falls in love with him. After days of pleading, Tess gives in to Angel and consents to marry him. Angel deserts Tess when he finds the innocent country girl he fell in love with is not so pure.

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Recent Forum Posts on Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Where is the back story?

Hi, I cannot help but wonder what " true sequence of things" as mentioned in the explanatory note of the first edition November, 1891 occurred to inspire this artistic rendering of "the shaded side of a well known catastrophe" as described in the preface to the fifth and later editions? Upon whom was the fictional Tess modeled? Did Hardy ever reveal the source of his inspiration for this novel or the murder and execution which inspired this sad tale? Does anyone know who the prototype for Tess was and what similarities she may have had to Hardy's fictional Tess?

Posted By abzu at Thu 26 Jun 2008, 1:43 AM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 1 Reply

Tess's Fate

Was Tess really fated to be with Alec since her relationship with Angel never worked out?

Posted By alex23 at Mon 28 Apr 2008, 6:44 PM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 4 Replies

Tess - Strong or weak character?

Hey, I'm trying to analyse her character in depth, and I just can't decide if she truly is strong or weak? She is weak as she lets men and her devotion to her family rule her life. She goes to the Stoke-Durberville household on her parents say so. She then lets herself let Alec treat her awefully(obviously, I doubt whether she had much to do with that). She then forgets her stance to never marry and marries Angel, who when rejects her, basically thinks of herself as his slave. She then pines for him for years until Alec comes along and she gives into him. Ok, he did manipulate her into thinking Angel wouldn't ever come back, however, she was supposed to love Angel with her whole being, and to me that should mean more. She seems to have been just pushed into situations, rather than making decisions herself and choosing what she wants. However, she's so strong. She Christens her baby and then asks the Parson is it real and for a Christian burial, she picks herself up time after time getting numerous jobs to support herself. She makes the BIGGEST sacrifice by killing Alec to be with Angel. She puts her family first and actually gets together with Alec for the sake of her family, even though she doesn't love her and she has to see everyday, the face of her rapist, father of her dead baby. She endures such hard work and just gets on with it, without hesitation or moaning. So as you can see I'm in two halves. What are your opinions? Is Tess Strong or Weak? I'd be happy to hear more points of view. x

Posted By NoName at Sat 3 Nov 2007, 10:22 AM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 4 Replies

Ideas for fun Tess projects

I'm interested in teaching Tess at maybe a 12th grade level. I think the themes are still very relavent to today's times. I'm doing a class paper on teaching Tess atm. To make my paper more interesting, I wanted to include specific projects/assignments for the students. I really wanted to do some fun things. One idea I had from someone in class was a youtube video. They had a group project that used Great Expectations and Dickens life - so they put pictures of his life, novels, movie versions of GE, and also text to the music of the Cold Case theme. It was really well done. I thought it was such a great idea. Any other ideas for fun projects? Tess is such a great novel, but I can imagine high school students getting bored with it. I thought hands on, creative assignments could really bring this book to life.

Posted By Luna1968 at Thu 25 Oct 2007, 10:15 AM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 1 Reply

Confused

I have read the threads for this book and im really confused cuz people are saying she stayed with alec after the rape? is it true and apparently she married him? someone explain pleasssseeeee and also.... Im not sure what chapter it is but when angel and tess are married and go the cottage thing they tell each other their faults and angel tells tess his and then tess tells angel hers,... and angel is shocked but im not sure why he wants to be apart so much? what was so bad that tess apparently did???????? Help me please ! :)

Posted By Charm at Sun 12 Aug 2007, 8:28 AM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 2 Replies

Violence in Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Hi I have to write an essay about an act of violence in the novel. The essay topic is... In great works of literature no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a scene of violence from the novel and explain how the scene contributes to the meaning of the complete work... Any help or suggestions on how Alec d'Urberville's murder contributes to the overall meaning would be greatly appreciated. What is the meaning of Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Posted By DGolfer40 at Mon 18 Jun 2007, 1:39 PM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 3 Replies

Essay Quote Help

Hi people I need some help trying to find particular quotes if any of you could help it would be fantastic! I need to find quotes on When Tess recieves the letter from Mrs D'Urbevile and Letters that Tess writes to Angel after they split If anyone knows anything about those 2 things it would be a great help Thanx

Posted By JmSki at Sat 21 Apr 2007, 10:21 AM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 0 Replies

is tess a pure woman?

hey everyone.. in my book club at school we were discussing whether or not Tess is a pure woman. Please share what you think and give reasons from the book.

Posted By sjannat at Sun 15 Apr 2007, 7:58 PM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 6 Replies

Essay Help

Hey guys, I have to do an essay on how Hardy presents the roles of women in a victorian society and i am completely lost. It seems like such an easy topic but i have no idea where to start... can anyone help? All messages will be greatly appreciated.:crash: :) Thanks

Posted By English Rose at Sat 24 Feb 2007, 10:23 AM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 1 Reply

the missing month ?

Hey guys i'm studying Tess as my school text for VCE, and while i was analysing it, there seemed to be a month and a half missing from the time that Alec rapes tess to when she leaves the D'Uberville mansion... It seems very out of character for Tess to actually stay with Alec as his mistress, yet for the life of me i can't fathom why she didn't leave straight after the rape... Also, a student from another class drew up a time line of events that happened and it shows that Tess did not actually fall pregnant the night of the rape, because it does not coincide with the birth of Sorrow, meaning that Tess slept with Alec after the rape. the problem i'm having is that for me to be able to write an essay on Tess being a victim, i can't see her as such if she willingly slept with Alec afterwards.. any ideas? - tanner

Posted By tanner at Fri 18 Aug 2006, 9:10 AM in Tess of the d'Urbervilles || 6 Replies

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