Explore the role of nature in the first three sections of the novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles"

Due to the death of the horse, and at the persuasion of her family, Tess leaves for Trantridge. She plans to gain work from the D’Urbervilles that live there. As readers, we are informed that they are not real D’Urbervilles like Tess and her family; the father in the family, Simon Stoke, bought the name once he had made his money from being a merchant, in order to appear more grand to the rest of society – they are not natural D’Urbervilles, and Tess has been tricked. This is an example of man meddling with nature – nature did not give them that name and they are therefore imposters. Trantridge itself, the house where the Stoke-D’Urbevilles like, seems out of place with the surrounding nature; it is described as “of recent erection…of the…rich red colour that formed such a contrast with the evergreens…”. It is far more modern and different from its surrounding and therefore appears almost sinister – Nature did not intend for it to be there. Tess is assigned to work on the “fancy farm” belonging to the D’Urbervilles. This small poultry farm seems unnecessary and frivolous, and is not needed in nature’s scheme  –  it is merely the whim of man, much as Tess is for Alec in the novel. In this way, nature and its parts act as a mimic for the story.

When Alec D’Urberville first meets Tess, he immediately begins to seduce her. He feeds her strawberries – one of nature’s most seductive fruits, due to its rich red colour – and is riveted by the form that nature has given her. In this way, nature unwittingly works against Tess; by making her “appear more of a woman than she already was”, it has caused Alec to be immensely attracted to her. However, during the cart ride from her family home to his, when he has attempted to kiss her and she has dismounted under the pretences of saving her hat, he tries to use nature against her by hemming her in with his cart against the fence. She, however, uses nature to save her and talks to him “from the top of the hedge into which she had scrambled” – nature assists her here.

Just before Tess’ rape, the descriptions of wood are dark and unforgiving, with “webs of vapour” forming “veils against the trees”. Nature shows its darker side, and indicates what is about to happen. What happens to Tess, however, is a vital part of Nature – perhaps nature assumes it is helping her in this way. It could be argued that nature here is working against Tess to set the next events in motion, or that nature is giving her a form of gift – sex and pregnancy is widely regarded as nature’s highest privelege. Human religion and attitudes, however, view it as a sin. The Church is in conflict with nature’s ideas here that these acts are a vital part of life and therefore later outcasts Tess – the slogans painted on the fences around Marlott such as the beginning of “thou shalt not commit adultery” emphasise this in our minds. Alec’s attitude towards Tess after, when she leaves, suggest that he feels that it was Tess’ fault, for being so beautiful and irresistible to him; in reality, that is the fault of nature.

Once she has left Alec’s house, Tess feels she has discovered the true meaning of nature to her; “the serpent hisses where the sweet bird sings”. This phallic imagery shares a link to Troy’s sword in Far From the Madding Crowd, another popular book by Thomas Hardy – for them both, nature leads them to men, men lead to their heartaches. To Tess, nature has exposed its dark underbelly and she feels robbed of natural beauty; what has happened to her, however, is a natural act, but in the eyes of man and the church, it is an unforgivable sin. This is empahasised in “She had been made to break an accepted social law, but no law known to the environmet in which she fancied herself such an anomaly.”

When we meet Tess again, after a period of time has passed, we see her working in the local fields. The women working are described as “assimilated” with the fields – nature wishes to protect them. However, when Tess works, she “bleeds” from the “stubble” on the corn; nature appears to be punishing her, or she punishes herself by working herself too hard. It is then revealed that Tess has a newborn baby, which is widely regarded as the greatest gift Nature offers. For Tess, and for man, however, this separates her from them – she has sinned in their eyes; she still cannot resist pull of motherhood though, and her feelings for her baby are mixed and confused. Once she has decided she loves her child, nature takes it back when it dies from illness. The Church adds suffering for Tess when they refuse to bury it on concecrated ground; nature and the Church work together to upset Tess. Nature, at least, takes it from its suffering that it would have faced from mankind; the baby would never have been properly accepted.

When Tess goes to work in Richard Crick’s dairy, we see the idyllic side of nature once more. Here, nature mirrors Tess’ feelings and attitude – there is a “change in the quality of air from heavy to light”, and we feel that the nature in the Valley of Great Dairies is far lighter and carefree for Tess; it will become her salvation for a time being, as nobody knows of her past here. She feels a connection with nature, and we have a sense that Tess is nature’s child – she belongs to it far more than she does to man’s Church. Nature saves her from herself, and the hard work with nature grants her peace. It also serves as an escape from Church, and has granted her this opportunity either as an apology or to set her up for more heartache.

At the dairy, she is reunited with Angel Clare, a figure we haven’t seen since the opening chapters of the book. His description as a “figure rising out of the past…and a mobility of mouth…with an unexpectedly firm close of the lower lip” gives us an idea of his character – nature has given him a look with compliments his personality. His mouth gives an indication that, although he is open to ideas, he can be “unexpectedly firm” in his ideals, a slightly chilling prediction of the events to come. Tess’ mouth, by contrast, is described firstly as a “mobile peony mouth”; like her, it is full and beautiful, and also everchanging.

Nature presents Tess to Angel as a “fresh and virginal daughter of Nature” –although her past contradicts this ideal, Angel regards her image as perfect in every way. Nature could be seen as tricking him or trying to make amends and improve Tess’ life. However, with the latter, the Church seems to oppose these ideas, and this is the cause of her heartache – man’s inability to work with nature. In the romance of Angel Clare and Tess, nature tries to help them come together, with romantic settings such as a “violet and pink dawn”. There is the incident with the butter tasting like garlic, forcing Angel and Tess to work together on the mead, and the butter not churning properly (which, according to the dairyman, happens only when love is affecting it, although the story he tells is far more similar to that of Tess and Alec than that of Tess and Angel.) There is, too, the rising rain before church that seems to force them to come together, and although Angel has to carry “Three Leahs to get one Rachel”, he feels as though the trial was worth it for a moment with Tess. However, when they finally embrace while Tess is milking, the cow reacts unfavourably – perhaps nature has realised what the consequences of its actions may be and is therefore trying to stop the romance. In this way, nature still tries to look out for Tess – it is very much a mother figure to her.