Good women- Bad men?

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Celise Galloway 11x1

 Good women- Bad men?

I am going to discuss three stories by Thomas Hardy which have been accused of following the statement: Good women- Bad men. I shall discuss whether this statement is true to each story.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

In ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ Tess has many ‘so called’ bad men in her life. In some ways these men are bad but I am going to argue that they are not all bad but just some of their actions may be.

The first bad man in Tess’s life we come across could be her father. Tess’s father is portrayed as a drunken uncaring man, who does not do anything to help and support his family. This may be why Tess has grown up in such a cramped run down place.

At the beginning of the story, Tess’s father, Jack Durbeyfield, finds out he is of aristocratic descent. He then asks Tess if she would stay with their relatives in Tantridge, Tess refuses but the next day Tess accidentally kills the family horse Prince. And has to, due to her guilt, take up the offer her father proposed to her the day before. Some say this is her fathers fault as he is the reason Tess, an inexperienced driver, has to drive the carriage. He cannot drive the cart as he had a few too many the night before. If he had not drunken any alcohol then he would have got up early and delivered the beehives to the retailers in Casterbridge.

Also because of Jack Durbeyfield not being able to work his young child Abraham is awakened in the middle of the night to accompany Tess in her travels, yet another reason to label him a bad man.

On the other hand Tess’s father is only trying to do what’s best for his family and by sending Tess to live with relatives he thinks that she may become something more than what he has.

The second bad man in Tess’s life is Alec Durbeyfield. Many things happen to Tess here, one of which is being raped by her so called cousin. She later finds that he has been lying to her and her family and he is not a D’Urberville he is in fact a Stoke. She becomes Alec’s mistress and finds out that she is pregnant and heads home. Alec is unaware that Tess is carrying his baby and if he had he may have acted more suitably and have changed his ways. But Tess does not give him the chance, this does not make her a good women.

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Alec also comes back to Tess at the end of the story, which some men would never do. But some say that he only came back to her for sinister reasons. He is also a preacher when he and Tess meet again, this could mean that Alec has really changed and that he has turned over a new leaf. But this judgement can be counteracted by him luring Tess into marriage by calling her his by right and in the eyes of god. Tess is easily made to feel guilty (which Alec knows) and so uses this as a way ...

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