Hardy's Tess of the D'urbevilles is a product of its times. Discuss this statement.

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Hardy’s Tess of the D’urbevilles is a product of its times. Discuss this statement.

The context of Hardy’s Tess of the d’urbevilles strongly influences the text. Through values in the late 18th Century in areas such as gender, religion and class, we witness how ‘Tess of the d’urbevillies’ is a true product of its times and elucidates the ideologies and morals of its context.

Purity, both sexual and moral, is an important concept in Tess of the d’urbevilles. The novel was set in a Victorian society where women were judged on the basis of being a virgin or a whore, a dichotomous situation in a society which was patriarchal. Women were often marginalised and double standards prevailed. Furthermore, women were judged and valued in terms of their appearance.

“How pretty she is; and how that best frock do set her off!”

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Tess is constantly complimented on and this elucidates the importance of physical appearance for a woman in a Victorian milieu. Angel goes so far as o use the term as a proper noun, substituting her name for a word which describes her appearance. “Is it too sudden to be asked thus, my Pretty?”

Through constant usage of this phrase, it depicts the fact that Angel loves Tess mostly because she is beautiful and this further elucidates the values of the 18th Century context.

While Hardy portrays the existence of prejudice against women in a Victorian age, his representation of ...

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