Examine how Hardy uses setting to explore related themes and issues.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Examine how Hardy uses setting to explore related themes and issues.

Setting plays a very important role in Hardy's "Tess of the D'urbervilles", and acts as a literary device that Hardy uses to further plot and reveal characters. The novel is set in Hardy's Wessex, a region that represents the southern English county of Dorset. However, the setting consists of more than just a location and becomes an essential element to understanding the novel and any underlying themes or social issues that Hardy raises.

Tess is often compared to a pilgrim, constantly moving from place to place hoping to find contentment, but being sadly unsuccessful. This book is a compilation of all these different journeys that Tess embarks on. With each movement, Tess' personality and well-being seem to change, and various traits in each place seem to reflect these changes. Tess moves from a world that begins in the beautiful regions around Marlott. She goes to The Slopes to "claim kin" and the environment is lovely and formal, but also contrived. The setting at Talbothays, where Tess experiences her greatest happiness, is lush, green, and fertile. Flintcomb-Ash, on the other hand, is a barren region, reflecting the