TESS AND THE COLOR RED
For an artist as visually sensitive as Hardy, colour is of the first importance and significance, and there is one colour which literary catches the eye, and is meant to catch it, throughout the book. This colour is red, the colour of blood, which is associated with Tess from first to last. It dogs her, disturbs her, destroys her. She is full of it, she spills it, she loses it. Watching Tess' life we begin to see that her destiny is nothing more or less than the colour red You'll want to make a list of all the times the colour red appears in the novel, from the roses Alec gives Tess, to the monstrous red threshing machine, to the shedding of blood. Divide these images into two groups- the positive, life-affirming ones and the negative, violent ones. Toward the conclusion of your paper, consider why Hardy uses the same colour to represent concepts as opposite as life and death, creation and destruction, love and hate.
Discuss the importance of landscapes and environments in Tess.
Hardy weaves imagery around the colours C. red and white
There are two ways to approach this question. You can either write about Hardy's view of nature and man's place in it; or you can discuss how nature in Tess reflects the characters' feelings.
For the first approach, gather evidence from the novel about how Hardy sees nature. Remember to include his vision of nature as the core of all life, and his view of man as a small part of the universe. Also discuss how life goes on, following its natural rhythms, regardless of what happens to individuals. Consider nature both as a friend to man, as at Talbothays, and as a foe to man, as at Flintcomb-Ash.
If you wish to write about nature as a reflection of human perception, you'll have to take a careful look at how the characters see the landscape. Remember that Tess can see the world as beautiful one moment and ugly the next, especially when her mood changes. You may also want to discuss how we can tell what individual characters are feeling by how the landscape is described
Angel can't forgive Tess for her past because he has idealized her as a virginal figure of rustic purity
Discuss Hardy's writing style
You'll want to devote a paragraph to each of Hardy's narrative techniques. The primary ones to consider are realistic storytelling; philosophical asides; balladry; poetry; and a classical tragic style that depends on coincidence and fate. Give concrete examples of each of these styles and discuss the purpose each serves in terms of forwarding the plot, expanding the themes, and developing the characters.
