Hardy also leads us to feel sympathy for Tess by alerting us to the fact that Tess is a very moral, altruistic, good person, who does not deserve hardship.
One such way that Hardy shows this is by always making Tess supportive and loyal to her family. This is shown early in the book, where some of the girls of the Woman’s Walking Club are teasing Tess about her fathers drinking habits and Tess tells them: “Look here, I wont walk another inch with you if you say such jokes about him” (Chapter II) although she is acutely embarrassed. This displays Tess’ integrity and strong nature to the reader, and gives us (the readers) another reason to like Tess.
Another way in which Hardy shows Tess’ goodness and purity (and resultantly winning the affection and sympathy of the readers) is by portraying Tess as ‘a maiden of the land’ (Chapter XXI) a woman who is wholly at one with nature. Tess is always seen to be comfortable outdoors: ‘Every contour of the surrounding hills was as well loved and as personal as that of her relatives’ faces’ (Chapter V). She is gentle and kind to the cows: ‘Out of the whole 95 cows, there were eight in particular who gave down [milk] to her with a readiness that made working on them a mere touch of the fingers’ (Chapter XIX.). Tess is overpowered by the beauty of ‘The Valley of Great Dairies’, and is happy to work and live off the land: ‘As soon as she left school Tess began to lend a hand at harvesting or hay-making on neighbouring farms; or in preference, at milking or butter-making processes, being deft-fingered, this was a kind of work in which she excelled’ (Chapter V).
Thomas Hardy was very interested in the idea of pastoral perfection; the idea that the Victorians had just departed from a ‘golden-era’ of rural perfection, where there was no crime or pain, where everybody lived hand-in-hand, outdoors, at one with nature. Hardy believed that the natural world equalled goodness and simplicity and that industrialisation and technology were the world’s evils. This was an interesting and controversial attitude for a man of Hardy’s class, and it is surprising that he uses it in this book, which was written for an educated, upper-class audience. Hardy portrays Tess as a perfect personification of nature, and of rural life, and therefore according to the pastoral attitude she is goodness and simplicity. By highlighting the good and beautiful aspects of Tess’ character Hardy, again, leads his readers to believe that Tess does not deserve the hardship she suffers. One such reference to this era of pastural perfection that enforces this idea is in Chapter III when Hardy describes Tess’ house to have been ‘laid out before inches of land had value, before it was necessary to rush anywhere, and when one-handed clocks sufficiently sub-divided the day’. This musing, almost bitter style of writing suggests that Hardy would have preferred life in these previous times.
In some ways, Tess still seems to be living in this ‘golden-era’ of pastoral perfection. She is very trusting and believes all others to be as altruistic and philanthropic as herself, she is very naïve to the evils of the world: “I was a child when I left this house four months ago, why did you not warn me there was danger I men-folk?” (Chapter XI), she is deep on an emotional level but not on a thinking level. This emotionality and naïvety is displayed in the language used by Tess, for example Tess’ frank confusion and distress is displayed in this phrase as she implores to Alec: “But I don’t want anyone to kiss me, and I wouldn’t have come if I’d known” (Chapter VII). This speech shows openness and vulnerability sincerity that is trademark of Tess and is attractive to the reader.
Thomas Hardy builds on this idea of vulnerability by portraying Tess as a victim of fate and ill omens, and indeed Tess does often seem to fall foul of some force, which is determined to make her life difficult.
An example of fate is in Chapter XXXII, where the letter that Tess had written to Angel Clare did not slip under his door as she had intended but was placed right under the carpet, meaning Angel never saw it. This could be deciphered as an intervention of fate because if Angel had read the letter then the couple would have had time to call off the wedding or maybe even continue the marriage happily.
An example of an ill omen is in Chapter VI, when Tess is travelling home from her first visit to Trantridge to meet Alec, ‘Tess then fell to reflecting again, and in looking downwards a thorn of the rose remaining in her breast accidentally pricked her chin, and in struggling to remove and dispose of the offensive bloom and forget the memories of the day Tess cut herself still more’. This simple act of removing the rose (a gift from Alec) from her dress brings forth much blood, is this perhaps an indication that the removal of Alec from her life would also be painful. This idea that Tess’ life is controlled by Fate or Providence makes her extremely vulnerable in the reader’s eyes, which leads us (the readers) to feel sympathy for Tess because she has no control.
Hardy continually uses this idea of vulnerability to lead us to feel sympathy for Tess throughout the book. One such place in which Hardy uses strong symbolism and imagery to indicate this point is Chapter XIV, Hardy describes Tess working in the fields, reaping the harvest. He mentions how: ‘Her naked arm is visible between the buff leather and the sleeve of her gown; and as the day wears on its feminine smoothness becomes sacrificed by the stubble of harvest, it bleeds’ (Chapter XIV). The symbolism here is that not only is Tess reaping the agricultural harvest, but also does she reap the harvest of her actions (her relationship with Alec) this is revealed perfectly when Liza-Lou brings Tess’ baby for feeding. The ‘feminine smoothness’ of Tess’ arm which is slashed by the ‘stubble of harvest’ represents Tess’ purity and innocence, sacrificed to the wickedness of Alec’ actions. One could also argue that the stubble of harvest signifies Tess’ child, as he has come from Alec as the stubble has from the corn, however, I prefer the notion that the stubble represents the consequences of her actions—that is, the common revulsion at Tess’ ‘offence against society’ in bringing the baby into the world. The image of Tess at work in the fields and the corn wounding her arm, represents Tess as a victim of social standards. The acknowledgement of this symbolism makes a strong impact on the reader, allowing us (the readers) to understand Tess’ emotions and actions and ultimately leading us to feel sympathetic towards Tess because we see her as a victim of social standards.
Hardy builds on this point of Tess as a victim of social standards by often displaying to the reader that regardless of her noble-blood, Tess often falls foul of the colossal class-divide, which was in place at this time. It is partly the divide between classes which ‘allows’ Alec to rape Tess: ‘Doubtless some of Tess d’Urbeville’s mailed ancestors rollicking home from a fray had dealt the same measure even more ruthlessly towards peasant girls of their time’ (Chapter XX).
Throughout the book, the Hardy clarifies the divide between classes with the differences in language used by different characters; for example when Tess is speaking, she speaks frankly and openly: “It would be better to do it now I think” (Chapter XXXIII.) However, the speech of Angel Clare is regularly peppered with verses, metaphors, and biblical references: “Whatever one may think of plenary inspiration one must heartily subscribe to these words of Paul: ‘Be thou an example—in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity’” (Chapter XXXIV). The language used gives the reader an insight into Tess’ world, meaning we can see for ourselves, the barrier between the educated and uneducated world that isolates Tess from her lover. Experiencing this ourselves is more effective than being informed in a long narrative from Hardy, the readers feel closer to the character Tess and we can now relate to her problems and sympathize with her.
Despite all this, probably the principal method used by Hardy to lead the readers to feel sympathy for Tess is to portray Tess as a natural victim. We, as readers, have established what a good and naturally (if not socially) moral person Tess is, we have seen how her family manipulates her, how Alec takes advantage of her, how she blames herself for Alec’s wrongdoing, and how she is willing to kill herself to save Angel’s dignity. All this evidence leads us to the conclusion that Tess is a natural victim, trodden by society: ‘Every day it seemed more was expected of Tess and every day seemed to throw upon her young shoulders more and more of the world’s burdens’ (Chapter VI).
I conclude that although Thomas Hardy uses many different and varied techniques to lead us to feel sympathy for Tess he pays particular attention to portraying Tess as a natural victim. Hardy also spends a great amount of time (particularly at the beginning of the book) building Tess’ character and building a relationship between Tess and the readers. This is an effective method of leading the audience to feel sympathy for Tess because the reader is more likely to like and consequently, feels more compassion and sympathy towards Tess later in the book when she is suffering.