Tess of The DUrbervilles. Explore Hardy's presentation of Angel Clare

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Lara Groves

Explore Hardy’s presentation of Angel

The character of Angel Clare is one that is central not only to Thomas Hardy’s nineteenth century novel Tess of The D’Urbervilles1, but to the character of Tess herself. Angel is presented and developed by Hardy as a many sided character, and he can be seen as responsible for a great part of Tess’s actions through the novel, good and bad. Superficially, it is easy to see how Hardy wishes Angel to be seen by the reader. The fact that he is named ‘Angel’ bares significance as it’s shown that he will be portrayed as a man of good morals and heart and perhaps ‘saviour’ like. His surname also indicates this – ‘Clare’ is similar to the French ‘clair’ , meaning clarity or light. Hardy’s immediate, obvious manipulation of his name suggests that there may be more to his character than the reader’s first impressions, and this is maintained by Hardy’s development of him throughout the novel.

When Angel is first presented in Chapter 2 in the May Dance, his importance is not made immediately clear. It is not until later on, when Tess begins her time at Talbothay’s Dairy in Phase the Third, fate ensures they meet again, and Angel is fully introduced.  Hardy does not present Angel as a strong character here – he is depicted as somewhat ‘preoccupied, vague’. Even Tess regards him mainly as an ‘intelligence’, showing perhaps she too is focused on the ideals of her partner. Angel is a direct contrast of the villainous Alec in terms of his physical characteristics , such as the lack of red in Angel’s lips. There is no symbolic use of red connoting danger and lust compared with passages in Chapter 5 that concern Alec, for example the strawberries and roses Tess is given, as well as repeated connections of blood later on – Hardy perhaps foreboding a future lack of passion and intensity between Angel and Tess.

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His character and personality is described as ‘not cold-natured’  but rather more ‘bright’ than ‘ hot’ – less Byronic than Shelleyan;’  could love desperately, but his love was more ‘inclined to the imaginative and ethereal". This is perhaps the most important quote in terms Angel’s character; first, implying he is more ‘bright’ than ‘hot’ implies a lack of heat and lust, which is common in the poetry of the nineteenth century Lord Byron, contrasting to poet Percy Shelley whose work is more ‘bright’ and related with the mind, something that is very similar to Angel’s personality and views. This quality could be to blame ...

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