Hardy makes rustic characters seem friendly, down to earth and hard working. There are many examples of this. “Here they fell to, the men plying a stone jar freely, and passing round a cup.” He is notifying us on how the harvesters are sharing drinks and not worrying about anything by using the word
‘freely’. “The men who sat nearest considerately turned their faces towards the other end of the field, some of them beginning to smoke;” This is showing the consideration that the male gender country folk have for Tess as they didn’t look whilst she breast fed Sorrow. “...a little more than persuading had to do wi' the coming o't, I reckon. There were they that heard a sobbing one night last year in the chase; and it mid ha' gone hard wi' a certain party if folks had come along.' This is showing that this particular women is sharing the thoughts that she does not think the rape was Tess’s fault. “In the afternoons several young girls of Marlott, former schoolfellows and acquaintances of Tess, called to see her, arriving dressed in their best starched and ironed, as became visitors to a person who had made a transcendent conquest (as they supposed).” Hardy shows how the young girls of Marlott are friendly and thoughtful to Tess as they dressed up and went to see her as she got through a rough time very well. They also randomly complement her, “How pretty she is; and how that best frock do set her off!” They are not envious and charitable; they are kind and considerate towards Tess’s feelings. However, not all characters are like this, e.g.- Alec D’Urberville. He is a handsome, amoral son of a wealthy merchant named Simon Strokes. He is a manipulative, sinister young man, and does everything he can to seduce the inexperienced Tess when she comes to work for his family. Another example is the Clare brothers, the siblings of Angel. As Angel wanted to join in the joyous club walking, the brothers wanted to leave; they were being unsociable and narrow-minded.
On the other hand, Hardy uses some rustic characters to make Tess stand out as different from the group as a whole. An example of this is from the treacle episode on page 82. As Tess shares the laughter, she was shouted at, “How darest th’ laugh at me, hussy!” Tess apologizes, “I couldn’t really help it when t’others did.” A normal country girl would not answer back where as Tess stood up for herself. Tess seems superior to the milkmaids that Tess befriends at the Talbothays Dairy farm, who remain close to her throughout the rest of her life. Marian, Izz and Retty Priddle are all in love with Angel and take it hard when he chooses Tess over them: Marian turns to drink, Retty attempts suicide and Izz nearly runs off to Brazil with Angel when he leaves Tess. Nevertheless, they remain helpful to Tess: Marian helps her find a job at a farm called Flintcomb-Ash, and she and Izz write Angel a plaintive letter encouraging him to give Tess another chance. This did not affect the way I think of Tess. I think of Tess to be a beautiful, loyal young women living with her impoverished family in the village of Marlott. Tess is extremely responsible and is committed to doing the best she can for her family. Her life is complicated when her father discovers he is descended from the noble line of the d’Urbervilles. The terrible irony is that Tess and her family are not really related to this branch of the d'Urbervilles at all: Alec's father, Simon Stokes, simply assumed the name after he retired. With the treacle episode, Tess defends herself when she thinks it is appropriate without being what I consider ‘rude’, which is what Tess always was, loyal. At the beginning of the book, when there are people mocking her father, she shouts, “Look here; I wont walk another inch with you, if u say any jokes about him!” She seems like a typical country girl, yet different in some ways. I would say that Tess and her family are rustic characters even though her ancestors past wealth and social class were higher than theirs themselves. This does not change the fact that they live the life of typical country folk.
One of the key symbols in the novel is the passing of the seasons. The rustic characters’ lives are governed by the changing of the seasons and the land for their livelihoods. Thomas Hardy does not like autumn, which is why he uses this season to represent something negative like the rape. Tess is obviously despondent at this time as it is just after the rape, and to emphasise on the
frame of mind, Hardy uses the phrase, “sad October.” Tess also leaves Tantridge after the rape in autumn, which is depressing, as it is an important decision to make. Hardy uses spring to send an optimistic vibe to the reader. This is portrayed as Hardy writes about Tess and Angel falling in love in spring, which is the happiest time in her life. He uses the sentence, “On a thyme-scented, bird-hatching morning in May…” This is sending out a very pleasant feeling.
Another key symbol in the novel is the natural world and colour. Hardy often looks at nature and the land in the novel through Tess’s eyes and thoughts. He uses colour to give the reader subtle hints of what is going to happen in the future. “He was met astride on a grey mare.” This was when Jack Durbyfield tells John Durbeyfield about the noble line of the d’Urbervilles, and John is quick to make an attempt to profit by the connection. As profiting as this may sound, the grey represents that it is not a wise idea, and something misfortunate will happen in the future if they are to be involved with Alec and his family. He also uses the phrase, “who as he rode, hummed and wondering tune.”, which is building up on the fact that there is something mysterious about John’s plans. Hardy uses colour to emphasise on the beauty of the countryside. “The fields are never brown and the springs never dry.” He makes his passion for the countryside very evidential. He also describes the country as “The lanes are white and the atmosphere colourless.” This could mean that Tantridge is quite an empty and secluded area, a place where anything could happen, good or bad. I think this sentence can be interpreted into both a good and bad meaning. Hardy describes how a network of dark green threads overspread the paler green of the grass. I think even when Hardy is describing the country as a beautiful place; he is insinuating signs of danger happening in the future by referring to the dark green threads ‘overspreading’. Hardy writes about the young girls who go club walking, wear a “white frock” and carry a bunch of “white flowers”. He is trying to tell us in a discreet way that all these girls are maidens, by using the colour white to symbolise purity. Hardy creates a lot of danger signs using colour, for example, “She wore a red ribbon in her hair.” Even though it makes Tess stand out from all the ordinary girls, the colour red is indicating that being different is not necessarily a good thing, a bad thing could happen. He uses phrases such as, “blue narcotic haze” and “blood-red ray in the spectrum of the young life” symbolising more danger signs. In the phrase ‘Narcotic haze’, Hardy uses smoke to create a sense of danger. He also points out that Alec smokes in front of Tess, and uses the metaphor, “…mist of yellow radiant…illuminated smoke.” The colour ‘blood-red’ immediately sets your mind to assume that there is upcoming danger in the novel. Hardy uses nature to symbolise danger and unease, “Yellow lights, struggle with blue shades in hair like lines.” As Tess and Alec are on their way to Tantridge from Marlott, Hardy uses a very symbolic sentence making us more aware of Tess’s past and future. “Behind the green valley of birth, before, a grey country of which she knew nothing.” This is making it clear to us that she is abandoning the nice, safe and old life she lead, and she is heading to a place which she is oblivious to any sort of danger, or misfortune.
Hardy uses many extended metaphors in the book to focus on the importance of a situation or event in the novel. Cars mother explained laconically, “Out of the frying-pan into the fire!” Hardy is stressing the fact that Tess is going to get herself into deeper danger than she already is. This gives the reader a pre-warning of the fact that something horrific will happen soon. Hardy also writes earlier on in the book, “All these young souls were passengers in the Durbeyfield ship- entirely dependent on the judgement of the two Durbeyfield adults for their pleasures…” Hardy calls the Durbeyfield household a shiftless ship. This made me think that no matter what the family would go through, they would go through it together and not be separated. It also indicates that the children
have no choice but to follow their parents’ choices. Their lives are depending on what decisions are made by John and Joan Durbeyfield. There are many metaphors used on pages 89-91 which is when the rape occurs. Using metaphors is a better alternative to being too graphic when writing about such an outrageous event such as the rape. “…she had learnt that the serpent hisses where the sweet bird sing,” This means there is usually more than what meets the eye. In this situation, I think Tess’s views on life and on the world around her after the rape have defiantly changed. This is no surprise as she went through a traumatic experience. Tess feels that no matter where you go, or how pleasant it looks or sounds; there will defiantly be some evil in the world.
Thomas Hardy’s mother was a great role model to Hardy. She gave him the best knowledge she could. She used to tell Hardy stories, which he used in his novel. One of them is about the baptism of illegitimate babies in their village, which Hardy also used in his novel when Tess baptised her child, Sorrow, with her siblings. He uses colour and nature to emphasise on certain events, signals and moods. Hardy cleverly used his own life experiences and stories to write wonderful and imaginative novels. Tess of the D’Urbervilles may have received many negative responses from the public, but hard to deny, it was a very well written story on a young and innocent country girl, Tess Durbeyfield.
Jayni Shah 10R