In the first chapter of both novels the reader sees how social status affects the way in which an individual is treated: Jane is thought of as a lesser being not worthy of treatment as a human: ‘-bad animal!’ This is emphasised through the use of the animal insults, and because the reader sees them entirely from Jane’s point of view, it is hard to see any good in the Reeds. For Tess, her believed change in status is just one of the many aforementioned incidents which lead to her fate. Her family’s intent belief that they are descendents of the ‘D‘Urberville’ family causes them to behave differently, to change the way they think about themselves and other people. This belief is the first factor in leading Tess to Alec, for Angel does appear at the beginning of the story at the ‘club-walking’ yet fate does not draw them together. This idea is paralleled later in the book: ‘Had she perceived this meeting’s import she might have asked why she was doomed to be seen and marked and coveted by the wrong man, and not by a certain other man’.
With regard to plot, the factor of status is important in relation to later parts of the story. Jane thinks that Mr. Rochester could never love her due to their employer-employee situation, and because she is not a wealthy lady like Miss Blanche Ingram. It is her status as governess that leads her to believe Mr Rochester could never love her. For Tess too there are issues of status that are heavily significant to her life. The exchange between her father and the parson at the opening of the novel causes conflict and debate; Tess effectively suffers an identity crisis. During the story Tess also has other roles to play: by bearing the duty of going to market she takes on her father’s role. By looking after her siblings she adopts the role of a mother figure, and later on there is again debate over her social status: is she Mrs Angel Clare or Mrs Alec D’Urberville? She questions her role as any kind of wife to anybody, losing sight of who she really is.
Both opening chapters show the author using foreshadowing to build tension and hint at parts of the plot yet to come: Jane’s fight with John foreshadows his unfortunate end in Vol. II, Chapter six. The sequence of events Tess’s family is subjected to are small disasters that lead to their total demise, Hardy’s extensive use of foreshadowing is typical of the earlier phases of the novel, making the family’s decline seem inevitable, suggesting that Tess’s fate is already sealed. The certainty of loss and suffering becomes a key theme in the novel.
The first chapter of 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' sees Thomas Hardy using detailed description and dialect that creates a feeling for the reader that the narrator is telling a real story about real people; a sense of verisimilitude. There is also extensive use of historical detail – we are told that the fist scene takes part in ‘the adjoining vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor’ along with the use of local dialect, for example ‘at hwome’ and ‘wold’, the historical detail gives the reader an enforced sense of authenticity. In contrast, the introduction of ‘Jane Eyre’ is narrated directly to the reader in a colloquial, story-telling fashion. It is one of the earliest accounts given by a child from a child’s point of view in English fiction and even though it is actually being narrated in retrospect by Jane Rochester years later, it provides a highly suggestive portrait of Jane’s childish thoughts and feelings.
The structures of the two books are fairly similar: 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' is very carefully structured around seven phases, and ‘Jane Eyre’ was constructed by Brontë very tightly, the form being dictated by the novel’s major theme. In Hardy’s work of fiction coincidence is abundant, taking advantage of Tess in the majority of situations. Coincidence is present in ‘Jane Eyre’ but only to the extent that it happens in real life, Brontë wanted to write about what was true, sincere and deeply felt. This is particularly evident in the composition of the novel: Jane constantly seeks the truth and struggles to cast off the brand given to her by both her Aunt Reed and Mr Brocklehurst: ‘Liar’. Above all, truth is most important to Jane.
Tess and Jane, although both heroines of the stories have significant differences: Tess is the earthly maiden, born and bred in her local countryside village. This is highlighted through the use of dialect and colloquial conversations. Jane has been bought up in a very different kind of establishment, one of formalities and riches, shown through the behaviour of the Reeds who suppose they are of a much greater calibre then Jane, and by the extent of their own personal library: the scene of the reader’s first experience of the characters.
The first chapter of Tess is ominous, hinting at situations that will ensue: ‘our impulses are to strong for our judgement sometimes’ is a comment made by the Parson to John, Tess’s father. In Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’ the unfair treatment of those that are supposed to love her and care for her reflects situations that will occur later in the book, however not as strongly implying as the hints in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles'. In both opening scenes the reader is witness to seemingly small incidents that are to change the lives of the two female heroines forever. For Jane it is the final straw when John attacks her: her description of Bewick’s ‘History of British Birds’ discloses her state of mind: her head is full of images of shipwrecks, storms, high mountains, death and disaster. For Tess’s family it is the tiny piece of wrong information that changes the Durbyfields forever. Had the Parson been able to hold back his ‘impulses’ life would not have changed for them in this way, leaving them subject to, as Jane is, the cruel hand of fate.
