"In her relations with both Alec and Angel, Tess is the victim of her own conscience rather than of male cruelty and censure". Comment on this view of Hardy's portrayal of Tess and her fate in Tess Of The D'Urbervilles.

Tess Of The D'Urbervilles - Question 10. " In her relations with both Alec and Angel, Tess is the victim of her own conscience rather than of male cruelty and censure". Comment on this view of Hardy's portrayal of Tess and her fate in Tess Of The D'Urbervilles. This essay is written in response to the quote above. Since the statement is from the author, Thomas Hardy, I believe that it is necessary to look at his past and outlook on life in general first. By doing this I hope to understand where Hardy's controversy has originated, and then move on to form my own argument, based on my personal belief, and proceed to deliver evidence from the book. Thomas Hardy was born in 1840, and died in 1928. Hardy was encouraged to write by two female figures in his life, his mother, and then later his wife. Despite his talent in the portrayal of characters in perhaps a realistic sense, his works were found to be 'pessimistic'. The book ''Tess of the D'Urbervilles'' was first released as a serialised edition in 1891, a time when 'realism became the dominant form of the 19th century'. I think that as this was the realist era, we must ask ourselves if Hardy was indeed being pessimistic, or if he was falling victim to the fashion of realism, and speaking the truth. I would like to look at the word realist, according to the 'York Notes advanced': "a realist author represents the world as it

  • Word count: 2176
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discuss how the two writers engage the Reader’s interest in their short stories.

Discuss how the two writers engage the Reader's interest in their short stories. Both authors use their titles as a way of drawing in the reader by making them ask questions right from the start. Lively chose the title "The Darkness Out There" and this poses the question, "What is "The Darkness?" The word darkness foreshadows that the story is about the unexpected and evil. In the same way, Thomas Hardy's title "Old Mrs Chundle," immediately begs the question "Who is Old Mrs Chundle?" Already the reader is picturing an old lady in their mind and wants to find out more about her. Like Lively, Hardy engages the reader by posing questions through the title. Titles are a very effective way of engaging the reader right from the outset. Also, both authors use stereotypes to engage the reader. Lively stereotyped the three main characters, Sandra, Kerry and Old Mrs Rutter. Sandra has been stereotyped as a "girly girl" who likes a "good giggle." Kerry is depicted as "one of the lads," he has "explosive acne" and "black slicked down hair." Finally Mrs Rutter is also stereotyped as "a dear old thing." The effect of Lively stereotyping her characters engages the reader even further. The reader is able to easily identify with the characters and in this way quickly becomes involved with them. As well as stereotyping the characters Lively chooses to stereotype the surroundings. "She

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Chapter 5 - How does Hardy present characters and the setting in this particular chapter?

Natalie Smith 12f Chapter 5 How does Hardy present characters and the setting in this particular chapter? The central character in this chapter is Tess, and Hardy reveals to the readers how Tess's guilt leads her to Alec, who has a lot more on his mind then just helping Tess's family. Tess is very beautiful and men are always pursuing her, either for purely sexual reasons or because she represents an excitingly unformed life waiting to be molded. The landscape and Tess are often described similarly, and the seasons and the weather reflect her emotional and physical state. The naturalistic imagery that Hardy uses is an important component of his style, which is characterized both by beautiful descriptive passages and by more philosophical or abstract asides detailing the ironies of his characters' lives and fates. The countryside is almost a character in Tess. Much of the time the settings reflect what's happening to Tess and the characters that influence her life. Each station or place where Tess stops is a testing place for her soul. Nature also reflects the characters' emotions and fortunes. For example, when Tess is happy, the sky is blue and birds sing. When events turn out badly the earth appears harsh and coldly indifferent to her agony. Nature is also depicted in the many journeys that take place in Tess. Both traveling and the rhythms of nature are seen as

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Half way through Chapter XX, Hardy describes the 'summer fog' that was suddenly occurring and all the activities that were taking place at the time of this fog and actually within it.

James Williams Phase the Third - The Rally January '03 Half way through Chapter XX, Hardy describes the 'summer fog' that was suddenly occurring and all the activities that were taking place at the time of this fog and actually within it. Hardy focuses mainly on the fog in two paragraphs and in each paragraph, he offers to different perspectives of the appearance of the fog which automatically suggests to the reader that this fog in the middle of summer, which is in itself unexpected, has a deeper meaning behind it. Tess and Angel are alone, due to it being "non-human hours", in the fog near the water-fowl. This is one of the first real times that Tess and Angel have been alone together and to them, spending a summer night together alone would be very special. This is why Hardy chose to have thick, dense fog on this night. Fog makes it hard to see what it ahead of you and makes everything look mysterious and uncertain, no matter which way you look. This also applies to Tess and Angel's relationship as at the moment there is a lot of uncertainly as to each others feelings even though the reader knows the truth and so they don't know what will happen between them in the very near future. So Hardy is almost using pathetic fallacy to represent a future experience. Not only does Hardy use pathetic fallacy to represent the

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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An analysis of the significance of chapter 37, to the novel as a whole;

English Coursework Tess of the D'Urbervilles By Thomas Hardy An analysis of the significance of chapter 37, to the novel as a whole; The setting of this chapter is within the D'Urberville mansion in the Froom Valley. Hardy uses the previous chapters to introduce the atmosphere within the mansion, making it apparent that there is an ancestral past for Tess, which makes her increasingly uncomfortable and it doesn't help that Angel keeps referring to Tess as a D'Urberville; 'The long pointed features, narrow eye, and smirk of the one, so suggestive of merciless treachery; the bill-hook nose, large teeth, and bold eye of the other suggesting arrogance to the point of ferocity, haunt the beholder afterwards in his dreams; The image of the women is not one of beauty and it is surprising to the reader that Angel should pick up on them as having similar features to those of Tess. This hints that their honeymoon may turn sour, as previously in the novel, Angel has always commented on Tess's beauty. Inevitably, Tess decides to tell Angel of her sin, which he cannot accept; hence bringing the sourness hinted in an earlier chapter, (chapter 10). Love survives on mutual trust, and since Tess has broken that trust, Angel has difficulty dealing with her. Within chapter 33, pg264, we discover Angels' sleep-walking habits. A fight occurred with Angel and a passing man, who was

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Explore Hardy's use of settings at Talbothays in phase the third and at Flintcomb-Ash in phase the fifth of "Tess Of The D'Urbervilles".

Explore Hardy's use of settings at Talbothays in phase the third and at Flintcomb-Ash in phase the fifth of "Tess Of The D'Urbervilles". * Your response should focus closely on the language of both sections and explain how character and theme are developed in each location. * You should also demonstrate an awareness of the novel's historical context particularly with a view to C19th notions of 'nature' and morality. * Finally ensure that you paragraph your essay, incorporating word and phase level quotation in support of your argument. Hardy includes nature into his stories almost as an extra person. His writing is rich with the sharpness of the weather, the countryside and the creatures of his home town Wessex. The people of his home town live on the land in a totally different way in which we do as we now have high technology and live in urban areas. Tess in Hardy's story experiences both good and bad during her life as a farm labourer. This mirrors the change in agricultural practices she witnesses. Hardy likes to in some of his books question the existence of god. And when Tess is finally hanged in his book he writs "The sun's rays smiled on pitilessly" The setting at Talbothays is happy. Hardy uses words which are very descriptive to make his sentences but one of the best are "The Froom waters were as clear as the pure river of life." To say that the Froom waters

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In what ways does Hardy make “The Superstitious Man’s Story” like a true ghost story and not like a fantasy?

The Superstitious Man's Story In what ways does Hardy make "The Superstitious Man's Story" like a true ghost story and not like a fantasy? Many factors in Thomas Hardy's 'The superstitious man's story' contribute to its realism and potency as a ghost story. Hardy, having been brought up in similar surroundings to the story, has an automatic knowledge and understanding of village life and everyday events. These are a large focus in this particular tale, used to make it more believable and less clichéd. When reading this story it is easy to imagine the characters and the setting as they have been created to represent the average person's life. Purposely, Thomas Hardy has fabricated this environment for his characters. Although Hardy wants to interest his readers, introducing simplicity to the setting is a vital element in creating this successful story. To make a story realistic as in 'The Superstitious Man's Story' readers have to be able to imagine the setting. At the time this folk tale was written, the village Hardy describes is one that many people reading the story would be able to imagine and to which they could relate. Within the village, we see that there are many generations of the family living there as the narrator introduces Nancy as "Jim Weedle's daughter". This adds to the realism in the story as we are given a slight history of the village and the people

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Tess and the color red. (Hardy)

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

  • Word count: 2216
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Tess of the D'urbervilles - How far do you agree that Tess is responsible for herown suffering?

From your reading of the novel How far do you agree that Tess is responsible for her own suffering? Tess Of The D'urbervilles was written in 1891 where Tess lived in a male dominated society where money gave you power. Having read the novel, Tess has come across as a very confusing character. Many things happen to her, some of which she is responsible for and some that are due to fate. I will be addressing both sides of the argument, given explanations and quotes and then I will make a conclusion of whether Tess is responsible for her own suffering or if other people had an effect on her life. During the novel we will see a difference in Tess's character and how different issues such as love have influenced her. In chapter 2 Hardy compares Tess with the surroundings of Marlott "The sun blazes down upon fields as large as to give an unenclosed character to the landscape. " An unenclosed character gives us the impression that something's hidden, not visible like Tess's character. Our first impressions of Tess is that she comes across as not a very confident character and Hardy helps us see this by painting a picture in our minds "landscape painter" and gives us strong knowledge of Tess. Tess helps out a lot around the house, as Tess's parents seem to be quite careless and unrealistic so she is left with all of the responsibility "Monday washing which had now as always

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"The president of the Immortals had done his sport with Tess"

"The president of the Immortals had done his sport with Tess" In his novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy expresses his dissatisfaction, weariness, and an overwhelming sense of injustice at the cruelty of 'our' universal fate disappointment and disillusionment. Hardy puts out an argument that the hopes and desires of Men are cruelly saddened by a strong combination of fate, unwanted accidents, mistakes and many sad flaws. Although Tess is strong willed and is clearly educated emotionally and mentally she soon becomes a victim of 'fate'. Many people would say that Tess was just unlucky, "Had a stroke of bad luck," others would prefer to differ and argue that she has fallen into fates hands. In order to decide whether her story is one of bad luck or bad judgement we need to look into closer detail at her account. Tess is introduced to the readers as a pure and innocent young lady dressed all in white, which symbolizes virginity and purity, whilst her physical appearance suggests a form of innocence and naivety. Hardy proposes that maybe her innocence and purity comes from her lack of experience with people, love and danger. This can be seen when she is exposed to new and different environments and forces. Hardy also introduces class and status very early on, Tess comes from a lower class yet she can make herself seem in a higher status due to her education. Tess's

  • Word count: 2084
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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