Consider the idea that, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Hardy explores the tension and conflict between tradition and innovation. So far, do you think that the latter is the cause of Tess' suffering?
Tess of the d'Urbervilles Consider the idea that, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Hardy explores the tension and conflict between tradition and innovation. So far, do you think that the latter is the cause of Tess' suffering? Thomas Hardy explores the tension and conflict between tradition and innovation a lot in the duration of the book. He talks about society changing and Tess unable to choose which way to turn in life, to the farms? Where no one knows about her secret past but she is unable to keep it a secret, or to the town, where everyone knows and thinks she is a sinner. Thomas Hardy is unable to understand why Tess, a beautiful, innocent, pure woman can be outcast so extremely from society even though she was the one that had been sinned against. Surely Alec is the one to blame for committing such a crime, but it seems that even though everyone knows what happened, everyone still seems to treat him like a man that has never wronged anyone. Thomas Hardy is also always making comments about how Tess and nature and intrinsically linked, comparing Tess to nature and bringing her out as one that lives a pure and simplistic life, she is always conceived as beautiful, innocent, pure, "as blank as snow" and sensitive. There are also many references to how other people view her as pure. In particular, Hardy himself expresses through language just how much he feels for the
Once victim, always victim- that's the law! - discuss - Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urberville's
"Once victim, always victim- that's the law!" Thomas Hardy wrote Tess of the D'Urberville's, it is a novel about a beautiful, intelligent, young and good country girl, whose whole life is a constant struggle. Tess D'Urberfield is a victim, a victim of fate, bad luck and a victim at the hands of men. Although it seems as if nothing goes right for her she remains a lovely, kind, wholesome woman. Her pride and stubbornness never allows her to ask for help. Tess was a wonderful woman, born into poverty, who never did anything to deserve what happened to her. Tess is a very sensual and sexual woman, "She was a fine and handsome girl- not handsomer than some others possibly- but her mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes added eloquence to colour and shape." There are many references to her mouth and her red lips, this shows her sexuality, "Holmberry lips" "Flower like mouth" "... her mouth he had seen nothing to equal on the face of the earth. To a young man with the least fire in him that little upward lift in the middle of her red top lip was distracting, infatuating, maddening. He had never before seen a women's lips and teeth which forced upon his mind with such persistent iteration the old Elizabethan of roses filled with snow." This is Angel saying how pretty she is and how he loves her even though he leaves her. But beauty is her curse and down fall. Tess's
Tess Is Only Partly To Blame For Her Own Tragic Decline. Powerful External Pressures, Social, Environmental and Supernatural Drive Her Inexorably Towards Her Cruel Fate - Agree or disagree.
I definitely agree with the above comment. From the beginning of the novel 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy, it is clear that the main character, Tess, is not going to have an easy life. She is deliberately targeted by cruel "Immortals" as their sadistic plaything. This is symbolized during the club dance, where Tess is "one of the white company" but is the only one to have a bright "red ribbon" in her hair. The mark of blood is on her from the start. Whilst Tess is going to market she accidentally kills the family's horse. Her own guilt for this accidental death is the first stage in a long series of incidents leading to Tess's tragic death at the end of the novel. Social and environmental pressures rank high on the list of causes of Tess's tragedy. In the late 19th century there were many changes taking place in rural England. The advances achieved as a result of the Industrial Revolution meant that even in the countryside farming was becoming mechanized and there were fewer manual labour jobs for the simple peasant people to do. This meant many people had to leave their town where they had spent most of their lives to go and find work. So, for example, the Durbeyfields' departing from Marlott after the death of "Sir John", was only part of a greater rural upheaval. Tess's search for work to make up for the loss of her family's horse led her to the sinister
Compare and contrast the rape scene in Thomas Hardy's
Ashleigh Robertson-English coursework 3th July Compare and contrast the rape scene in Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" with the attempted rape in Robert C O'Brien's "Z for Zachariah"... Thomas Hardy, an English-man, wrote "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" in 1891 to show his concerns for the publics' loss of faith, partly due to the publication of Darwin's "Origin of the Species", and the conceivable decay of rural life due to the introduction of machinery; industrialisation was making a lot of middle class people very rich but putting the traditional farmers at a disadvantage. Robert C O'Brien, an American, wrote his novel in 1975 to voice his anxieties over the Cuban missile crisis of '62 and the Cold War adopting a "what if..." scenario. Hardy has written his novel in the third person so that he is free to put in his own opinions and to see into any character's thoughts and feelings. His novel was originally published in instalments in newspapers for an adult audience for whom broadstroke seemed more appropriate. O'Brien chose to pen his publication in the first person, possibly because his audience were younger and would prefer to be able to identify with Ann (the heroin?) to whom they are of a closer age than Loomis. Hardy's rape scene is at the start of the book as his novel is showing how this affects the rest of her life. This point in the book could be seen
Set in Wessex, "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" is a novel, which disregards the conventions of sexual morality on women. Hardy produced a very sensitive view of women
"Tess of the D'Urbervilles" Coursework "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" was published in 1891. Set in Wessex, "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" is a novel, which disregards the conventions of sexual morality on women. Hardy produced a very sensitive view of women through his portrayal of Tess, in this book. He connects Tess with nature, because he believed that women were more closely tied to nature than men and this is shown through his description of the settings. This idea meant that there was going to be clashes with artificial laws of morality and his view of women was in conflict with the accepted view of women, at the time. It's subtitle "A pure woman" infuriated critics as no writer in the 19th century could seriously imagine that a woman heroine who has a illegitimate child and ends up committing murder could uncontroversially be called "pure". Hardy Wanted people to discuss this subtitle. The subtitle was condemned immoral and pessimistic. Hardy tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor villager, who finds out that his family may have descended from a noble ancestry. The novel explores through Tess's relationship with two different men, Angel and Alec D'Urberville. She has an illegitimate child with Alec, after he raped her. Tess went to Alec D'Urbervilles house because she believed that they were her relatives, who could give her family some money, after
Explore Hardys presentation of the journey to Talbothys and the second introduction to Angel Clare.
English Literature Sarah Pearce Yasha Izadpanah Explore Hardys presentation of the journey to Talbothys and the second introduction to Angel Clare. Tess's journey to Talbothys is representative of more than a change of location and occupation. The journey is symbol of a new life for Tess; a fresh start where she can start to recoup her lost innocence and begin anew. We are aware of Tess's need for change from events and descriptions in the previous chapter. From this chapter the reader has quite an insight into the disconsolate nature of Tess's thoughts and emotions: "'Oh merciful God, Have Pity upon my poor baby!' She cried. 'Heap as much anger as you want upon me, and welcome; but pity the child!'" Two years have passed and we are aware of this from the change in seasons. This is quite a symbolic definition of time as it is also where Tess in essence has a movement into Adult hood. It is interesting to note that any major changes in Tess's life are echoed by change in nature. This further expresses Tess's ever-present and infamous link with nature. Tess's Journey alone is full of symbolic communications to the reader of Tess's parallel characterisation to nature. Tess's journey to Talbothys takes place in May: "A particularly fine spring came around, and the stir of germination was almost audible in the buds; it moved her, as it moved the wild animals, and made
Compare and contrast the ways in which Hardy and Fowles present Victorian morals and values.
Compare and contrast the ways in which Hardy and Fowles present Victorian morals and values. One of the most prominent Victorian values present in both novels is the issue of purity in a woman. Both novels contain a 'fallen' women as a protagonist, however, Charles in 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' seems to be drawn to this flaw where Angel in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' finds Tess' impurity unforgiveable for one part of the text. "You were one person, and now you are another" portrays how Angel treats Tess "as though associated with a crime" after her finds out she is "a young woman whose history will bear investigation". Hardy is highlighting the injustice of Victorian double standards on purity. "I forgive you Angel, but you do not forgive me" illustrates how Tess is willing to immediately forgive Angel for his sin out of her love for him. Victorian men are presented as being attracted to chastity in a woman above most other qualities. Sam in 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' dreams of Mary, whom he is courting, as being "prettily caged". This metaphor suggests that he too was magnetised by Mary's chastity by depicting her as being enclosed in an environment where no other man has ever been. Hardy once again stresses the inequalities between the sexes through his character of Alec. Alec ironically says that Tess "has not a sense of what is morally right and proper any
Tess Of the D`urbervilles - "Once victim, Always victim, that`s the law "Discuss this quotation in relation to Tess.
Tess Of the D`urbervilles Coursework Mark Jenkins 11TH "Once victim, Always victim, that`s the law " Discuss this quotation in relation to Tess. Tess always seems to be the victim in the story, but is that really the case ? Personally, I think that she is being victimised because of her naïvity, and that Hardy tries to make us take her side. When Alec rapes her, she does nothing to disuade him from his attempt, all except for muttering " stop ". This comes back to haunt her during her relationship with Angel Clare, when she tells him what happened. He thought that she was pure and virginal, that is what he wanted to see when he looked at her, but he didn`t look close enough to see her pain, so Tess is haunted again by the evnts of her past. Alec tries it on again when Tess goes with him after Angel leaves, but she has learned from the past to stop it from happening, and she kills him, stabbing him in the torso once. She leaves, terrified, and finds Angel on the wharf, waiting for her and tells him what happened. He takes her back to an old house, where they stay until they are discovered. They then take flight over the countryside, finally resting at Stonehenge where the police finally catch up to them, and take Tess into the dawn. In relation to this, many women who have had an experiance of rape find it hard to become accustomed to
'A Visit Of Charity' and 'Old Mrs Chundle' - Both stories have a message or moral that the reader can draw from his reading. What do you think the message of these stories are, and which story in the most effective in getting it across?
Both stories have a message or moral that the reader can draw from his reading. What do you think the message of these stories are, and which story in the most effective in getting it across? Both 'A Visit Of Charity' and 'Old Mrs Chundle' have seemingly similar themes written in a different way. Old Mrs Chundle was written during the 1880's and is about an old woman who lives on her own in a country parish. However, the rather ironically titled A Visit Of Charity is set in 20th century America and concerns the visit of Marian, a campfire girl, to two old ladies living in an old people's home. Despite being set in different times and countries both stories have the same theme: the way we mistreat old people. Both the curate in Old Mrs Chundle and Marian in the Visit of Charity only pay attention to the elderly people in order to gain a reward for their gifts of charity. In Old Mrs Chundle the curate meets Mrs Chundle by chance when he was looking for somewhere to have lunch during a painting expedition. She lives a simple life growing her own food and copes alone despite her age. After the Industrial Revolution many old people found themselves alone in the countryside because the younger people had moved to the cities to find work. People in Mrs Chundle's time were more conscious of their status, as is obvious in the relationship between Mrs Chundle and the
Analyse Hardy’s use of symbolism and rustic characters in Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
Analyse Hardy's use of symbolism and rustic characters in Tess of the D'Urbervilles English literature/ language Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 and was brought up by his father in a small town in Dorset, England. Hardy was a sensitive and intelligent child; he progressed diligently through his studies and in his early twenties he was apprenticed to an architect in London. He eventually went back to Dorset and his first published novel appeared in 1871 after which he was able to retire from architecture and work solely on his writing. His bringing up around nature and rustic life influence Hardy to write about it in his novels. Hardy had a deep sense of moral sympathy for England's lower classes, particularly for rural women. He became famous for his compassionate, often controversial portrayal of young women victimised by the arrogant rigidity of English social morality. Perhaps his most famous example of portrayal of such a young women occurred in 1891's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, the story of young Tess's unjust suffering following her premarital sexual encounter with the son of an upper-class merchant. This novel and its successor, 1894's "Jude the Obscure", provoked a lot of public scandal with their comparatively blunt look at the sexual hypocrisy of English society. Hardy was enraged by the controversy caused by his work, and finally abandoned novel writing