Tess of the d'Urbevilles: by Thomas Hardy
GCSE Coursework: pre1914 prose study: Tess of the d'Urbevilles: by Thomas Hardy "How does Hardy lead us to feel sympathy for Tess?" I think that throughout the novel Thomas Hardy uses many different techniques that lead his readers to feel sympathy for Tess. Through reading Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbevilles' I have realised that it is invaluable that the readers of any novel sympathise with and feel compassion for the main character. In writing 'Tess of the D'Urbevilles' Thomas Hardy is very successful in grabbing the attention and sentiments of the reader and then steering their emotions so that they feel empathy and understanding for the character Tess. Hardy does this from the very first time we are introduced to Tess. The first time we see Tess is at the Woman's Walking Club Festival, Hardy describes her as 'a fine and handsome girl, with a mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes' (Chapter II), 'a small minority would look long at her in casually passing and grow momentarily fascinated by her freshness...' (Chapter II). This description of pure beauty and innocence captures the imagination of the readers and we begin to build a relationship with the character. The beauty and goodness that we see in Tess draws us to her, and engenders a feeling of affection for her, in this way Hardy is preparing us for later in the book when we see Tess suffering, and feel sympathy
Analyse and compare at least two of the media texts you have studied, for example, the video 'working girl' and the article 'Get yourself noticed'.
Working Girl Analyse and compare at least two of the media texts you have studied, for example, the video 'working girl' and the article 'Get yourself noticed' you should comment on: * What these texts show about how woman are portrayed in the word of work. * What advice is given to woman who want to improve their image and status at work * What presentational devices are used to convey this information? * What similarities/differences are there between texts? At the beginning of the film it firstly zooms into Tess Mcgill a struggling low paid office worker. It shows that the film will be based on her life. Just by looking at the beginning you can see how woman have changed throughout the years they used to have no power and were house wives now they have a lot more power and have a voice in UK politics. This started in 1919 when married woman got the vote. However, there is still some sort of invisible barrier know at the 'glass ceiling' where woman can't pursue any further in their career as far men can. Then media reflects woman's role in society. It is interesting to examine how woman are presented in two media texts. There has always been a stereo type of a woman with blonde woman being classed as an air head. There is an image of the Statue of Liberty which represents freedom, equality and justice. It was a gift of international friendship from the people of
Tess of the D'Urbervilles: The Ultimate reason as to why readers are captivated by a novel is the interaction between characters
The interaction between characters is the ultimate reason as to why readers are captivated by a novel. This concept is demonstrated through Tess of the D'Urbervilles written by Thomas Hardy in the late 1800s, by its universal themes and relationships that are still relevant to contemporary readers. Hardy's representation of the themes of love and lust, male dominance in society, and religion are shown through the characters of Tess Durbeyfield and Alec D'Urberville. The interactions between these characters through their circumstances dealing with the themes mentioned is ultimately the reason as to why the novel captivates the audience. The theme of love and lust in Tess of the D'Urbervilles shows the universal idea of how the attraction between man and woman can be based on lust, and this concept is still relevant to contemporary readers, as much as it was in the late 1800s. The interaction between Alec and Tess demonstrates the difference between love and lust. Alec's "love" for Tess is based on her physical appearance, rather than her personality and her soul, which leads the audience to know that Alec's love is rather lust, and it shows how the interaction between man and woman can be based on physical appearances. Alec says to Tess, "..and you know that I love you, and think you the prettiest girl in the world. Mayn't I treat you as a lover?" Hardy uses the contrast
Is being in love always a happy experience? With references to the main characters in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles', show the range of emotions love can bring.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles Is being in love always a happy experience? With references to the main characters in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles', show the range of emotions love can bring. Thomas Hardy was born in June 1840 and was educated until he was 16 near Dorchester. By 1867 Hardy had begun to write his first unpublished novel, 'The Poor Man and the Lady'. By the time he had married his wife in 1874 he had written four novels and was earning a living as a writer. It total Thomas Hardy has written eleven novels, one of which is 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' set in 'Wessex'. The novel was first introduced to the public in 1891 after three publishers who all said it would be born into controversy had rejected it. This was because it was unheard of for a young woman to be unmarried with a young baby because of the social aspects of that time. Despite this, many women readers considered Tess to be the heroin of the novel. In 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' it is clear that love is not always a happy experience as shown by Tess, Angel and to some extent Alec D'Urberville. The first experience of love in 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' is when Tess, a 16 year old working class girl, is sent to claim kinship from the D'Urberville residents because Tess and her family believe they can help them. This is when Tess meets Alec D'Urberville for the first time. It is instantly clear
How important is the use of irony in Thomas Hardy's poetry and in his novel 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'?
How important is the use of irony in Thomas Hardy's poetry and in his novel 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'? Hardy's use of irony is clear throughout his work; The Mayor of Casterbridge1 (referred to from this point on as Casterbridge) clearly features many ironic twists in the plot, both obvious ones such as Henchard discovering Elizabeth-Jane's true parentage at such an inappropriate time, and more subtle uses of irony as when Mrs. Goodenough only betrays Henchard's past because Susan and Elizabeth-Jane remind her of it. Irony is also a clear feature in Hardy's poetry, especially prominent in the poem Hap2, where Hardy speaks of a 'vengeful god', laughing at him. Hap and Casterbridge were written twenty years apart demonstrating how irony was a constant feature of Hardy's work and not used in a brief experimental phase. Key to the debate on ironies importance in Hardy's work is to ask whether it is a motivational force behind his writing or is it used more as a tool for expressing Hardy's views on fate and mankind? It must be noted though that the use of irony in Hardy's work is often most prominent when representing his views on the cruelty of fate, and also for highlighting flaws in his characters' personalities. Trevor Johnson has described Hardy as believing "Life... was a walk on a razor-edge, love and happiness were accordingly infinitely precarious yet infinitely
How does each author emphasise the differences between social and natural law and illustrate the difficulties the characters face?
Donna Smale Robert Swindells writes about a society of the future whereas Hardy has written about life in the nineteenth century and yet both authors focus on the unremitting conflict between social convention and natural humanity. How does each author emphasise the differences between social and natural law and illustrate the difficulties the characters face? Swindells and Hardy wrote their novels over a century apart, yet they both discuss their concern regarding the restrictions of social convention on natural humanity. The societies of the times in which the authors wrote have many contrasts, but both found it necessary to write about the conflict between social and natural law. Hardy was protesting against the way his society was and urged the middle classes; who comprised his audience, to leave their iniquitous ways. Swindells, however, warns the modern society of the late twentieth century what the augmentation of the suppressive forms of social convention, upon natural humanity, would lead to. Social convention is a restriction upon natural humanity. A good example of this is found in what the vicar in Tess of the d'Urbervilles told Tess, when she asked the him to give Sorrow a Christian burial: 'Well - I would willingly do so if only we two were concerned. But I must not - for liturgical reasons.' He could have done so if his decision was based on natural
Hardy's objective was simple; to show the treatment of women at the time of release. Hardy uses Tess as the main character motivating the theme. She has a troublesome time trying to socialise with men
Tess of d'urbevilles is a moving novel about challenging relationships and moral struggles. Tess of d'urbevilles was published in 1891 in the imaginary "Wessex" which is based on Dorset. Hardy's objective was simple; to show the treatment of women at the time of release. Hardy uses Tess as the main character motivating the theme. She has a troublesome time trying to socialise with men. Hardy also introduces religion and nature in the novel. The author shows contradictory views of religion and what people would have had. A noticeable used by hardy is the (setting) nature. He links nature strongly to women and tries to prove "women are more closely linked to nature than men". Later on in the novel hardy mentions the agricultural revolution, here he puts forward his own opinion, and he claims that the machine development is taking over manual jobs usually done by humans e.g. the threshing machine causing havoc. Tess is shown as parcel which is being passed around as she commutes to various places in the course of the novel. Tess uses this opportunities to use the setting to reflect Tess's life and emotions. E.g. Tess went to Talbathoys in search of a new begging and hardy echo her thought using positive and fresh images such as "Hazy sunlight", whereas in Flinctomb-Ash he portrays a ever darkening images. These are two places that play a major part in Tess's life. Before
In this sequence, how is Alec D'Urberville made to seem like a villain?
In this particular scene of the famous novel by Thomas Hardy, in Ian Sharp's interpretation, how is the infamous character Alec D'Urberville established as a villainous man? "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" was written in 1892 by a very famous and well known author named Thomas Hardy. In the story, we learn how Tess, an interesting, innocent, naïve country girl, has the misfortune of having an extremely gullible and unintelligent father, who is told that his family (the Derbyfields) are distant relatives of a family who are named D'Urberville. Due to this misapprehension, Tess is sent on a journey to seek 'treasure' (or in this case money and acknowledgement) from these so called D'Urbervilles. This journey leads Tess to a series of unfortunate events which prove to be bad. When she first finds the D'Urberville mansion, to her astonishment, she finds a newly built house (for that era) as apposed to an ancient mansion, this was much unanticipated. It is at this point in the tale that both we and Tess gain knowledge of the fact there is something 'fishy' going on, or in other, more adequate wording that something is not as it ought to be. In Ian Sharp's version (a film), it is in this scene that we are introduced to the villain of the story, Alec D'Urberville. Tess assumes that he is a distant cousin, little does Tess know that Alec's family simply bought the title and had no
'In her relations with both Alec and Angel, Tess is the victim of her own conscience rather than of male cruelty and censure.'
'In her relations with both Alec and Angel, Tess is the victim of her own conscience rather than of male cruelty and censure.' Thomas Hardy's novel "Tess of the D'urbervilles" is about three characters. Tess, Alec and Angel. Tess is a young country girl and the novel follows stages of her life. When we first see Tess, she is wearing white dress that shows purity. She is also the only one of the girls to be wearing a red ribbon. Hardy uses this colour to make us take notice of her. He also means blood, danger and passion. She acts according to nature but is also very aware of what society demands. The problems follow Tess when she meets Alec. Hardy spends a lot of time describing the nature. "The village of Marlott lay amid the north-eastern undulations of the beautiful Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor aforesaid". This sounds like a Travel Guide rather than the story. This makes the scene more real. Tess first meets Alec in chapter 5. She feels guilty about the horse, which dies. It's her feeling that makes her go to Alec 's house. Tess thinks that they are related to each other because of their family name. Hardy describes Alec in a bad way; this suggests that Alec 's not going to be a good person. "He had an almost swarthy complexion, with full lips, badly moulded, though red and smooth, above which was a well groomed black mostache with curled points.... Despite the
Symbolism in Tess of the D'urbervilles
In Tess of the D'urbervilles, Hardy uses symbolism effectively to foresee what is going to happen in the future, to show a specific mood he wants to portray, and to put across his opinion. He also uses the roles of rustic characters in the book, and makes them as a whole special, and emphasises the fact that they work hard. He shows them in a pleasant light, that makes them appear better than urban dwellers, they are shown as being friendly and sympathetic. Tess of the D'urbervilles, which I may refer to as Tess, was published in 1891, in Victorian Britain. It was published weekly in an English Newspaper, and at the time, came into a lot of conflict, as these type of stories were not written about. It was thought inappropriate that Hardy wrote about rape, even though it was subtle, and it was unheard of to have a child without being married, so many people looked down on Hardy's writing. Also the names that Hardy gave the phases in his book, such as "maiden no more" were considered inappropriate and received much criticism. However this did not effect Hardy's style and choice of writing, and the next book that he published, " Jude the Obscure" which was also his last book caused even more disapproval, which was a novel on conflict between carnal and spiritual life, this made Hardy realise that he was not being very successful at writing novels, and chose to write poetry