Tess of the d'urbervilles
Liv Gell GCSE Prose Study: "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" Hardy's provocative subtitle for "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" is probably more acceptable to a modern reader than it was to his fellow Victorians, even though he worked hard to convince them of her purity. To what extent, if at all would you as a modern reader agree with this view of the novel? 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' was a highly controversial novel when it was first written by Thomas Hardy- who, after much effort and exertion, finally had it published in 1891. It has proven to be one of Hardy's most distressing tales of rural troubles, spoiled only slightly by the debate it caused in the Victorian era; over its blunt treatment of sex and its cynical view of life. The main character, Tess, is the daughter of the poor John Durbeyfield who learns from the village parson that his family is related to ancient aristocracy, being the last of the family the 'D'Urbervilles'. In trying to make use of this connection, Joan (John's wife) suggests that Tess pursue the son of the local family of Mrs D'Urberville and due to the death of the needy family's horse while under her control, Tess obliges and ends up being employed as the poultry keeper for her wealthy old relation. However, it is presently acknowledged that Mrs D'Urberville has simply taken the name for convenience. Whilst working for the family, Tess becomes
Prose Study
Coursework Prose study 18-01-06 Examine several short pre 1914 short stories and comment upon how the authors deal with the subject of relationship between man and women? In the story 'Tony Kytes', the relationship is very confusing, as Tony does not know what he wants. The author seems to describe a person called Tony Kytes as a popular pupil with girls, but has no sense at all, as he cannot control the girls he has. The story Tony Kytes has at least 3 girls that he likes a lot, there names are Milly, Unity and Hannah. He is getting married to one of those girls called Milly. The relationship between Milly and Tony is strong as she loves him a lot and he likes her, but the problem with Tony is that he doesn't want only one girl he wants loads and the prettiest aswell. After the incident in the wagon, when he was trapped by 3 girls that he likes, he managed to trick them all. It seems that he doesn't know what his doing at all. This story revolves around romance and Tony desires to get a bride. The relationship between Tony and the women are very good. They have a strong bond of affection. The author shows that Tony is not a villain, his simply a person who can't make up his mind about which girl he wants. The author writes the story in a slow rhythm way, it's a simple story, no hero's or villains, it's just
Thomas Hardy Essay
Thomas Hardy Essay This essay is about the author Thomas Hardy's stories and how he presents "love" in them. His characters are cleverly created, each with their own personalities and different behaviours in love. Most of Hardy's stories are tragic, not necessarily to depress us, but mainly to make us think. Tragedies are usually caused by the characters themselves and also an external malign force. Examples of external malign include the law, and also diseases like Gertrude's withered arm, which caused major problems for her. The many types of love found in the stories include maternal, physical, sexual, rejected, sympathetic, committed, paternal, marital, love of being loved and more. The social and historical context in Thomas Hardy's stories is always important. The stories are set in the fictional places of Wessex and the area surrounding which are Casterbridge (Dorchester) and Budmouth (Weymouth). The characters live in a rural area, with the mention of farming, hills, grass, fields and hedges. There are no references to trains in the stories, though they must exist because they were in the era of the Industrial Revolution. Less pollution meant people had longer lives. Love relationships were mainly dominated by males, with the exception of Harriet in 'The Palmleys', who makes the decision to jilt Jack. Stricter codes and laws meant that people could be hanged or shot