The circularity of life, nature and the seasons is a key theme in the novel. The book begins, and ends with a circle. Tess first appears in a May-Day dance, a circular, pagan ritual that had become a custom to the small village of Marlott. Tess is finally captured at the end of the book in the middle of Stonehenge, an equally pagan, stone, circular temple. The book almost seems to have a rhythm - the seasons pass mechanically and Tess’ life is set out in clear phases, each one differing hugely from the previous. Years are shown as repetitions with variations rather than as new creations. Tess herself views time in this way, as she reflects on the various recurring dates that mark events in her life. "She philosophically noted dates as they came past in the revolution of the year”. In the novel, the past and the future are merely points on the cycle which nature designs. Hardy writes with a clear pessimism, which Tess seems to feel too, a very anti-Christian view that our lives are so insignificant and minute compared to all that has passed before us, and all that is yet to happen. “What's the use of learning that I am one of a long row only… just like thousands and thousands" Tess says to Angel. As one life ends, another begins and this circular mechanism will continue. There is no escaping death and eventually fate will catch up with you. Many try to prolong their life or live under false expectations, but Tess seems to be very grounded and accepting of her fate. Also, the pattern made by the reapers in the field is circular. This instance highlights that nature is not benevolent – it is indifferent, as the conclusion of the circle is "certain death" for the animals inside it. While Tess and Angel are enjoying a romantic walk in the countryside, Hardy describe the herons "watching them by moving their heads round in a slow, horizontal, passionless wheel, like the turn of puppets by clockwork". Hardy suggests that nature’s circular motion cannot be escaped, only endured. Tess seems to accept this and seems to take all the misfortunes that it throws at her “on the chin” and with a certain grace.
Another key theme of the book related to setting, is the industrialisation of Wessex. “Tess of the D’urbervilles” reflects Hardy’s pessimistic views of urbanism through his protagonist, Tess. He characterizes Tess as a daughter of nature who has to endure the brutality of industrialisation throughout her life. Hardy provides a strong argument against the urban movement by showing the reader its harsh effects on the rural lifestyle. The overpowering and eventual destruction of Tess parallels the Industrial Revolution’s negative results on the landscape of England. Hardy uses many opposites in the book – Old vs. New being one of them. Tess is an example of old – she has a prestigious genealogy and background, and seems to represent values of a previous existence. Tess herself was a compilation of everything Hardy loved. She was a woman of nature and she represented a lot of pagan values, a pure woman who was selfless, caring and independent. She opposes industrialisation and man-made, artificial machinery in every way. Tess almost acts as a device for Hardy to indirectly voice his own concerns about society, and Hardy speaks about the machines and the railways as if they were a beast, devouring the beautiful landscape and the people within it. “The engine which was to act as the primum mobile of this little world. By the engine stood a dark motionless being, a sooty and grimy embodiment of tallness, in a sort of trance.” The machine is an omnipotent presence, demanding to be tended to at all times. The workers have lost their identity and their ability to communicate when the machine is working. Contrast to the monotonous and relentless work at Flintcomb-ash is the pastoral workings of the dairy at Talbothays. The work there was a lot more pleasurable and satisfying. Tess was working close with nature, where she is most comfortable.
To Hardy, industrialisation removes all individuality and purity from a place; it tarnishes the landscape and turns it into a commercial object. There are many different forces acting against Tess in the book, for example, sexism and religion, but industrialisation seems to be the strongest one, making it very difficult for Tess to lead the quiet, undisturbed life that she desires.
Hardy uses colour symbolism to clarify his message. White seems to symbolize purity and innocence, while red symbolizes danger and passion. “All dressed in white gowns”. At the beginning of the novel Tess, and the rest of the girls in Marlott were considered pure and untouched. “She wore a red ribbon in her hair”, Hardy immediately makes Tess stand out from the rest. She is one of the most beautiful and has a “mobile peony mouth” which gives us a vivid image of a big, luscious flower. Hardy also uses the colour red to a different effect, and makes Alec Stoke-D’urbervilles’ house stand out, “rich red colour that formed such a contrast with the evergreens of the lodge”. His house is newly built, and doesn’t seem to fit into its lush, green environment. It immediately gives us a bad impression of him as it clashes and contradicts with Tess, who has come to symbolize nature. The colour red is obviously also associated with blood, and Hardy uses it dramatically but effectively in the scene where Tess has killed Alec in Sandbourne. “The oblong white ceiling, with this scarlet blot in the midst”, this seems to suggest that Tess who still could be considered a pure woman by many, has blotted her once clean soul - the white ceiling being symbolic of her purity, and the scarlet blot of Alec’s blood symbolizing the murder. This is also used at the beginning of the novel with the death of Prince, where Hardy clearly emphasizes the loss of blood.
Pathetic fallacy is also used regularly throughout the novel. When Tess travels to Talbothays, it is Spring and the sun is shining. “The new air is clear, bracing, ethereal.” This seems to ensue a new optimism for Tess, and the happiest times of her life are at Talbot Hays during the Summer months. The ground is lush and fertile, and there is a humidity and dampness in the air which links with passion between Angel and Tess. However when she moves to Flintcomb-Ash, Hardy uses pathetic fallacy to the opposite effect. “The stubborn soil around her showed plainly enough that the kind of labour in demand here was of the roughest kind…it began to rain”. Hardy uses the rain to illustrate the beginning of this period of Tess’ life which was to be filled with grief and hard labour, the rain beats against her and obscures her, the sign of worst things to come. Pathetic fallacy is also used at the end of the book, at Tess’ funeral, to the greatest effect. “The sun ray’s smiled on pitilessly”. This indicates that as Hardy himself wrote ““Justice” was done”, and although this should be the saddest point of the book, the sun shines on almost unknowing, and it links with the theme of the circularity of life - as one life ends, another begins, and Tess’s short and tragic life, is merely a blot on a long line of “thousands and thousands”.
Throughout the novel, Tess becomes increasingly associated with pagan divinities as against Christian ones - with nature as against civilisation. So, the novel is not merely a tragic love story, and Tess is not just Hardy’s protagonist – but a device in which Hardy can express some of his own views, which would’ve been frowned upon and criticized at the time. It mirrors a movement of Victorian England through which young men and women who would formerly have been devout Christians had come to be sceptical – just as Hardy and, towards the end of the book, Angel Clare were. “Where was Tess’ guardian angel?”. Hardy challenges many fundamental Christian beliefs, and wonders if there was a God or a higher power, why they would let such cruel things happen to such an innocent girl, as Tess was. “I am forbidden to believe that the great Power who moves the world would alter his plans on my account.” Hardy couples Tess with nature, and what hurts nature hurts Tess, and what pleases nature, pleases Tess – she is happiest at Talbothays, a very beautiful and lush environment, and saddest at Flintcomb-ash which was very barren and sharp. All these subtle threads of paganism woven into the novel are drawn together in a melodramatic climax to the novel at Stonehenge. Stonehenge is the ultimate pagan symbol, and Hardy describes it as a “heathen temple”. It is here where Tess throws herself down in tiredness onto the sacrificial altar, and wakes up surrounded by police, ready to take her off to her execution.
To conclude, setting is extremely important in “Tess of the D’urbervilles”. Hardy writes very effective descriptions of each place, and uses very strong and powerful imagery. Setting is a device that Hardy uses for various purposes, and through it he reveals a lot of different themes. He also voices some of his own opinions on some of the social issues of the time and some other historical concerns, for example industrialisation and religion. Hardy has a very nostalgic attitude and this is shown through his choice of the anachronistic word “Wessex”, in which the entire novel is set. Hardy also created Tess with similar nostalgic thoughts in mind, and she seems to represent values of a previous existence. This works against her and could be seen as her downfall in the novel.
