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

Authors Avatar

Usman Rana 10 O

Mrs Partington English

                

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 going to Talbathoys Tess’s life has been a calamity. Tess was in emotional crisis as well as economical ones.

In the Victorian era a women with such a life would have been looked down upon as if she was an outcast. Tess becomes pregnant due to being raped by Alec’durbville who tricked her into believing that he was related to her. Due to this the society has a lowly view on Tess and other “women who have been gifted this curse”.

Join now!

Hardy uses nature to predict the future and to reflect Tess’s current situation as in autumn trees dies and so Hardy uses that fact that the baby has died. He sues them in sects or even in periods to show different stages in Tess’s life.

I chapter 14 the sun is shown to have life/light giving properties (the baby is born). Hardy claims that there has never been a better religion than paganism by this he shows how bright Tess’s life is at this stage and if every one followed the sun we all be happy. Thomas Hardy establishes ...

This is a preview of the whole essay