Tess of the d'urbervilles

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Emily Heath                                                                          Wednesday 4th December

                                                                                                                                 2007

Explore the ways in which Thomas Hardy uses setting to help portray Tess’ feelings.

In 1891 Thomas Hardy published the novel ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ which is a story based on the life and times of a farm girl named Tess. Tess is a 17 year old girl of lower class whose family horse dies in an accident and her family are struggling for money so Tess goes to visit distant relatives to ask to borrow money to help support her family. While with her relatives she meets her cousin Alec. She leaves the D’Urbervilles home pregnant with Alec’s baby and goes back to live with her parents. She gives birth to a baby boy and names him Sorrow who later becomes ill and dies.

Three years later Tess falls in love with a man called Angel, they get married however Tess confesses to what happened with Alec and Angel leaves her. Tess meets Alec who is a supposed changed man and he has become a preacher. Tess tells him about Sorrow and he convinces Tess that Angel is never coming back and she goes back to live with him. After a few months living with Alec, Angel returns to find Tess and tell her he still loves her. Tess murders Alec and runs after Angel and they run away together, however not long after they are caught and Tess is hanged for the murder of Alec.

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The story starts off by introducing Tess who’s living in Marlott with her family and going to market with her horse. They have an accident on the way there and the horse is killed. So Tess leaves her home and goes to find her ‘family’ to borrow some money to help her family.

In Chapter 14 Tess goes back to live with her family and is pregnant with Alec’s baby who soon becomes ill and is dying. Tess doesn’t want her child to die without being christened so she christens him herself (as the vicar refuses to christen him ...

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