Tess of the Durbervilles

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How did Thomas Hardy use description to portray Tess’ emotions?

Thomas Hardy has been a very successful writer. He was penalised for writing novels in which were not ‘proper’ at the time he wrote it. Tess of the D’Urbervilles was said to be ‘pessimistic’ and ‘immoral’ by critics of the 19th century. This meant Tess of the D’urbervilles was one of Hardy’s last ever novels. The public at this time were clearly not ready for Hardy’s abrupt style of writing. It was only later given the attention it deserved.

        Thomas Hardy wrote many other books such as Mayor of Casterbridge and Far from the Madding Crow. When criticised he turned towards poetry, and succeeded doing that as well as novels. He was born in 1940 in Upper Bockhampton, in Dorset. He was a lover of music and had a good education thanks to his parents, and quit doing architecture to keep writing thanks to his wife, Emma Gifford.

        Hardy was a very opinionated man, and in his twenties lost his religious faith. This was not uncommon as Charles Darwin’s ‘origin of species’ speech caused many people to turn their backs on the bible’s teachings, and turn towards science, the more believable view. His own thoughts of the suffering in the world meant Hardy could no longer believe there was a loving God. Local ways were strongly kept in Dorset, but in 1847 the introduction to the railway mean town and country gradually started to merge together. People would seasonally leave for jobs, and leave doing farm work altogether, to replace with city work. Hardy preferred to feel a sense of belonging to one place. Hardy eventually left the country, but wrote a lot about it and its inhabitants in a serious way. He did not support the industrial revolution, he put the threshing machine in a bad light when Tess is at Flintcomb-ash.  

        Women were not supposed to lead life as Tess did in that time. Tess was forced to work, and her journey through rape, motherhood, working, travelling, marriage, break up, friendship and even murder, created a complicated, yet expressive plot. It seems people were not ready to handle a storyline like this in the 19th century. All of Thomas Hardy’s modern views were put into the book, yet they were not accepted by others. People did not see Tess as a ‘pure woman’, as Hardy did. It caused much controversy, as it questioned views on society, sexual morality and religion.

        Tess of the D’Urbervilles is about a normal country girl who ends up leading an extraordinary life. She leaves home with a ‘relative’ named Alec D’Urberville. She returns home after he rapes her, to have his baby that later dies. She is later requested to go to a dairy farm, in which she falls in love with the charming Angel Clare. They get married, but when he discovers Tess’ past, he leaves her. He goes to Brazil and after a year of not replying to Tess’ letters, she turns back to Alec D’Urberville. Her stressful working days are over, as he supports their family. However Angel returns, to find her with Alec, and she tells Angel to leave. But her growing hate of D’Urberville means she kills him, and runs to the arms of Angel, yet after a few days on the run, blissfully with Clare, she is caught. ‘Justice was done’ and she is hanged.

        An important part of the book was for the reader to feel the emotions Tess felt, so as to think how Tess felt, and how Hardy felt about society. Tess of the D’Urbervilles was written to show the emotional rollercoaster women like Tess could possibly face. Hardy’s use of description enhances the reader’s understanding of Tess’ emotional state in the novel in many ways.

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        Page 109 uses the personification that the sun is God-like. ‘He’ looked down upon youth like it was interesting for him. The sadness of Tess at this time correlates to how hazy the sun is. Even though it seems Tess does not love her baby, she truly does. The sun fades and goes in, as if turning against Tess. The sun represents a God, and this personification represents the views Thomas Hardy had about God, and how he turned against God when he saw the suffering in the world, and the unpredictable misfortunes Tess constantly faces, portrays this suffering. It ...

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