Tess of the d'Urbervilles: Difference between revisions

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The book tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, a poor but beautiful peasant girl. When the book begins, her father, John, finds out from a genealogist that his surname is really d'Urberville, which makes him and his family of noble lineage. Meanwhile, Tess participates in the local village May Dance. There she meets a young man named Angel Clare. Before they can dance with each other, however, Angel leaves; Tess believes she has been snubbed.

Feeling guilty, Tess' parents have her leave home to live with one of her apparent relatives, Mrs. d'Urberville, and her son, Alec. Tess begins working for Mrs. d'Urberville as poultry keeper. Alec takes a romantic interest in Tess; she remains, for the most part, uninterested. However, one night, on their way home, Alec intentionally gets them lost and rapes (or possibly seduces) Tess. The rest of the novel recounts what happens to Tess' life after this incident and how her reputation is ultimately wrecked.

 

 

''Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' has been made into a theatrical film at least three times; there are also four [[Made for TV Movie|made-for-television movies]] and miniseries. There have also been several plays and even an opera made of it.

* [[Adults Are Useless]]: Tess' parents, '''so much.'''

* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]: {{spoiler|Alec's lust for Tess, technically speaking. Her love for Angel is unrequited when he learns her past, and Angel himself has ''three peasant girls'' who are flinging themselves at his feet, but whom he doesn't notice at all.}}

* [[Celibate Hero]]: Angel in an unpleasant take on the trope.

* [[City Mouse]]: Angel. He takes a fancy to living among country folk, but doesn't fit in.

* [[Dastardly Whiplash]]: Alec.

* [[Defiled Forever]]: Tess. This trope is deconstructed.

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: The rape, as well as other things.

* [[Environmental Symbolism]]: Hardy hated industrialization's effects on agriculture and the countryside.

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Angel.

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: A classic example of rape being worse than dying.

** It's not the ''rape'' that's such a horrible fate; it's living in a society that hates you and judges you for it.

* [[Faux Symbolism]]

* [[Fragile Flower]]: In some of the movie versions, particularly the 1979 adaptation, Tess is often played as one of these.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Alec, but it doesn't last long and probably wasn't sincere.

* [[Holier Than Thou]]: Several of the characters, especially Mercy Chant.

** [[Hiding Behind Religion]]: Hinted with Alec.

* [[It Got Worse]]: {{spoiler|The rape is just the beginning of Tess' problems.}}

* [[Jerkass]]: Alec, {{spoiler|and Angel, to an extent}}.

* [[Kissing Cousins]]: Tess and her family think that Alec is their cousin, but that doesn't stop the children (at least) from thinking that Tess is going to "be made a lady of," i.e. marry their cousin (which was okay, but growing out of favor at the time) and become gentility. What none of them know is, he actually just bought the name D'Urberville, so they aren't related at all.

* [[One Degree of Separation]]

* [[Rain of Blood]]: {{spoiler|When Alec is killed by Tess, his blood leaks through the ceiling and drips on the landlady.}}

* [[Rape Is Love]]: Subverted. Oh, God, Subverted.

* [[Replacement Goldfish]]: {{spoiler|In a bizarre application of this trope, Tess reassures Angel that he doesn't need to be sad when she dies, because her little sister has hit puberty and is just like a copy of Tess from before she met Alec, so Angel can marry ''her''. The narration appears to ''agree with her'' and this is seen as a good thing.}}

** This is deeper than it seems. Marrying a {{spoiler|deceased wife's sister was considered incest}} by the more religiously conservative set at the time and because of that was actually ''illegal'' under English law. Angel's choice would be either to abandon {{spoiler|the sister}} and keep her as his mistress (and given that she's a symbol of purity, that's unlikely), or emigrate with her to a country where such a marriage would be legal. Of course, Hardy might have tried to [[Hand Wave]] the situation by having Tess state that marrying her sister, "is nothing. People marry in-laws continually about Marrott."

* [[Settle for Sibling]]

* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: In the end, everything that happens to Tess leads to a rather depressing ending.

* [[Together in Death]]: Subverted. Tess asks Angel whether he thinks they will be together again after death. Angel responds with an awkward pause, and eventually a kiss. Tess then breaks down crying, realizing this means no. {{spoiler|She is executed in the next chapter.}}

* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: After finding out {{spoiler|that Angel is still alive, and wants to reconcile with her, Tess sends him away before realizing what she has done, stabbing Alec to death so she can finally be with him}}.

* [[Yandere]]: Tess, beginning when {{spoiler|Angel initially rejects her and she offers to kill herself, among other things, if it restores his good name}}. At the end of the novel, it results in {{spoiler|[[Murder the Hypotenuse]] when Tess kills Alec just to be with Angel}}.

* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]: It's one of ''the'' overriding themes of all of Hardy's work; this is no exception.

 

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[[Category:School Study Media]]

[[Category:Literature]]