Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thomas Hardy doesn’t need any introduction by me. An eminent writer from the nineteenth century, his work is an evidence of the social recounts, which added a more humanitarian perspective to the cause and whose other advocates included the writers like George Eliot, Thackeray and Dickens. Hardy was much aware of the sad state of farm workers, especially women during those times. The dilemma faced by women, who were the victims of seduction, appalled Hardy and he was aghast at lack of concern towards them. In “Candour in English fiction” he criticized the so called morality, which labelled a victim of seduction as an outcast.

Sadly, the inspiration for this work had originated from an actual incidence of public hanging, which Hardy had himself witnessed, of a woman named Martha Brown who had killed her abusive husband when he had hit her over a quarrel. *Hardy noted "what a fine figure she showed against the sky as she hung in the misty rain, and how the tight black silk gown set off her shape as she wheeled half round and back", after Calcraft had tied her dress close to her body. It is believed that Hardy was captivated by the reminiscences of that hanging. It might be possible that the figure of the hanging woman through tight dress, that she wore, and her rain soaked hood inspired Hardy to frame a beautiful yet helpless character in Tess, someone who could be risen to unsurpassed heights by sacrificing herself to make amends for the morality imposed upon her and for her simple desires of life.

This review is not aimed at warning the first time readers of Tess, but still the foray would be suggested only if one is ready to plunge into the world of hers and is prepared to witness the cruelty of fate or some other force (Immanent Will) as suggested by Hardy. The reading might make one wonder how a little desire for happiness can become the source of such tragic events, but more so to question whether there is any significance of the longings of the meek creatures of flesh when faced with unforeseen forces hell bent at destroying the mere cocoon which envelops them. Yes, this is what Hardy aims at through his writings. Been influenced by the Greek tragedies and also by the times he lived in, his work portrays the plight of human beings, who seem helpless when confronted with the ruthless morality of society or unpredictable forces. The reader, hence, must be ready here for testing times because it is definitely not an easy journey. You might be appalled at the never ending problems that Tess has to face while doing the best that she can supposedly do for her family and for her love. According to Arnold Kettle:

“Hardy saw Tess as the victim of the President of the Immortals. A pessimistic and deterministic view of the world in which man – and even more, woman – is at the mercy of an unyielding outside fate, is the conscious philosophy behind the novel.”

Hardy used this force of Immanent Will here in the same manner as the Greek concept of dike. As a result, we get an account of the state of a woman, who in order to right the one wrong done by her (as she thinks so, that of the unfortunate killing of family horse while she was driving the cart), sets out for noble deeds, little knowing that her simple desire to bring happiness into the family will result into such tragic events in her life, which she would only be able to atone by sacrificing herself.

Her visit to d’Urbervilles to claim kin, the subsequent meeting with Alec, her seduction, the birth of her unfortunate child, her labor, meeting with Angel, their marriage and break up , the return of Alec and finally, the murder of Alec by Tess. Ah! Such a heart wrenching tale! Why couldn’t she have a life? As a reader you feel sad and enraged for the so called morality of those times which painted the women in an entirely alien manner. If it was Alec who initiated the series of misfortunes for Tess, it was Angel who further aggravated them by not being more humane and understanding. If only Angel had not been under the influence of social obligations of morality and would have accepted Tess, she wouldn’t have to sacrifice her life to prove her purity.

But she had to sacrifice her life, to prove it to Angel, the one she loved, that she was pure at heart, that she only wished her family to be happy and that all she did was to make sure that they could live easily. Hardy used the concept of Pharmakos or the sacrifice goat at the end, to portray the surrender of humans before the Immanent will for salvation, when he depicted Tess resting at Stonehenge and being greeted by morning rays.

Tess is pure and innocent in the sense that what ensues with her is far greater than any of her deeds can incite. But what she sacrifices for, is being guilty of living in a society and a world where humans are incapable of escaping the action of such forces for which there couldn’t simply be any justification.

*http://neal.oxborrow.net/Thomas_Hardy...


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