TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES – SEARCHING FOR THE CONCEPT
OF “PURITY”
Title: Tess of The d’Urbervilles
Subtitle: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented
Published in: 1891 in the Literary Magazine The Graphics.
Tess of the d’Urbervilles‟ appeared in the serialised form, just like other
novels of Hardy, in the
literary magazine ‘’The Graphic‟ in 1891. Hardy’s purpose of giving a
subtitle to his novel
was to express the exclusion of the conservative, predictable and
hesitant Victorian heroine.
The novel is written in a relatively straightforward style, Hardy separated
it into the phases.
Each phase is entitled according to what dominates in it, so we
distinguish the phases like ‘’The
Maiden,‟ ‘’Maiden No More,’’ ‘The Rally’ or ‘The Consequence.’ The
readers are therefore
sensitive about the type of content and the movement of the story.
‘Tess’– Plot Summary
‘’Phase the First: The Maiden”: Tess Durbeyfield is a 16-year-old simple
country girl, the eldest
daughter of John and Joan Durbeyfield. In a chance meeting with
Parson Tringham along the
road one night, John Durbeyfield discovers that he is the descendent of
the d'Urbervilles, an
ancient, prosperous family who had properties as far back as William the
Conqueror in 1066.
Upon this discovery, the financially strapped Durbeyfield family learns of
a nearby "relative,"
and John and his wife Joan send Tess to "claim kin" in order to relieve
their insolvent condition.
While visiting the d'Urbervilles at The Slopes, Tess meets Alec
d'Urberville, who gets enticed to
Tess. Alec arranges for Tess to become the caretaker for his blind
mother's poultry, and Tess
moves to The Slopes to take up the position. Tess spends several
months at this job, resisting
Alec’s attempts to seduce her. Finally, Alec takes advantage of her in the
woods one night after
a fair.
Phase the Second: Maiden no More :The next phase of the book
("Maiden No More") opens with
Tess back at her parents' house in the village of Marlott. Tess gives birth
to a son, Sorrow, and
works as a field worker on nearby farms. Sorrow becomes ill and dies in
infancy, leaving Tess
shattered. Tess moves to nearby Talbothays Dairy to become a
milkmaid to a good-natured
dairyman, Mr. Crick. At Talbothays, Tess enjoys a period of contentment
and happiness. She
befriends three of her fellow milkmaids—Izz, Retty, and Marian—and
meets a man named
Angel Clare, who turns out to be the man from the May Day dance at the
beginning of the
novel. She falls in love with him, and finally marries him. Tess has tried
on several times to tell
him about her past, but in vain. After the wedding, Tess and Angel
confess their pasts to each
other. Angel tells Tess about an affair he had with an older woman in
London, and Tess tells
Angel about her history with Alec. Tess forgives Angel for his past
misdeeds, but Angel cannot
forgive Tess for having a child with another man. He gives her some
money and boards a ship
bound for Brazil, where he thinks he might establish a farm. He tells
Tess he will try to accept
her past but warns her not to try to join him until he comes for her.
Angel leaves her and goes to Brazil for a year. Tess returns to her
parent's house but soon
leaves home again for work in another town at Flintcomb-Ash farm,
where the working
conditions are very severe. Tess is determined to see Angel's family in
nearby Emminster but
loses her nerve at the last minute. On her return to Flintcomb, Tess sees
Alec again, now an
enthusiastic minister, discoursing to the people in the countryside. When
Alec sees Tess, he is
struck dumb and follows her to Flintcomb, asking her to marry him. Tess
declines in the
toughest expressions, but Alec is determined.
Tess learns from her sister Liza-Lu that her mother is near death, and
Tess is forced to return
home. Her mother recovers, but her father unexpectedly dies. When the
family is evicted from
their home, the burden of her family's welfare falls on Tess' shoulders.
They have nowhere to
go. Alex offers help and Tess knows that she cannot resist Alec's money
and the comforts her
family can use it. Furthermore, Alec insists that Angel will never return
and has abandoned her —
an idea that Tess has already come to believe herself.
The RALLY: In the meantime, Angel returns from Brazil to look for Tess
and to begin his own
farm in England. When Angel finds Tess' family, Joan informs him that
Tess has gone to
Sandbourne, a fashionable seaside resort in the south of England. Angel
finds Tess there, living
as an upper-class lady with Alec d'Urberville. In the meeting with Angel,
Tess asks him to leave
and not return for her. Angel does leave, resigned that he had judged
Tess too harshly and
returned too late.
After her meeting with Angel, Tess confronts Alec and accuses him of
lying to her about Angel.
In a fit of anger and fury, Tess stabs Alec through the heart with a
carving knife, killing him. Tess
finds Angel to tell him of the deed. Angel has trouble believing Tess'
story but welcomes her
back.
The Consequences: The two travel the countryside via back roads to
avoid detection. Their plan
is to make for a port and leave the country as soon as possible. They
spend a week in a vacant
house, reunited in bliss for a short time. The police find them and Tess
gets arrested.
Before she is killed for her crime, Tess takes a promise from Angel to
marry her sister Liza Lu
after her death. Angel agrees and he, along with Liza Lu, witnesses a
black flag raised in the city
of Wintoncester, signifying that Tess' death sentence has been carried
out. The two, Angel and
Liza Lu, leave together, and the tragic tale of Tess ends.