Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Through life people may fault, or get on the wrong side of the

tracks. Yet hopefully they keep faith and then willingly they may

recoup and redeem themselves by recovering. Many believe that,

Tess in, Tess of the d'Urbervilles was a great example of

this. In Hardy's Victorian age novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, he

illustrates casual wrong, the will to recover, the growth of love, and

death.

Almost everybody has done something casually wrong and

not think much of it, many call this indifferent nature. Tess is no

stranger to casual wrong. Throughout her life indifferent nature has

occurred. Her parents were not the greatest of parents. She had a

tough life, she was poor. When she met Alec d'Urberville, she was

considerate and kind, but later on Alec took advantage of her and

seduced her in a forest called the Chase,

       "He knelt and bent lower, till her breath warmed his

         face, and in a moment his cheek was in contact with

         hers. She was sleeping soundly, and upon her

         eyelashes there lingered tears." 1

She then later fell in love with Angel, and married him. Angel

found out about Tess' past experience with Alec, and he could not

forgive her, even though it was all Alec's doing. Thus it is clear

that casual wrong follows her and yet the wrong is not made by

her.

Tess' true strength is her determination to overcome her

misfortunes. When the Durbeyfields' horse, Prince died, Tess took

control of the situation of the horse's death and the beehive

delivery.

She takes care of the kids and she had done well in school, even

though Tess seems to go nowhere. Also when she leaves her job of

taking care of the flock at the d'Urberville household, because of

her experience with Alec, it showed she tried to take control of the

situation. Even when Alec was following her home on his carriage

asking her why she left,

       'Her lip lifted slightly, though there was little scorn, as

        a rule, in her large and impulsive nature. "I have said I

        will not take anything more from you, and I will not-I

        cannot! I should be your creature to go on doing that,

        and I won't"' 2

Indeed it is shown that Tess has a very strong will to recover.

There was a growth of love shown by Alec, Angel and Tess.

Alec had a love for Tess in which he forced her to love him, but

Tess refused until eventually she had no choice.

       '"....,you agree willingly to let me do it again, and no

          handkerchief."

          She sighed. "Very well, sir!" she said.' 3

When Tess first met Angel, they both had a growing love for each

other, but it all stopped when they got  married and Angel found

out about Tess having sex with Alec. Angel, then did not want to

have anything to do with her, but Tess still loved Angel. While

Angel was in Brazil, he learned what a fool he was to just leave

Tess, so he came back to England. Tess then killed Alec in order

for Angel to feel better about the old situation, but it was not a

good plan, because now they are wanted. The growth of their love

seemed to go to far in this case.

Although Death is a natural part of life, it is not a pleasant

one. When the Durbeyfields' horse died, it seemed to foreshadow

worse things to come. Tess' own death and Alec's who was

murdered by Tess, "....She listened. The dead silence within was

broken only by a regular beat. Drip, drip, drip." 4 Consequently the

murder of Alec, by Tess, will lead to her own death.

In Hardy's Victorian age novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, he

illustrates casual wrong, the will to recover, the growth of love, and

death. It seems nothing went right for poor Tess in her life. She

was confused, and had a lot of expectations on her, from her

mother, and she put a lot on herself. She tried her hardest, but her

life ended up as a tragedy.