Towards the end of last year I properly started my journey of reading the works of Thomas Hardy. Having read three of his books (Far From the Maddening Crowd, Two on a Tower and The Mayor of Casterbridge), I thought it was about time I tackled what is arguably his greatest success – Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Having really enjoyed what I had already read of Hardy, and knowing the great love so many people cherish for this book, I was excited and somewhat nervous to form my own opinions.
For those of you who don’t know, this story follows the eponymous Tess Durbeyfield, a young country girl. Through her father, Tess heralds from an ancient line, the D’Urbervilles. Yet as the last in the line of their family, they are now greatly declined in social position. Through her father’s misplaced pride, and arrogance of this discovered fact, the innocent Tess is thrown into the path of Alec, a wealth young man. The encounter leaves Tess a woman marked out by society, someone with a deadly secret to conceal. Later, after meeting Angel Clare, Tess is forced into a battle between her love and respect for Angel, and her fear of her dangerous past.
This book would have been highly controversial for its contemporary readers, as it plays on late Victorian worries surrounding gender and social expectations. As a female, Tess is expected to behave a certain way which is deemed acceptable by the patriarchy. Her gender defines her, and limits her position within society. At no point should Tess be allowed to subvert the genders and cross into a more masculine role. As we can now see, the hypocrisies of this period were unbelievable, with the men given much more of a license to sexual freedom, as well as freedom in general. Yet, as readers will experience, society deems Tess as spoiled after various circumstances, even when these are beyond her control and she is under the will of a man. A line written within the book which really struck me, and still does now, states how :
I know that Angle Clare is held up as a bit of a romantic hero by many, but he is by no means a perfect character. Angel, as are the rest of the characters, are extremely flawed in their actions. There were some many points where I could have screamed at him to become more than a man weighed down by the oppression of society. There were so many times where I could not believe the hypocrisy which Angel occasionally represents. Hardy himself was fully prepared to recognise his characters faults, writing of Tess’s unshakable faith in her husband that ‘the most perfect man could hardly have deserved, much less her husband’ (p. 381.). By the end of the novel, I had definitely mellowed towards Angle, and that makes the book all the more powerful, showing how things are often just too little too late to arrive.
This book, in all of its tragic glory, really did envelope me. It is a story of love, a story of innocence lost and redemption gained . . . but at what cost? It scrutinises the ideas of fate, and the ways in which small differences can often so drastically alter the end result. It is a book which, although having a finite ending, shows readers the possibilities for different options, for a world which could be so different. I think if you love or have ever loved, this book will resonate deeply with you. Even after having the ending of this book spoilt for me, I still felt just as effected by the outcome, which is a real testament to the skill of Thomas Hardy.
—Bookish Bundle Blog
