Tess

• "Pedigree, ancestral skeletons, monumental record, the D'Urberville lineaments, did not help Tess in her life's battle as yet."


  - Very ironic: Typically, we would expect such news to benefit the receiver of the news. Yet, for Tess, it does not bring benefits, rather, it brings burdens.

  - Foreshadows Tess' downfall at the hands of Alec as a result of her parents' coercion into claiming kin. Not only do her D'Urberville lineaments lead to her purity and innocence being exploited, but it also haunts her throughout, even when in the presence of Angel. Hardy makes it clear that her ancestry is a bad omen.

  - However, it is important to note that Tess' pedigree is what made her more in line with Angel's family's expectation of his spouse.
• "Tess had passed the Sixth Standard in the National School and spoke two languages: the dialect at home and ordinary English to persons of quality."


  - Tess is presented an ambitious, well-educated character. It is clear that she has potential.

  - Yet, as a working-class poor character, it is hard for Tess' aspirations to go further and be achieved. Thus, in presenting Tess in such a way, Hardy foreshadows Tess' character and potential being limited by her social class. Her social class is an impediment and is the reason why her life progresses as the way it does.
• "I thought we were an old family."

  - Tess realises before her father and mother that she is being deceived.

  - Her parents' parental error lead her to claim kin in a place that is evidently not part of their ancestry. Their deception are key to the tragedy. Tess' fate and misfortune could have been prevented should John and Joan not have held onto their ancestral lineage.

  - Her ancestral lineage as a bad omen and a tragic villain, leading her to be exploited and sold to claim kin. Her ancestry is what allows her downfall to begin.

  - Her parents as irrational. We feel angry for Tess as she misses the opportunity to escape. Had she escaped from the place that deceives her, her fate would have been different.
• "The children began to cry at Tess' reluctance."


  - Structurally important: Tess returns from Trantridge and tells her family that she is reluctant to claim kin.

  - Tess' news clearly distresses her siblings; it is clear that poverty causes burdens within the Durbeyfield family.

  - Thus, it can be argued that in convincing the children that "sissy will marry a gentleman", the parents deliberately emotionally manipulate Tess into claiming kin, knowing that she has a soft spot for her siblings.

  - Tess' social class and the burden caused by it forces her to claim kin because she fears the suffering of her siblings.
• "I wouldn't have so let myself down as to come with such a whorage as this."


  - Sense of pride; Tess comes across as superior to the other women she works at Trantridge with.

  - Tess' pride is also a contributing factor to her tragedy; her claim puts her in an uncomfortable position when she is present around the women, thus, Alec's offer seems appealing.

  - She also contributes to her own rape.
• "You've mastered me."


  - Post-Tess' rape.

  - Idea of social class & control; Tess as a lower class, financially vulnerable character who is given the opportunity to provide her family financial stability, naturally feels the need to obey her superiors.

  - However, this is not the case with Alec. She stands up against him until her rape. After her rape, he begins to control her. She accepts her fate and is passive; she is numb towards the negative fate and just accepts it.

  - Ironically foreshadows the rape mastering her future and Alec mastering her too.
• "She remained like marble term while he imprinted a kiss upon her cheek."

  - Tess as a passive character. Her rape was a major turning point in her character. She was somewhat active previously and now she is constantly passive.

  - Loss of control; accepts her fate and she loses herself. She is now under Alec's control. She doesn't rebel like previously. She is submissive.
• "She knew what their whispers were about, grew sick at heart and felt hat she could come to church no more."


  - Tess as a tragic victim of the weaponised social and religious Victorian norms.

  - We feel pathos for Tess; we know that she has not sinned out of her own free-will, she has sinned because she was forced to.

  - The pressures of the church and the expectations of morality ostracise Tess, she is seen as an outcast.

  - 'Saints vs Sinners' mentality.

  - We begin to raise questions about the morality of the church. Perhaps Tess' mistreatment by church goers is used by Hardy to question the Victorian church. Perhaps it is a sign that he believes moral norms are inflexible and are used to promote violence instead of equality and love.

  - Tess as a victim of rape and society.
• "Tess looked upon herself as a figure of Guilt."


  - Societal pressures on Tess; religion is weaponised to the extent that Tess is made to hate herself and see flaws within herself. The way Victorians practice religion is wrong. They do not promote 'loving thy neighbour', rather they permit putting church goers and believers on social pedestals whilst conditioning non-believers or sinners that they are inferior and faulty.

  - Her view of herself is reflective of societal views.
• "The baby had been taken suddenly ill since the afternoon."


  - Sign of poverty, malnutrition; Tess was placed in a vulnerable position because she cannot afford to care for her baby.

  - Not only does she lose her innocence, the loss of her innocence makes her lose everything in life: social acceptance, her child, her dignity and worth, etc.

  - We begin to despise Alec even more. Not only does he rape her, but he heightens her struggles as a girl of a working-class background. She is even more victimised by poverty now.
• "I am not good enough, not worthy enough."

  - Angel asks her: "Not fine lady enough?"

  - Aside from Tess' beauty, it is clear that Tess' social class is also one of her biggest insecurities.

  - It could be argued that her fear about her social class is as a result of her experience with Alec? She knows that her working class position makes her more vulnerable to exploitation, as well as abuse from an upper class person?

  - It could also be argued that this is a sign of Tess' selflessness. Considering her financial struggles, it could be argued that someone else in Tess' position would profit of the offer of marrying a wealthy man, yet, Tess' reluctance to accept the offer could be seen as her sacrificing her own happiness and financial stability out of fears of causing judgement for Angel?
• "I am not a Durbeyfield, but a D'Urberville."


  - Tess reveals one of her secrets.

  - It could be argued that she does so in order to secure Angel's parents liking towards her? She attempts to assimilate more to Angel's social class? Trying to rid herself of her insecurity.

  - Error of judgement -> she thought revealing the truth would benefit her; now that Angel knows the truth, there will be repeated moments in which Tess encounters her past as a D'Urberville, e.g, through the carriage, through a mansion, or the stories told about the family - all of which are bad omens.