Alec

• Alec: "Hold on round my waist!"

  "She grasped his waist"

  - Alec is driving Tess on the horse back to Trantridge.

  - It can be argued that Alec deliberately speeds on the horse knowing Tess' fear of horses after Prince's death. Thus, in putting Tess in a situation that she fears, Alec puts Tess in a sense of desperation and fear against any danger, manipulating her into inevitably giving into his commands as that is the only way she could be saved from her now-fear of horse accidents.

  - Not only does it manipulate Tess into being reliant on Alec in her weakest and most fragile states, in grabbing onto Alec, Tess gives Alec what he wants: physical touch.

  - It is clear that Alec displays predatory behaviour in making Tess have physical touch with him because she feels threatened. Alec has the power over her, foreshadowing the power he will assert over her during the rape scene.

  - However, it is important to note that as a Victorian woman, it was controversial to have physical contact with a man that is not family. Thus, some Victorian readers would see Tess' decision as being out of her on conscious and she will be blamed for the rape.
• "You cannot walk home, darling. We are miles away from Trantridge."


  - Alec as a predator; he has trapped Tess and puts her in a vulnerable position where she has no choice but to oblige to him.

  - Tess as passive. She now becomes submissive and obedient to Alec. Typical of a tragedy -> a character fighting out of desperation to assert powers over the other characters.

  - Sense of claustrophobia; Tess has no choice but to find safety in Alec although she does not actually feel safe or trust him enough.

  - Manipulative and well-calculated. It seems as if he has done this previously. He is able to put Tess in situations where he can assert his control over her because of her desperation.
• "The fog which so disguises everything."


  - Alec to Tess about why she cannot make her own journey home.

  - Fate? Did Hardy intentionally implement the fog as a symbol for the hiding of truth and deception which Tess faces as a result of accepting Alec's offer? Is the fog a symbol for Tess facing the blame in a Victorian society as men were considered incapable of sinning/were not condemned for living in sin?

  - Fog - blurry; hard to see/discern something; foreshadows the instability of Tess' future at the hands of her living in sin.

  - MOTIF THROUGHOUT THE NOVEL.
• "He had stolen a cursory kiss."

  - "Stolen" -> predator, non-consensual, embodiment of misogyny and patriarchy as Alec asserts his toxic masculinity over Tess to gain power over her.

  - Unnatural and one-sided love. He had to "steal" a kiss to get some physical touch from her. An ongoing trend: to get what he wants, Alec either manipulates Tess or asserts power over her.

  - Tess as a passive character. This dynamic makes it evident that Tess did not play an active role in seducing Alec into raping her. She is powerless.
• "Tess, your father has a new cob today. Somebody gave it to him."

  
  

  "Don't you love me ever so little now?"

  - Financial manipulation. Being aware of his financial situation in comparison to Tess', Alec uses his financial stability as a form of manipulation to assert power over Tess. Alec knows of Tess' financial struggle and weaknesses, thus, in giving her family a new horse, he knows that Tess is likely to give into his demands to prevent his disappointment and his family's disappointment for not obeying the man who helps the family the most.

  - Structurally important: happens before the rape. It could be argued that Tess does not stand against her rapist and prevents her rape out of fear that the horse may be taken back?

  - The horse could also be seen as putting a strain on Tess' relationship with her parents. Since Alec was kind enough to help his kins with a horse, his parents are likely to see Alec as a caring man incapable of doing any wrong. Thus, when Tess reveals the truth to them, it can be argued that she will be judged and disliked by her family for abandoning him despite the fact that he has raped her, merely because he provides for the family. Or, the family may believe Tess is lying about her rape.

  - Significant to the tragedy -> she may feel the need to repay him by obeying his predatory behaviour thus allowing Alec to use her as his doll and control her.

  - Mental manipulation -> "don't you love me ever so little now?; predatory, opportunistic.
• "You only have that puffy muslin dress on."

  "White muslin figure."

  - Muslin -> fragile, easily broken; perhaps mirrors Tess' fragility and innocence which can easily be stolen at the hands of Alec's predatory desires and the poverty which makes Tess more vulnerable.

  - Fragile, easily broken = easily accessible to Alec, easy to manipulate and abuse.

  - Why was she dressed in a white muslin dress? White represents innocence and the fragility of the muslin presents powerlessness. Perhaps it is a metaphor for Tess' powerlessness against her rapist.
• Tess: "I didn't understand your meaning till it was too late."

  Alec: "That's what every woman says."


  - Tess as a feminist attempting to address the injustices faced by women at the hands of men. Alec as a patriarch and misogynist attempting to reverse Tess' awareness of women's suffering against men.

  - Alec is presented as being a character that overlooks the importance of emotions in women and may see them as faking being victims - to him, women seem to suffer with victim complexes.

  - He adopts the typical patriarchal Victorian view that women are the ones to be blamed for the rape as they are the ones to seduce men. He presents men as being angel-like and incapable of being sinners.
• "I suppose I am a bad fellow - a damn bad fellow. I was born bad and I have lived bad, and I shall die bad in all probability."

  - In repeating "bad", Alec takes on a desperate position to save himself from the sin he has committed. This ironically foreshadows Tess' view that Alec has converted to "save his place in heaven" after sinning.

  - It can be argued however, that some readers may sympathise and feel empathetic towards Alec. As it is within his nature to be bad and cannot control such actions, some may argue that Alec may have fallen victim to his morality which he cannot control although he attempts to. It can also be argued that Tess further persuades Alec to fall victim to his morality and break his supposed moral compass through her beauty.

  - Some may even see Alec's quote as being an attempt of his to apologise for the wrongdoing. Others, may argue that Alec is trying to excuse himself from this sin.
• "I have never really and truly loved you and I think I never can."


  - Tess to Alec about her non-existing love for him.

  - A sign of bravery; active and no longer passive. She gives herself a voice to stand up against the exploitation faced by Alec.

  - However, some may question Tess' action. If she did not love him, why did she trust him in crucial moments of his life? Why did she give into his desires of physical touch? Tess as a manipulator perhaps?

  - Missed opportunity -> significant to the tragedy; she told him when it was too late. Perhaps this issue would have been prevented had she not remained passive?
• She hears "the voice, precisely that of Alec D'Urbervilles."


  - Fate. Structurally important -> Tess hears Alec as soon as her plan of meeting Angel's parents and gaining help from them fails.

  - Deliberately structured in a way that Tess is put in a vulnerable and confusing position, having to sacrifice her love for Angel for the offer put forward by Alec. Tess is always put in a difficult position by fate which requires rationalisation, and even when she rationalises, there is no clear answer as to what course of action she is meant to take.

  - The deliberate structure could also suggest that all of Tess' efforts are futile when it comes to her escaping her past. She somehow always encounters Alec.
• "Her impulse was to pass on out of his sight."

  "The moment that she moved again he recognised her."

  - Fate/Missed opportunity. Cannot escape.

  - The universe is against Tess.
• "Have you ever heard the name of the parson of Emminster - you must have done so? - old Mr Clare; one of the most earnest of his school."


  - Fate. It is a weird coincidence that Alec has been converted by Tess' father in law. Significant to the tragedy -> the two worlds colliding which both have some sort of connection to Tess suggests that Tess cannot escape her past. Moreover, in stating that Alec has been converted by Mr Clare, Hardy anticipates that there will be further involvement between the two families, potentially foreshadowing Angel (a Clare) persuading Tess with his arrival to kill Alec.

  - We begin to notice parallels between Angel and Alec which confuse the readers. Although two very different characters, they are also very similar.

  - Ironically, although from a religious family, Angel is the one who is less religious, whilst Alec, a sinner is the one who believes in religious influence. Considering this and the fact that every character faces some sort of change, it could be argued that Angel's journey will make him leave Christianity or disregard his parents' Christian expectations.
• "I want to devote myself to missionary in Africa."

  "That is, will you be my wife, and go with me?"

  - Abnormal parallels between the two men in terms of emigration. Both of the men want to leave England.

  - There are many similarities between the two characters. It is as if Tess had been involved with two versions of the same male character.

  - Marriage proposal to Tess -> perhaps Alec is trying to redeem himself for his immoral past as a seducer and thus, the marriage is seen as a way for him to be forgiven for his past sins as he ends up marrying the girl he has raped, should she accept the offer.

  - Like Angel, Alec wants Tess to accompany him as a partner on this journey. Tess as a helping-hand to men - once again, probably required for her efforts. She is exploited by every character in some way.

  - Missionary -> Christian who attempts to convert people to Christianity. A sign of genuine devotion to his faith or perhaps a method of securing his place in heaven?

  - It could be argued that this is also a sign of Alec's love towards her. It has been years since they have last seen each other, yet, he feels the need to propose to her. Perhaps her rape was not done for selfish reasons, maybe he genuinely loved her and thought she had genuinely loved him as well?
• "D'Urberville's figure darkened the window of the cottage wherein she was a lodger."

  
  

  "A person had come silently into the field and had watched Tess in particular."

  
  

  "Alec D'Urberville had come back and was standing under the hedge by the gate."

  
  

  "Alec D'Urberville was on the scene, observing her from some point or the other."

  - Alec haunts Tess in her new setting. Even far away from Trantridge, he is present within her life.

  - He repeatedly follows her around -> she cannot escape and feels claustrophobic. In repeatedly making Alec be present around her, Hardy anticipates the control Alec will have over her soon. She will be controlled by him or will have to follow him for benefits for her family or herself.

  - Alec is being reintroduced by Hardy helps readers anticipate the change that is to come in Tess' life and the gradual importance of Alec to her life, completely contrasting her previous desires to escape her past.

  - Alec as a predator.

  - "Darkening the window" -> metaphor for darkening the goodness in Tess' life; foreshadows and a metaphor for Tess' life becoming full of suffering with his return.

  - This sense of claustrophobia caused by Alec could put Tess in a sense of desperation. Significant to the tragedy -> it could be argued that she kills him out of desperation to escape him. We can't therefore blame her for the murderous act.
• "Alec was touching her in a weak place."


  - Tess says this after Alec makes her aware that he has helped her family again.

  - Tess' fatal flaw -> poverty and selflessness. She now feels the need to give into Alec's temptation because of what her offers to her family.

  - Financial manipulation and emotional manipulation. He hasn't changed much as a character.
• Alec mentions the D'Urberville coach.


  - Fate. Foreshadows murder as being something generational.

  - The D'Urberville coach story works both as an omen within the narrative, as well as a symbol which prefigures Tess' actions as a murder in the next phase. She will follow the lineage and become a murderer.

  - FATE; Inevitable for her to have escaped being a murderer. It is hard to escape generational struggles. Thus, we can't really blame her for the murder.
• "He was very kind to me, and to mother, and to all of us after father's death. He has won me back to him."

  
  

  "I hate him now, because he told me a lie - that you would not come again."

  - Tess about Alec to Angel.

  - Fate/missed opportunity. This scene evokes a feeling of pity and sadness. We are aware of Tess' desperation to rekindle her relationship with her husband, yet, in making us aware that Alec had taken financial care of herself and her family, Tess makes it known that poverty had made her sacrifice her marriage for financial stability.

  - Poverty as a villain; Tess as a self-sacrificial victim.

  - It is also clear that Tess is facing a mental conflict. In telling Angel that Alec had "won [her] back to him", yet, a few seconds later she states she "hates him because he had told a lie" Tess is unclear about her feelings and where she stands mentally. It seems as if her mental state is struggling and is worse than before. Tess' mental instability foreshadows her murder of Alec, something out of her character and atypical of her usual mental purity.
• "The oblong white ceiling, with this scarlet blot in the midst, had the appearance of the gigantic ace of hearts."


  - Alec is stabbed by Tess.
• "The wound was small, but the point of the blade had touched the heart of the victim, who lay on his back, pale, fixed, dead, as if he had scarcely moved after the infliction of the blow."

  - Tess finally fulfils her prophecy; she is finally a murderess, flashback to the moment when she killed Prince and "regarded herself in the light of a murderess".

  - Tess as a double sinner and will likely be double damned. Not only does she go against "do not commit adultery" but also goes against "do not commit murder". She is the ultimate sinner and is not pure as Hardy has presented her throughout.

  - However, some may argue that Tess' murder of Alec is out of character. She did not kill Alec because she wanted to, rather, she killed Alec because of her desire to escape the situation - the claustrophobic feeling he had caused her by stalking her and manipulating her to live with him because of her weaknesses as a poor, working-class woman.

  - The heart is also known as the seat of emotion, and therefore, in killing him, Tess kills the emotional side of their relationship. There are no more strings attached and Tess is truly free.

  - Many would also argue that Tess has killed him because of Angel's desire to have him "dead" because "it would have been different".

  - Tess finally escapes her rapist and is likely to have a temporary moment of happiness.