Parents

• "Why didn't yet think of doing some good for your family instead of only thinking of yourself?"


  - As anticipated, Alec's gifting of a horse to Tess' family acted as a form of manipulation over them. Not only does he help her family, but he is also able to help himself in maintaining a positive reputation amongst them. He deceives the family.

  - Parental error; Tess' mother believes Tess has been acting selfishly all along and does not take into account Tess' sacrifices for her family, such as allowing her to choose Tess' fate to "claim kin" and corrupt her innocence.

  - Parental error -> significant to the tragedy; her mother's intolerance towards Tess' decision makes Tess feel like a failure and inadequate. This persuades Tess to become even more passive and sacrifice herself even more for her parents' and siblings' well being.

  - Tess: a victim of her parents.
• "O you little fool - you little fool!"

  - Repetition: sense of frustration. It is clear that Tess' parents are frustrated with Tess for her decision. Whilst some may argue that the sense of frustration is as a result of Joan's parental error and self-centred nature, seeking pleasure from Tess' sacrifices and suffering, others may argue that the frustration is expected. As a working-class family, Tess was their only potential hope for social change.

  - Tess presented as selfish. Marriage tends to be seen as a social transaction between the two families, as well as a financial one. Knowing the benefits it would have brought her family, she is selfish in abandoning the marriage and telling the truth.

  - Tess as being stuck between two moral problems - providing for her family or telling the truth. She can't ever win, always in a dilemma.

  - Tess as active.

  - Parental condemnation -> clear disappointment; tragic as it encourages Tess to act against her own free will when she re-encounters Alec, knowing whatever course of action she takes will benefit her family.
• "Father is dead"


  - Structurally important. Tess' father dies as Alec offers to help Tess and her family financially. Of course, with the death of her father, her family is now even more financially vulnerable. Thus, this is deliberately structured in a way that Tess no longer has to rationalise her decisions. Rather, fate guides her to choose selflessness and self-sacrifice, as well as a loss of a marriage for her family's financial benefit.

  - It is as if fate and universe are against her, coercing her into accepting the offer from Alec.