On Tess’s Tragic Fate in Tess of the D’Urbervilles

魏蘭亭

【Abstract】In Tess of the DUrbervilles， the heroine Tess has no choice but to follow the disposition of her tragic fate. She seems to be led to her final destruction step by step by fate. This paper is focused on the joint forces including the social factors， the conventional factors and Tesss character to illustrate Tesss tragic fate.

【Key words】Tess； Tess of the DUrbervilles； Fate

Tess of the DUrbervilles is a story about a pure womans tragic life. In this story， the heroine Tesss life becomes a succession of journeys which doesnt make her stronger but more tragic. She becomes a victim of her fate that seems irresistible and inevitable. This paper studies the joint efforts of a variety of factors that contribute to Tesss tragic fate.

1. Social Factors

Tess is in a time when the natural economy was declining and the capitalistic economy was rising. Tesss fate is closely linked up with the time she is in. The peasant girls misfortunes are inevitably associated with the disintegration of the peasantry， which reached its final stage in England at Hardys time. The coming of the Industrial Revolution makes agricultural machines invade into the countryside， so the need of farming-laborers is reduced. The tragic fate of Tess and of her family is therefore not that of an individual or a family， but is symbolic of the destruction of the English peasantry and the inevitable result of the Industrial Revolution toward the end of the 19th century. She is somewhat a victim of economic oppression and social injustice.

Tess not only comes from the laboring folk but also is herself a laborer. She belongs to the lowest class of the society. The economic status predestines Tesss fate. Tess endures both tyranny and insult， which sufficiently indicate how much a poor peasant girl from the lowest class has to suffer in that age. Tess is crushed eventually by the society in which she lives. Through depicting Tesss tragic life， Hardys defiance against the status quo of Victorian England is fierce and unrelenting.

2. Conventional Factors

The tragic story seems to be about Tesss love and marriage， yet “what Hardy attacks in the novel goes much beyond the system of marriage in the hypocritical bourgeois society” （Bready 98）. The marriage of two people from different classes is unacceptable and the strict convention of class inequality is pervading at that time.

Gender inequality is another reason that makes Tesss fate so tragic. Angel doesnt forgive Tess because of her loss of virginity； while Angel has improper relations with a bad woman， it is not considered unforgivable and unacceptable. He is forgiven by the society and Tess easily； When Angel confessed his sexual transgression on their wedding night， she warmly and immediately forgives him， and he accepts her forgiveness easily， “Then we will dismiss it at once and forever！” （Hardy 126） Tess is “almost glad” at his lapse because she thinks it is the same as hers and that he will forgive her past just as she has forgiven him. But she is wrong. Why is Angel unable to forgive her when she just bestowed the gift of forgiveness on him？ It seems that men have the special right to commit some behavior. But if women do the same thing， it is considered as sinful and “dirty”. The immediate result of her sexual experience is the “immeasurable social chasm” which separated “Tess the Maiden” from “Tess the Maiden No More” （Widdowson 81）. The phenomena reflect the gender inequality and the societys double standards， which judge mens sexual behavior leniently and punish women for the same behavior. Tess having been considered to break the social conventions and religions prohibitions； her loss of virginity has isolated her and thereby cut her off from her newly-wed husband and the community to which she used to belong.

3. Tesss Character

Furthermore， Tesss tragic fate is closely related to her own character. According to the author Thomas Hardy， an individuals life is determined by the joint forces of both the environment he lives in and his character. Her character determines her deeds and her deeds are the reasons why she has the tragic fate.

Tess is an innocent country girl who has a basic education， but has little exposure to the world outside Marlott. She has curiosity that goes beyond her basic education， as demonstrated when she debates religious and moral issues with both Angel and Alec. Her weakness is her innocence； she is unschooled in the sophisticated world and therefore unable to protect herself. Tess chides her mother for not telling her full truth about a less-than-kind world， and about danger in men-folk. Tess comes into the world， not knowing where and when evil lurked. When the innocence of Tess and the evilness of Alec meet， harm is done.

Tess is passionate in her love for Angel and her hatred of Alec. She strays from her marriage only when it appears that Angel may not return to her from South America and when there is no other way to help her destitute family. When she discovers Alecs duplicity， she makes her mind up that this will be his final deception of her. She is so passionate that she kills Alec. To some extent， it is “the passion” that “kills” Tess.

Tesss greatest weakness is her selflessness for her family， and it is this weakness that Alec exploits her. Tesss journey to The Slopes， at the beginning of the novel， and her subsequent returning to Alec near the end of the novel， are all predicated on her willingness to undergo great pains to make her family better. She endures great pains to do everything she can to save her family. It is the selflessness that explains why she returns to Alec and suffers so much.

The joint strength of the above factors makes Tess a victim of her tragic fate. It makes her walk on and on to a dead corner and finally fall in the snare of the fate. We can understand Tess of the DUrbervilles from different perspectives， and the perspective of Tesss tragic fate is a valuable key to a better understanding of the novel.

References：

[1]Bready，Kristin.“Thomas Hardy and Matters of Gender.” The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy.Ed.Dale Kramer.Cambridge：Cambridge UP，1999.93-111.

[2]Hardy，Thomas.Tess of the DUrbervilles.Cambridge： Cambridge UP，1991.

[3]Widdowson，Peter.“Hardy and Critical Theory.” The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy.Ed.Dale Kramer.Cambridge：Cambridge UP，1999.73-92.