Thomas Hardy’s Feminism

黨利

【Abstract】This paper，through the introduction and analysis of the protagonist Tesss characteristics in Tess of the DUrbervilles—revolt and purity，reflects Thomas Hardys feminism.

【Key words】Thomas Hardy； Feminism； Tess of the DUrbervilles

1. Thomas Hardy and Victorian Britain

In Victorian Britain，men were considered to be superior to women. Women did not have the same rights as men in education，employment and politics，etc. They are born to be fragile，submissive and sexually pure. Their status was mainly at home，and they were idealized as “the Angel in the House”—a concept that still affects patriarchal thinking today. Women living at that time had no self，and no individuality. Although in the late Victorian Britain，some women began to struggle for their own rights，the situation of that time made it impossible for them to successfully get what they wanted.

However，as an outstanding critical realist writer of Victorian Britain，Thomas Hardy goes beyond the traditional male views to turn his attention to the inequalities of females. He exposes the aspirations of women，and discloses the voice of justice and the powerful charges of the worlds inequality between male and female. Because of his feminism，“Hardy is now very popular with feminists and he always protested publicly against what he called mans inhumanity to woman”.

2. Thomas Hardys Feminism in His Work Tess of the DUrbervilles

2.1 Tess of the DUrbervilles

Tess of the DUrbervilles tells us the story of Tess who is a poor beautiful country girl，and has to go to work in a landlords house which has the same surname as her. Later，she is raped by the son of the landlord，and gives birth to an illegitimate son. Because of the “sin”，Tess is severely despised. And with the great strike of her childs death，Tess leaves to work on a dairy farm where she meets Angel Clare. Angel bravely falls in love with Tess and even marries her. However，on their wedding night，after Tess confesses to him her past rape，Angel abandons her. Full of humiliation and loneliness，Tess cannot help but become the mistress of Alec again after she fails to wait for the return of Angel. Several years later，realizing his mercilessness，Angel comes back to seek for Tess. At this time，Tess kills Alec because of her deep love for Angel and her deep hatred for Alec. However，the quick exposedness of Tesss murder leads to the catch of Tess. And finally，Tess is sentenced to death by hanging. And “‘Justice was done，and the President of the Immortals had ended his sport with Tess”.

2.2 Thomas Hardys Feminism in Tess of the DUrbervilles

In Tess of the DUrbervilles，Hardy asks for justice for women and point to the moral standards of Victorian Britain. His feminism is conveyed from the following two points.

2.2.1 The Purity of Tess

In the first part—The Maiden，Hardy depicts the purity of Tess by giving the following information. That is，when the family of Tess knows their noble history—their family is actually a descendent of an ancient noble family called the DUrbervilles，they then ask Tess to claim kin and to marry the son of the so-called descendent of DUrbervilles. However，the response of Tess to her parents request is “Id rather try to get work.”

Although，these are simple sentences，they definitely describe the purity of Tess who would rather choose to work than go to claim kin with others. Since in the patriarchal society，it is perfectly justified to the poor females to marry someone with a big fortune to lead a wealthy life. However，the protagonist Tess refuses to do so. This behavior of Tess obviously reflects her purity and her differences from all the traditional women at her time.

2.2.2 The Revolt of Tess

When Tess is raped by Alec，she does not foist herself on Alec. When Tesss mother gets to know the fact and persuades her that “Any woman would have done it but you，after that.”but Tess refuses to have any affair with Alec and says “Perhaps any woman would except me.”

Although Tess knows that she will be humiliated by her neighborhood because of her rape by Alec，she does not choose to marry Alec to avoid public voices. Instead，she chooses to face this fact herself. “How can she live with a man she hates” maybe is the best description of her at that time. This shows the revolt of Tess. If she chooses to be the wife of Alec，she will continue to be tortured by him.

Conclusion

This paper reveals Thomas Hardys feminism through the analysis of the character Tess in his work Tess of the DUrbervilles.

References：

[1]Williams，Merryn.A preface to Hardy.Peking University Press， 2005.