Tess of the d’Urbervilles
There’s nothing like the subtle build-up and payoff, one that Game of Thrones wishes they could have achieved, of the classic fiction novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. A plotline that seems to be classical, but shifts into allowing the reader to peer into the lives of characters dealing with gender discrimination. The discrimination seen is still applicable as a lesson for readers in the 21st century. With groundbreaking insights, the novel was written to find the faults of the Victorian time period, while also calling on the simple facts of what the consequences are when one falls into the trap of the backward lifestyles of others.
The novel's main character is introduced as Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of two parents who are overly eager at capitalizing off of the opportunity of being distantly related to the upper-class family d’Ubervilles. The clearly impoverished father takes pride in anything he can, in this case, an ancient possible relation, while the readers peer into the true value of his wholesome daughter, Tess. Tess of the d’Urbervilles becomes the clear title once Tess herself is forced to pursue, in hopes of ownership through a relationship, the name of the d’Urbervilles.
As this novel launches into many lessons, the first one hit me without even realizing it; home life treatment often leads to how one accepts future circumstances. Tess is seen as the innocent heroine, but she is not valued by her family (only devalued when the lack of her innocence comes to fruition), so she is ultimately never able to see her worth as a human being, which I imagine happened quite frequently to impoverished women in Victorian times. The internal conflict between what Tess wants and what she deserves becomes a motif that allows a peak into the mind of a wronged victorian woman.
The contextual period can be observed through religious stereotypes shown by the two male leads. Angel is the exemplification of what it looks like to strive for purity and uprightness, while Alec is the fallen individual who wants to repent from his old lifestyle. Now, even though I observed their stereotypes crossing paths with each other, the takeaway is that both males’ righteousness and sin impact Tess and her outlook on life, leading to the unexpected climax of the novel. It was already stated how gender discrimination is placed on Tess, but in the same breath, it can be seen how those ideologies of discrimination are often taught and cultivated in men. Both Angel and Alec perceive Tess through a vision of what is expected of women, not of the innate value that she has as a human being. One of the most famous quotes from the novel states, “Beauty lay not in the thing, but in what the thing symbolized.” The idea of Tess’s value as a woman being in her purity is only exasperated when her purity is questioned, and her sexual experiences come to light.
The plot of the novel follows what could be compared as the great great Victorian aunt of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Both novels demonstrate wronged female characters who continue to be put into positions where they are discriminated against for their gender and poverty. However, Tess of the d’Urbervilles is the more tragic counterpart with Thomas Hardy’s fierce criticism of poverty being shown in the heartbreaking life of Tess. Although you might counter and say Kya, from Where the Crawdads Sing, had a tragic life too, take a week, read this novel, then let's talk. Not only does the novel give readers a harsh look into the reality of the time period, but it also pulls at the heartstrings with how innocence is often destroyed and the person is never allowed to heal.
To conclude, Tess of the d’Urbervilles is a novel with great complexity and forethought that doesn’t simply criticize men for gender discrimination, but rather what is cultivated in people’s behavior. While roping the reader into the endearing life of Tess, it’ll break your heart by showing the corruption of innocence over and over to its final breaking point.
