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1、Rebellion and Cowardice -On Tess of the dUrbervilles Thomas Hardy , novelist and poet, is one of the representatives of English critical realism at the turn of the 19th century. And Tess of the dUrbervilles is one of his most successful novels. Hardy cannot solely be labeled as a Victorian novelist,
2、nor can he only be categorized as a Moderist. As a traditional writer, Hardy was determined to explode the conventions of nineteenth-century literature and built a new kind of novel in its place. In many respects, Hardy was trapped in the middle ground between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
3、 between Victorian sensibilities and more modern ones, and between tradition and innovation.1.Brief IntroductionTess of the dUrbervilles was published om 1891. It is generally regarded as Hardys tragic masterpiece, and certainly it is his most ambitious tragic novel. As a pure , loyal , intelligent,
4、 strikingly attractive young woman, Tess is the central character of the novel. At the begining of this story,Tess lived in a small village peacefully. Tesss father was a poor countryside hawker , who was lazy and constantly excessive drinking . Tesss mother was a dairymaid ,whose mind was very simp
5、le. They were pitiful creatures who were always feeling after the vanity. Just as such terrible parents became the setter of Tesss tragedy. Incidently, Tesss father discovered a link to the noble of the dUrbervilled. Therefore, Tess was sent to work at the dUrbervilles mansion. And then,Tess was sed
6、uced by a so-called gentleman-Alec. Unfortunatelly, her ideals cannot prevent her from sliding further and further into misfortune after she becomes pregnant. Forced by the gossips and the churchs blame, Tess thought she deserved nothing good. In order to get rid of the past, she decided to go to a
7、distant diary farm but still thought she was of guilty. Maybe God didnt approve of this, because the Lord gave her someone she loved with her whole heart-Angel Chare. They loved each other deeply.Somehow, Tess agreed to marry Angel. Soon after their wedding Angel confessed the crime he committed to
8、a woman long time ago and asked for Tesss forgiveness. Tess was not at all angry and forgave Angel at once; in fact she was rather happy and excited for she also had things to confess. She sat and told her past to Angel, and hoping to be forgiven. But she was wrong and Angel didnt listen to her expl
9、anation at all . Without Angels love, nothing meant anything to her. Alec found Tess again and forced her to stay with him. At last, Tess couldnt bear it and killed Alec. Everything was changed. Tess was arrested for her murder eventually. And this story was ended with the death of Tess.2.Tesss rebe
10、llion Tess is a rebelled girl. First of all, she never yeilded to pressure from the society. The contest between corruption and innocence takes place not only in a field, but also in the humans heart. In Tesss life, there are two men-Alec and Angel. Both of them have a great influnence to change her
11、 fate. Tess is a pure girl tangled up to the tragedy web which is delineated by the imposed fate. That is too unfair to accept by anyone. But Tess never gives up. Alec is a devil young man who does everything he can to seduce Tess when she works for his family. And he does not try to hide his evil.
12、At the begining of this book, he promises to provide for the family that brings Tess to “sell” herself to him. It is Alec who not only ruins Tesss virginity, but also destroys her happy life. Alec is not only sensual, but also arrogant and physically strong. He believes that winning a woman requires
13、 force, not affection and love. Disregarding Tesss revolution, Alec considers women as carnal objects rather than as equal humans worthy of affection. Then, he believes he is different from the ancestors, since he has power over her while they do not but in fact he is just like them, using his power
14、 like a God although his is quite hollow. He promises empty advantages to her, like the wealth she eventually receives from him, that can never be more important than love. Facing Alecs force, Tess trys her best to rebel him. And, after the seducing, Tess decided to leave Alec and work for a distant
15、 diary farm. She uses her action to prove her rebellion to the world.Secondly, Tess kills Alec at last. This thing shows her rebellion again. When Tess refuses to marry Alec despite the social advantage the match would give her, and refuses his offers of help because she does not sincerely love him,
16、 we see her as more than an unwitting victim: her integrity and courage make her heroic. Thus, in the latter part, as Angle returns with renewed loyalty and love for Tess, it becomes apparent that Alecs trick has considerably broken down Tesss loyalty to Angle. Torn apart, her shame and grief cause
17、her violent side to explode; Tess now kills her lover in a murderous rage out of love for her husband. Whether intentional or not, Tess has fulfilled Angles proclamation that they cannot be together as long as Alec is alive. Her newfound activity may not save her; indeed, her punishment for the murd
18、er, presumably death by hanging, will snap her neck just like she snaps the necks of those pheasants. Nevertheless, it may be preferable to her earlier passivity, providing her with a nobler way to face her fate.In a word, Alec of the representatives of the bourgeoisie, he has a bourgeois state appa
19、ratus, law, and ethics, as a backup. Wealth can rely on the law and not easily bullied and on the playing Tess. Tess and his contradictions, it can also be said that the workers are oppressed and the specific performance of the entire capitalist social contradictions. Tess beginning of his attitude
20、is very clear, she publicly declares his obnoxious. Later, at a farm, she puts up a struggle to him. Finally, she curses him to ruin her life. She ignores the bourgeois legality and morality, on the feelings of great anger to kill him. Her reaction is a heavy attack to the dark society.3.Tesss cowar
21、diceTess has a definitely rebeled charactor. at the same time, she is coward. This charactor is also showed on two aspects. First, her love for Angel. In great contract to Alec, Angel wins Tesss heart by sweet words and kindness. In fact, he is a more complicated person. As a typical nineteenth cent
22、ury progressive representative, Angel rejects the values handed to him, and sets off in search of his own. His disdain for tradition which is an independent spirit contributes to his aura of charisma and general attractiveness. He thinks of this at the time of the British bourgeoisie humanitarian an
23、d historical conditions, bourgeois rule in a very brutal, very tragic life of the peasant class, a certain progress is meaningless. However, it must be pointed out is that he has not really jump out of his area against the old moral values, He has not really despised from the class prejudices. He de
24、cides to stand for the bourgeois ideology and his inevitable departure from the selfish interests. Although he goes to the farmers to learn farming techniques, but his real purpose is to the future. Although he claims to be independent judgment opinion, once the thing is a very crucial stage, he is
25、still upholding the decadent bourgeois social customs and moral hypocrisy. Angel loves Tess because he thinks that she is sweet and pure. Tesss denial of him shows she is concerned about her past. To Angel, her denial seems to signify that Tess is even more virtuous than he thinks of. Somehow Tess a
26、grees to marry him. She is so afraid to lose her husband that makes her life restless all the time. Later on, when she knows a similar error in Angels past “eight-and forty hours” dissipation with a stranger in London, she securely makes her confession and hopes to get Angles forgiveness. Tess has t
27、hought although Angel didnt find the letter under the carpet he can forgive her and then they will live a happy life together. But Angel, who proves himself more judgmental and inflexible than his parent, is blind by his failure to accept Tess for who she really is. He takes Tesss transgression as a
28、 personal attack on him, which makes him unable to see her clearly. The idealized, pure vision of Tess is destroyed. Angel has the same past as Tesss, but he cannot forgive Tess as Tess forgives him. He no longer sees the woman he once has seen and has married only hours ago. For him, the lover whos
29、 beloved has been transformed in his mind from the embodiment of purity into the tarnished reality of a fallen woman.Second, her second stay with Alec also presents her cowardice. While enduring the abanded life, as Tess struggles with Alecs temptation , her need for Angel, becomes more and more des
30、parate. If Angel were to return to her and do his duty as her husband, her problems would greatly diminish. She writes to Angel and pleads that he not judges her on her irretrievable past. Tesss situation thus makes her very vulnerable to Alecs persuasions. She is obviously heartbroken and needs to
31、be loved more than ever. She is also distraught by her familys ever-worsening financial situation. Alecs reasoning seems more valid to Tess than it has in the past. In a way, Tess and Alec are similar in that they have both fallen and ask for forgiveness for their indiscretions. After a long wait fo
32、r Angels reply, but nothing, Tess begins to realize that Alec may be her only hope. She gives up all hopes and becomes Alecs mistress for the sake of her family. Tess love is not given the spirit of transcendence and physical beauty, but with the loss of self-emaciated blind and miserable, unrealist
33、ic to imagine that there is no hope with the chessboard, and all are attributable to the self - destiny of the fate and helplessness. Her life is not worthwhile to an attachment that her man and this is a profound tragedy. When she feels the opinions of all the sacrifices so insignificant, as all ac
34、ts of levity, finally decides to angrily rebel. Of course, Tess once expressed her plainness angrily by the last letter to Angel under a completely disappointed condition.4.ConclusionTess of dUrbervilles is a great work. Tess is one of Hardys most sympathetic protagonists. She is as likeable as a li
35、terary charactor found in all of English literature. Readers come to understand her plight and her acceptance of the seemingly inevitable things that happen to her. Not once during the novel does Tess exhibit any traits that take away from Hardys portrayal of her as a good person. As a result, by th
36、e end of the novel, we wish for a happy ending for Tess and Angel, but we know that not all stories end on a positive note. Nowadays womens situations have become much better. Some are because of the change of society and some are because of civilization. Just let those poor painful women like Tess be just a memory.
