From the beginning of the story we understand that Tess is fully aware of her shortcomings in life and that she is destined to walk a path of hardship. When speaking with her brother in the fourth chapter of the book she speaks of this awareness,
“Did you say the stars were worlds, Tess?"
"Yes."
"All like ours?"
"I don't know, but I think so. They sometimes seem to be like the apples on our stubbard-tree. Most of them splendid and sound - a few blighted."
"Which do we live on - a splendid one or a blighted one?"
"A blighted one” (33).
Tess’s early understanding of the tragic life she is meant to lead foreshadows the situations waiting for her. For the remainder of the novel, almost every single time something good happens to Tess it is snatched away from her on the next page.
In more than one way it seems that fate is conspiring against Tess throughout the novel. Hardy almost completely takes away the characters’ abilities to change their circumstances, imprisoning them by the harsh Victorian societal structure. From the beginning Hardy uses recurring themes to illustrate that Tess's death has been pre-determined, giving us the notion that whatever path she chooses she will end up where Hardy wants her to. While it could be argued that her choices are the only influence in her life, I feel that from the moment her character was developed her end was virtually decided. Or, at least, this is what Hardy wants us to feel. While she could be considered responsible for her actions, she