How Does Hardy Present Tess As A Pure Woman

Thomas Hardy wrote the book Tess of the d’Urbervilles as a criticism of the values of the society in which he lived. In the novel, Hardy portrays Tess as a “Pure woman” During the may day dance, the baptizing of Sorrow and when Tess confesses her past to Angel. The first time Tess is seen in the book is when she is attending the local may day dance and Hardy makes her importance clear through several different methods. The first of which is his initial description of Tess. Hardy describes Tess as “a fine and handsome girl-- not handsomer than some others, possibly-- but her mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes added eloquence to colour and shape”(pg 9). Hardy explicitly points out that while Tess is pretty she's not any better that
Hardy creates an image of Tess in this scene with a “figure (that) looked singularly tall and imposing as she stood in her long white nightgown”(96). Hardy uses this image of Tess to show that she has learned and grown as a character since the beginning of the book. No longer is Tess a simple country girls innocent and inexperienced. Now she is a “imposing” figure, someone who her siblings who are in the room with her can look up to and rely on. Tess endured a horrible experience at the hands of Alec Stoke d’Urberville and she emerged from the other side a more competent person than she was before. Also in this scene, Hardy makes Tess out to be a force of good with the line “She spoke so brightly that it seemed as though her face might have shone”(96). At a basic level this scene shows that Tess cares about her family and would do anything for them but, by comparing her words to light Hardy implies that Tess’s declaration, that Sorrow could be saved, is like gospel. By reinforcing Tess’s claim with his metaphor Hardy shows that he agrees with Tess and in so doing he implies that Tess is right. The final time in this scene Hardy portrays Tess in a favorable light is the name Tess christens her child with. To christen the child Tess says “Sorrow, I baptise thee”(97). The name sorrow is a reference to genesis 3:16 in which God says he will increase a womans sorrow in conception. This reference by Tess shows that she knows the bible and that she regrets the events that led to sorrows birth. Tess is pennatant even though she is not at fault demonstrating her desire to do