Similarities Between Of Mice And Men And Tess Of The D Urbervilles

Books and movies are made predominantly for reader’s enjoyment and/or education. Readers can learn a lot through texts, mainly through the characters and setting. The different elements of setting in a text include temporal setting, physical setting and moral setting. Temporal setting provides context and helps to build the plot. This is because the period that the text is set in determines the understanding and development of the characters and the moral setting. Physical Setting directs the reader’s imagination, creates the mood of the text and develops the plot and context. Without setting, the reader would be unable to understand half of the text. Setting is considered a very significant factor in any text as it provides context, develops characters and sets moods for in a story. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, and Thomas Hardy’s film, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, both authors effectively
The morals of the characters of the time are significant as it helps us to understand why the characters acted like they did. Literature aims to tells us how people acted in the past and how society changes. In the both the texts, the values vary but both a few similarities are present. In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the story is set in a strong patriarchal society where femininity was strictly defined in terms of virginity for unmarried women. Women were not expected to have sex until after marriage and because of this, Tess was seen as an outcast amongst the community as she was seen to not have any morals. When she told her newlywed husband of her baby that resulted from being taken advantage of by Alec, she was instantly shunned and put to shame. In contrast, virginity before marriage was not highly valued in Of Mice and Men, therefore was not an issue present in the novel as the only women character present was often described as ‘a tart’ (pg. 31) by Candy but is not outcast from