Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Hardy's Faithful Presentation of a Pure Women
Fizzah Abid Warris
October 22, 2013
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
If Fate is behind Tess’s Tragedies, why does Angel find it difficult to forgive her given the fact he ‘loved’ her?
“You were more sinned against than sinning, that I admit.”
These were the words spoken by Angel in Chapter Thirty-Five after Tess implores him that she was a child when evil wrecked upon her innocent being. She beseeched him that she used to be unknowing of men and had little clue about their wicked ways. If fate was responsible for her crime, why then did Angel have problems reconciling with the concept of Tess not being as ‘pure’ as he had assumed? Why, finally after forgiving her, could he not see her as the woman he gave his heart to? Did Angel have a different notion of fate, or did he never truly love Tess as he claimed? Or was it Fate yet again, cruelly hurling Tess down the path towards her doom?
It is clear from most of his work that for Hardy fate plays a major role. His characters seem to be simply puppets in the hands of malignant Fate. They are always in conflict with it, for while they are on one side and Fate seems to be working on the opposite end. In his article, D Cecil observes that: “A struggle between man, on the one hand, and, on the other, an omnipotent and indifferent Fate —that is Hardy’s interpretation of the human scene.” Even with Tess, Fate always seemed against her. Time and time again, we see how Tess tried her hardest to set her life straight and how Fate is always ready with the perfect counterattack that causes all of her toil and hard work to go in vain. In the last chapter of the novel, the narrator say, “Justice was done and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.” (Ch.59) This goes to prove that yes, there is no question that Fate was indeed playing with Tess. But is Fate really against her so much that she would not permit Angel to forgive Tess or should we observe Angel’s own thoughts and desires to
October 22, 2013
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
If Fate is behind Tess’s Tragedies, why does Angel find it difficult to forgive her given the fact he ‘loved’ her?
“You were more sinned against than sinning, that I admit.”
These were the words spoken by Angel in Chapter Thirty-Five after Tess implores him that she was a child when evil wrecked upon her innocent being. She beseeched him that she used to be unknowing of men and had little clue about their wicked ways. If fate was responsible for her crime, why then did Angel have problems reconciling with the concept of Tess not being as ‘pure’ as he had assumed? Why, finally after forgiving her, could he not see her as the woman he gave his heart to? Did Angel have a different notion of fate, or did he never truly love Tess as he claimed? Or was it Fate yet again, cruelly hurling Tess down the path towards her doom?
It is clear from most of his work that for Hardy fate plays a major role. His characters seem to be simply puppets in the hands of malignant Fate. They are always in conflict with it, for while they are on one side and Fate seems to be working on the opposite end. In his article, D Cecil observes that: “A struggle between man, on the one hand, and, on the other, an omnipotent and indifferent Fate —that is Hardy’s interpretation of the human scene.” Even with Tess, Fate always seemed against her. Time and time again, we see how Tess tried her hardest to set her life straight and how Fate is always ready with the perfect counterattack that causes all of her toil and hard work to go in vain. In the last chapter of the novel, the narrator say, “Justice was done and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.” (Ch.59) This goes to prove that yes, there is no question that Fate was indeed playing with Tess. But is Fate really against her so much that she would not permit Angel to forgive Tess or should we observe Angel’s own thoughts and desires to