Appearance
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (New Wessex editions)
Since Hardy can be rather boring in his poetry, I expected that I wouldn't even be able to finish this book. On the contrary, as soon as I had started to read it, I couln't put it down! This is a work of great depth and Hardy has an amazing way of expressing himself, one that really captures the imagination (like Dickens)! I heartily recommend this book for anyone, Victorian-lover or not. The articles are also highly illuminative; this book is definitely worth reading more than once!
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (New Wessex editions)
I had Peglet's experience when reading this book (and "Jude the Obscure" as well). I recommend, as she does, that the reader not try to empathize with the characters; it'll make you too angry. I wanted to reach into the book and strangle Angel a few times, for reasons that are obvious to anyone who has read the book.I must point out that one reviewer has stated incorrectly that Tess was "raped." If she had been, the book would not have had the force it does. It would have just been another "victim of society" or "victim of men" book. Take a close look at Tess' confession to Angel on their wedding night.Think of this book not as an indictment of marriage and Victorian mores (although it certainly was meant to be, as "Jude" further develops), but rather look at it as the relationships of three people who are never quite able to understand themselves and their natures well enough to avoid disaster. An excellent book. But once again, don't try to empathize with the characters.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (New Wessex editions)
When is pain the necessary entry price for involving oneself in great fiction, and when is it simply something you might call "author abuse"? I believe the tipping place can be found somewhere in the pages of Thomas Hardy's most famous novel.In it, we meet young Tess Durbeyfield, a simple English farm girl who struggles to make it through everyday life. Her father, convinced he's the rightful heir of an extinct family of Norman nobles, the D'Urbervilles, is a shiftless layabout who drinks and lets his numerous children do his chores. The family starves quite pitifully until fate puts in the first of several appearances. Tess meets a rich young bravo who goes by the D'Urberville name and decides to merge his bloodline with that of Tess, no matter what she thinks about that.Alec D'Urberville is one of two men whose attentions cause Tess much heartache and make up the substance of the book. Actually, there are three such men if you count Hardy, which I pretty much do. Alec is a right cad and Angel Clare, the other man, manages the impressive feat of being much worse, but neither lays for Tess the snares Hardy does, of horrible coincidences, contrived reverses in character, and way too much tolerance for ill treatment. There's even a letter-swallowing carpet. Man, I hate when carpets do that!When Hardy isn't pounding poor Tess into the ground, he's doing the same to us, pointing out how Tess in her misery represents the nullity of our common existence. "She might have seen that what had bowed her head so profoundly - the thought of the world's concern at her situation - was founded on an illusion," he writes. "She was not an existence, an experience, a passion, a structure of sensations, to anyone but herself."If only!Here's the rub. "Tess" is a pretty pleasing book to read if you manage to ignore or at least discount the plot. Hardy writes with great verve and knowledge about the world of his characters, fictional Wessex with its villages of hayricks and barn dances. At times it's like reading Wordsworth, and at others it's like reading Lovecraft. I don't know how else to describe a writer who can wax so lyrical and then shift into something darkly surreal and macabre without missing a beat. He was a master of description at the height of his powers in 1891 when he published this."Tess" is also a deep book, with much Biblical allusion and symbolic foreshadowing matted into the subtext. Reading the novel with an online study guide helps bring out a rich harvest of Hardy's learned genius, as you can see the careful layering and connecting up he does throughout the book.Alas, it doesn't make the story itself any more digestible.Tess herself is hard not to care for, but she's frustratingly passive in a way that can not be blamed simply on the time and place where her story is set. She seems more of a piece with something Hardy was trying to say of the human condition, of suffering being one's lot in this vale of tears. You keep hoping things will turn around, but pretty soon you see the author has other ideas. Hardy pretty much wants her to suffer, so she does.Maybe in some imaginary alternative existence, I'll be treated to the scene of Hardy being called to some kind of literary court of law, answering for the misery he put me through here. I'll gladly waive my charges against him - only if they let me watch when it's Tess's turn to collect.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (New Wessex editions)
Tess of the D'Ubervilles is sooo tragic! I can't even... So good, so romantic... so sad... so wonderful. Shakespeare's tragedies never EVER touched me like this! Promise me you'll read it! Just promise me!The most I can say in the way of analysis right now (and having just finished this story I probably shouldn't be writing this review with tears and the utter agony of human love and despair both streaming down my face) is that Tess is a classically tragic tale of what might have been but could never be. I hate to write anything so simple in the way of anyalyzing anything this vast, and there is no ONE LAYER or way of reading this story, but this to me is the overriding principle.That, at least, and the concept of what does it mean to be a pure woman/person? Clearly Tess was pure, even in light of all that had happened to her. What a fool Angel was to let such a treasure slip out of his hands, and what a hypocrite! I know I'm understanding this from an American, 21st century way of thinking, but come on, Angel?! Seriously!? You don't blame the victim for their crime, and YOU had done the same thing WILLINGLY! Blame yourself for bringing her to this end, you and the elitist group of fools you come from (author's note: I realize it's not very sound to be venting so much rage on a fictional character, especially one in a story particularly designed to make a social comment about the day in which it was written, but seriously, why didn't he just scoop her up in his arms and run away with her when he had the chance? Bad form, Angel! Bad form!).
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (New Wessex editions)
I went into "Tess of the D'urbervilles" with full knowledge of the harsh fate waiting for Tess, but that knowledge still could not prepare me for how harrowing and painful that journey was for her, and the reader. The character of Tess is so moral, innocent, kind, and unselfish against the society that is anything but, that Hardy's message of fate and social hypocrisy reveals itself full force in the novel. Tess has a love for life and an optimism that takes the harshest and cruelest society to beat down, and that is heartbreaking to behold.I thought this was going to be a stuffy English novel, despite the fact I quite enjoy (most) Victorian novels I read. However, I discovered that Hardy's prose flows well and is even beautifully poetic. Some of the best lines come from Tess's mouth, showing that she is not only morally upright, but also smart and incredibly perceptive.Hardy has a great way with words; romantic scenes are intensely passionate, emotional letters drip with feeling, and narrations delve into the feelings and thoughts of the characters so that the reader can understand, pity, empathize and sympathize with them. Most surprising perhaps is Hardy's understanding of the female mind; I think he has developed Tess into a believable and realistic heroine, and he has many interesting things to say about the differences of the genders, especially during that time period."Tess of the D'urbervilles" is a gorgeous yet heart-breaking novel. Not only does it entertain with its poetic prose and social themes, the novel also opens one's mind to the hypocrisy of the times; hypocrisies that even now may still appear in the thoughts and actions of people in this "modern" society.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (New Wessex editions)
I read Tess of the D'Ubervilles two years ago. I have read several of Hardy's novels and this is his best work. I recommend that everyone should read this novel.I am somewhat confused on some of the low ratings of this book and do not agree with the opinion of Tess. Tess is a strong woman who has weathered through some tough adversaries and situations. As with many books written in this time period, many women are weak, can not handle themselves and require a husband - not so with this novel.At the time this book was originally published there was much controversy and reviewers were very negative against Hardy (he stopped writing novels after bad reviews of Jude The Obscure). This is unfortunate since this novel teaches us many things about life and respecting people even after 105 years.Update:I have read most of Hardy's novels and still believe that Tess of the D'Ubervilles is his best work. I have since bought the Hardy complete poem edition by Palgrave and am looking forward to reading his poems (I like some poetry but not a total fan; I am sure I will his poems).