On Tess' Tragedy of the D'Urbervilles论苔丝中阿历克的悲剧

本科毕业设计（论文）On Tess' Tragedy in Tess of the D'UrbervillesAbstractTess is a country girl in Tess of the D'Urbervilles written by Hardy, a famous English novel writer. Her life is filled with different kinds of adversities. She is seduced by one man and deserted by the other, but unlike conventional women, she says goodbye to her past life by her optimistic attitude and pursuits new life confidently. She is depicted as an attractive and pure woman, who has the quality of endurance and self-sacrifice. In spite of her continuous rebel, she can't change her tragic life. At last, Tess becomes a murderer and she is sentenced to death. Through analyzing the novel, we can reveal the reasons for Tess’ tragedy better and understand deeply about the social environment, countryside, farmers’ fate and social values of the Britain at the end of the 19th century. And we can also have a conclusion that Tess' tragedy is unavoidable, because under such social conditions, although Tess has many excellent qualities, she still has no chance to escape from patriarchal fence and social conventions.Key words: Tess; social environment; family; fate tragedy摘要苔丝是英国著名小说家托马斯.哈代笔下的乡下女孩，她的一生充斥着各种不幸——她先后被一个男人诱奸，后又被另一个男人抛弃，但是她并未对命运屈服，而是以积极地生活态度去告别过去，满怀信心的追求新生活，被作者刻画成一位纯洁、容忍和具有自我牺牲的女性形象。

即使苔丝不断地反抗也改变不了悲剧的结局，最终无奈之下苔丝变成了杀人凶手，被判处绞刑而终结了自己的悲惨一生。

本文通过对这部作品、苔丝、其他主要人物以及社会背景、家庭、命运等方面的分析，运用文献综述法的研究方法来更好的揭示苔丝悲剧的原因，从而使大家更加深入的了解19世纪末英国的社会环境、农村及农民的命运和社会价值观，也得出在这种社会条件下，尽管苔丝拥有许多优秀的品质，她还是遭受社会习俗的排斥，拥有男权文化的烙印，苔丝悲剧也是不可避免的结论。

关键词：苔丝；社会环境；家庭；命运悲剧ContentsI. Introduction (1)II. Background of the Work (2)A. Introduction of Thomas Hardy’s Life and His Works (2)B. Generalization of the Novel (3)III. Reasons for Tess’ tragedy (3)A. Social Factor (3)1. The Social Circumstances of the Late 19th Century (3)2. The Social Values of the Late 19th Century (4)B. Family Factor (5)1. The Situation of Tess’ family (5)2. Tess’ parents (5)C. Fate Factor (5)1.Tess’ family and Tess (5)2.Angel’s Family (6)D. Characteristics of the Main Characters (6)1. Alec (6)2. Angel (7)3. Tess (7)E. Education Factor (8)1. Lack of Law Knowledge (8)VI. Conclusion (9)Bibliography (10)Acknowledgements (11)I. IntroductionThomas Hardy, an influential English novelist and poet, was one of the important representatives of English critical realism in the late 19th century．Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the famous works of him. It tells us the tragic life story of an intelligent and sensitive country girl who turns from a pure and native girl to a woman who commits supposedly criminal and immoral actions. She suffers from a great deal of tragedy during her life. After reading this novel, everyone will think about one question: who should be responsible for Tess' tragedy? According to the current research, there are the main reasons for Tess' tragedy. Dong Bingqiong proved that Tess' tragedy is caused by social factor, human factors, family factors and moral and religious factors. Chen Guangxian proved that Tess' tragedy is the result of patriarchal culture and fatalism. In my humble opinion, the development of research can be much deeper and more detailed. We can combine reasons from history, society, family, people’s misunderstanding and defects of characters. This thesis analyzes this work and discloses the various reasons for Tess' tragedy. This thesis will be divided into three parts: In the first part, some background information will be introduced; in the second part ,the main reasons for Tess' tragedy will be discussed in five aspects: social factor, family factor, fate factor, character's personality and education factor; the last part is the conclusion of the thesis．Although Tess has a lot of good qualities，it is impossible for her to avoid falling victim to the society at the end of the 19th century.II. Background of the WorkA. Introduction of Thomas Hardy’s Life and His WorksIn the English literature, many literary lights sprang up like the bamboo shoots after a spring rain, especially in the 19th century. Thomas Hardy is considered as a great talent on giant men’s shoulders. He was the last important novelist of the Victorian age. His works provided the vivid pictures of the last decade of 19th century for readers.Thomas Hardy was born in a small thatched cottage in the hamlet of Higher Bockhampton three miles from Dorchester, on June 2nd, 1840. He was born into an architect's family, and he was expected to be an architect. He was a frail child in his early years. At the age of sixteen, he ended his formal schooling when he was apprenticed to a local church restorer. In 1862, Hardy became an assistant to a London architect, Sir Arthur Bloomfield. He was an architect, but he was interested in literature. Hardy’s first popular work occurred in 1874 when the first of his Wessex novels, Far from the Madding Crowd, was published. After that, he devoted himself entirely to writing and produced a series of novels，and his fame chiefly rests on his creation of the novels of character and environment. They are Under the Greenwood Tree(1872), Far from the Madding Crowd(1874), The Return of the Native(1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge(1886), Tess of the D'Urbervilles(189i), Life's Little lronies(1894), and Jude the Obscure(1896). Among his novels, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure can be regarded as the most famous novels and the summit of his realism. In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the heroine Tess is created as an attractive and pure woman, who has the good quality of endurance and self-sacrifice. Tess has been considered as the most exceptional woman character in English literary history.Hardy was pessimistic in his view of life. In his view, everything in the universe is determined by the Immanent Will, which is impartially hostile towards human beings' desire for joy and happiness. The dominant theme of his novel is the man's futile efforts to struggle against unmerciful Fate, Chance, and Circumstances, which are all doomed by the Immanent Will. Although there is a humorous and attractive side of life, the prevalent mood in his novels is tragic. As we all know that love is the most strong expression of human' s desire for happiness, it is in love that the conflict between the efforts of human beings and the heartless force of the Immanent Will is most ardent.B.Generalization of the NovelThe novel is about the tragic life of Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor foolish peasant, who believes that he is the descendant of an ancient aristocratic family, and who sends his daughter to work as a maid for a neighboring family by the name of D’Urberville. Tess is seduced by Alec, the son of the family and gives birth to a child, which dies in infancy. Then Tess goes to work on a dairy farm, where she is engaged to Angel Clare, a man of liberal mind, and the son of a clergyman. On the wedding night, Tess confesses to Angel her seduction by Alec. On hearing her wife's tale, Angel's old-fashioned prejudice overcomes him and he abandons Tess. Then misfortunes fall upon Tess; finally, after a period of hard work on the Flintcomb Ash farm, she meets Alec again. When Angel repents and comes back to find Tess, it is too late. Tess murders Alec, and after hiding for a short period of time with Angel, she is arrested, tried, and hanged. The book ends with the sentence: "Justice was done, and the President of the Immortals had ended his sport with Tess." At the end of story, Angel realized his promise that he will take care of Tess' sister.Ⅲ. Reasons for Tess’ tragedyA. Social Factor1.The Social Circumstances of the late 19th CenturyThe novels of Hardy belong to the end of Victorian age, 1870-1901, the last period of the 19th century. England continued to reinforce itself. By 1890, England occupied more than a quarter territory on the surface of the earth, so it was called " the empire on which the sun never sets". As for many Victorians, this period is tranquil and secure. At the last thirty years in the 19th century, Victorian maintained its surface prosperity and strong and at Imperialism stage, England still thought itself as a country “the empire on which the sun never sets". But under the fierce competition, financial crisis have a continuous bad effect on the country. After the Civil War, American rose sharply; under the control of Bismark, economy of Germany developed quickly and rebel of colonies became more intense. England lost the monopoly position of industrial economy and suffered from financial crisis, which made the labor-capital relations becomesharper. This kind of contradiction led to the society filled with pessimistic mood, thought of deterioration and prevailing skepticism. With the capitalist invading into the countryside at the end of 19th century, economy of small farmers was disintegrated and individual farmers experienced poverty and bankrupt. Thomas Hardy disclosed the cant and hypocrisy of the Victorian complacency. Under such social environment, as for Tess, it's very difficult or impossible to have a well-being life.2.The Social Values of the Late 19th CenturyIn Victorian age, as for women's social position, feudal concept was still distinct and highlighted, especially for women's chastity. Capitalists in Victorian were notorious for their hypocrisy. Their Puritan standard of sexual behavior was very strict. Women should be kept innocent. Tess stands for the excellent women who have good qualities, such as, beauty, purity, kindheartedness and toleration. But Tess was not a perfect woman as a rebellious woman, she was an ambivalent image who has both rebellious consciousness and conventional concepts. On one hand, she was brave enough to challenge the traditional moral concepts, reveal hypocrisy and evil of religions, and didn't give away to the fate. After seduction, she left Alec and standed all sufferings on her own. In order to be with Angel again, she killed Alec. On the other hand, profane morality and religious concepts were also in her subconsciousness, which controlled her all the time. After losing her chastity, she had a sense of sin and mental suffering, therefore on her wedding day, she confessed to Angel and wanted to get forgiveness from him. In the letter she wrote to Angel, she admitted that she was a worthless wife, and the way Angel treated her was reasonable. There is no doubt that conventional concepts were in her mind deeply. Under the profane morality and religious concepts, no one wanted to forgive Tess, even Tess herself.Male chauvinism was prevailing in the end of 19th century. Tess' parents thought the best way to get rid of hopeless family situation and to have a better life for a woman was to marry a rich man. Men's position was very important and irreplaceable. Tess had no ability by herself to fight against this male-dominated world.B. Family Factor1.The Situation of Tess’ familyTess lived in village of Marlott. Her family belonged to unwelcome and precarious class in the countryside. Tess' father is part of class which consisted of carpenter, stonemason, blacksmith and petty dealer. This class was unwilling to accept fieldmaster's restriction. It was so unpopular that fieldmaster made every endeavor to exclude them out. When the leased real estate was due, this class couldn't continue to rent the house and farmland. After Tess' father death, Tess couldn't live in the house. However, Tess' father could die at any time because of heart disease, which was a bad omen for this poor family. If her father died, the family burden would fall on Tess. After her father died, Tess lost all farmland and house. To support family, Tess agreed with Alec to stay with him. As for Tess, family was a heavy burden.2.Tess’ parentsTess' father was peacockish, footling and fond of bottles and her mother was vulgar and superficial. John Durbeyfield was a plain vendor in the village of Marlott. After knew he was the offspring of the ancient and knightly family of the D'Urbervilles, he and his wife, Joan Durbeyfield, decided to send Tess to claim kinship with the remaining D'Urbervilles and expected Tess had good conditions to marry a rich man. Joan Durbeyfield thought Aelc must marry her daughter when he came to invite Tess to his home. As a mother, Joan Durbeyfield didn't warm her daughter to pay high attention to personal safety and danger of men. On this point, she was an unsuccessful and omissive mother. When Tess was in trouble, her parents didn't give enough support for her. Her parents gave her life, but also gradually pushed her into a bottomless abyss.C. Fate Factor1.Tess' family and TessIn fact, Tess' tragedy is also caused by fate. She was born in a poor family, which is the basic reason for Tess' tragedy. If she were rich, she wouldn't have claimed kinship with the remaining D'Urbervilles. Then she had no chance to meet Alec, and she wasn't seduced by him. She could have a better life and a good husband, although the husband may be not Angel. What's worse is that before she married, she wrote a letter to Angel and confessed truth about losing her chastity. But unfortunately, Angel didn't find the letter because the letter was under the carpet. It is apparent that fate had a great influence on Tess' tragedy.2.Angel' familyBorn in a family of clergyman, Angel, whose father was a clergyman. He and his father had some divergences in philosophy and religion. His parents thought he should marry a girl who was in their class and was faithful to religion, for instance, Mercy Chant. In his parents eyes, their daughter-in-law must be pure. But this idea and the fact that Tess lost her chastity conflicted apparently. But what ridiculed us is that before Angel knew the fact, he thought Tess was the daughter of nature and persuaded his parents to agree their marriage. Although Angel had an open mind, he lived in strong religious atmosphere and didn't completely get rid of religious influence, so he discarded Tess. All of these indicated that fate mocked of Tess and Angel.D. Characteristics of the Main Characters1.AlecAlec Stoke-D'Urberville was the villain of this novel. He was thoroughly sensual, violent and headstrong, and determined on getting his own way at all costs. Tess's resistance to the fulfilment of his desires is puny when compared to his cunning maneuvers and ultimately fails. When he was on the ride in the Chase, he exclaimed, "what am I, to be repulsed so by a mere chit like you?" Obviously, he never considered Tess as a loving, equal partner. Later he converted miraculously. When he met Tess again, he became more considerate and generous and he concerned more about Tess' interests. But he still didn't change his sensual and selfishcharacteristics in his heart. If he became a good man, he should give a hand to Tess to offset his fault rather than enforcing Tess to be his lover again. Such an evil man, as to Tess, was a tragedy.2.AngelBorn to a life of the mind, Angel Clare valued spiritual life and he paid more attention to the freedom of mind. Thus he reacted strongly against the heavily clerical family tradition by abandoning orthodox Christianity. In the dairy-farm at Talbothays, he fell in love with Tess and believed Tess was as pure and virtuous as the daughter of nature. But in the depth of his heart, there were some traditional religious and moral conceptions, which occupied completely his mind after he knew Tess lost her chastity. And he didn't forgive Tess when Tess begged for his pardon. This narrow-minded behavior brought him and Tess a lot of sufferings. After he went to Brazil, he realized that how narrow-minded and ambivalent his conception was. He felt ashamed of his deeds and he decided to return to Tess. But he didn't know Tess had become Alec's lover because of his discard. Angel, a man loved Tess deeply, was the main cause of her tragedy.3. TessTess was a beautiful, pure, kind and brave girl and she had a strong sense of responsibility. However, these good qualities brought her not happiness but disasters. When things went wrong, she always thought those were her fault just because of her strong sense of responsibility. For example, she thought the death of Prince was her fault.. She considered about her parents and brother and sisters' happiness, so she decided to claim kinship with the remaining D'Urbervilles. She also had a strong self-esteem and she was impulsive. On the way she returned from Chaseborough, she was indignant and unhappy with the behavior of Car Darch, so she was impulsive so that she accepted Alec's offer to ride his horse. It was Tess herself who made chance for Alec to seduce her. But she said she would never marry a person whom she didn't love. After she met Angel again and fell in love with him, her daily and painful struggles between love and duty was shown in great detail. Circumstances and character combined to leave her open to the attacks of Alec. In desperation and hopelessness, she became Alec's lover.Love and responsibility are Tess' leading characteristics. She would do all in her power forthose she loved, under all difficulties, and at the cost of her own wishes and comfortable life. But she was not perfect. She was still young, inexperienced and she idealized Angel. She was really pure but she was too young to keep sensible. Characteristics of her were the main reason for her making so many wrong or unwise choices.E. Education Factorck of Law KnowledgeTess' family was poor, so she had no chance to have a good education. In the last period of the 19th century, seduction means a kind of crime that one has sex with woman by using violence or violating woman's will. Before Alec had sex with Tess, he couldn't get consent from Tess because she was sleeping soundly. Apparently, Alec committed a crime. After she was seduced, she should use law to protect herself. Under male-dominated world, although she had little chance to win, she should have a try.When Angel went to Brazil, Tess had no money to support her family because her father died. But Tess and Angel were couple in law, Angel had duty to take care of Tess. Tess can ask Angel's parents for help. But Tess put too much emphasis on self-esteem, she thought asking his parents' for help was ashamed. At last, she yielded to Alec. If she understood law, she would realize that turning to his parents was reasonable and sensible, on the contrary, turning to Alec was more ashamed.Although she stayed with Alec, she still had chance to be with Angel. Tess and Angel had married and they just parted no more 2 years. In law, they were still couple. As long as Angel forgave Tess, Alec had no power to obstruct them because he didn't marry her and Angel and he belonged to the same social class. From the novel, we can see Angel loved her and he was willing to forgive her. As for Tess, she needn't have killed Alec.If Tess had enough knowledge of law, she would find out that she had many other choices. Her life would not be such tragic.IV. ConclusionIn Tess of the D'Urbervilles, we see that Tess was a pure country girl and has the traditional merits of women, always ready to sacrifice for the family．Tess possesses dignity, integrity, sensitivity, loyalty, generosity, sense of responsibility, perseverance, tolerance, compassion, all of which are externalized in her physical beauty. But for subjective and objective reasons, she made some mistakes, which resulted in her tragic life. Causes for Tess’s tragedy depended on social character and historical environment. Capitalism was the fundamental cause for this tragedy. Her family conditions were deteriorating at that time, which mirrored the real circumstance of Victorian Period in 19 th century. Tess' tragedy was also caused by people around her, such as Alec and Angel. Lacking law knowledge was a big disadvantage for Tess. In conclusion, because of social factor, family factor, fate factor, characters' natures and education factor, we can see Tess' tragedy is unavoidable and Tess was the totally feminine Victim caught in a wed of tragedy. Tess, really a victim of bourgeois morality and social injustices, was destroyed by a society, which cannot be sufficient to allow a courageous and even heroic person to exist happily.Bibliography[1]Chen Guangxian. The Victim of the Patriarchal Culture and Fatalism---on Thomas Hardy’ Tess of the D'Urbervilles[D]. Y unnan: Yunnan University, 2008.12.[2]Dale Kramer. Thomas Hardy[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai foreign language education press, 2000.[3]Dong Bingqiong. Exploration of Causes for Tess' tragedy[J]. 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