德伯家的苔丝之苔丝的性格分析

The Characteristic of TessAbstract : Tess, the protagnist of Hardy′s Tess of D′Urbervilles, an innocent country girl brought up with the traditional idea of womanly virtues, suffers the poverty and denunciation of the society. In most people ′eyes, Tess is a bad woman without morality, she is a mistress, a criminal. Maybe the whole life of Tess is ended up with tragidy, but her brave to the evil, persistent to the truth ，pursue to her love represent she is the model of modern time. To Hardy, Tess is the daughter of nature, she mixes the pure with resolute. Although Tess is hanged at the end, she is lucky because she is free from this earthly world. No one can be the perfect one, the weakness of Tess makes her a real person, which is showed vividly before us.Key words : nature, pure, brave, weakness, rebell[摘要]苔丝，哈代所著《德伯家的苔丝》中的主人翁，一个天真的乡村姑娘。

她有着传统妇女的美德，但却承受着家庭的贫穷与社会的谴责。

在大部分人眼中，苔丝是个没有道德的坏女人，她的身份是一个情妇，一个杀人犯。

也许苔丝的整个生命以悲剧而告终，但她对邪恶的勇敢，对真理的坚持，对真爱的追求使得她成为时代的典范。

对哈代来说，苔丝是大自然的女儿，她纯洁且坚毅。

尽管最后被绞死，她是幸运的，因为她远离了尘世。

人无完人，正是苔丝身上的缺点让我们看到一个活生生的真正意义上的人。

关键词：本质（自然），纯洁，勇敢，弱点，反叛I. IntroductionTess is a poor girl, whose life is linked with two men, who pulled her to the verge of death. Tess is a kind woman, but not a perfect one. She has some sympathetic and admirable qualities as well as lots of inevitable weakness. Tess is a real person, in my eyes. Her lifestyle, feelings and thoughts as well as the tragedy ending all symbolize the reality of that time and earn our sympathy. Tess falls down during the fight against the fate, the society and herself. God teases his play with Tess, who wins finally ? It seems that God is the winner, because he took the life of her. But what Tess left is more valuble than herself. She really did what nobody at that time dares to do.II The character of TessA. The daughter of NatureThere are two m eanings of “Nature”. First, it means “the physical power causing all the phenomena of the material world”, it ref ers to the environment in which Tess grows up. Tess is a lily in the wild. She grows up in a beautiful and pictuesque country. She loves life and all the live things in the nature. After the death of the only horse in her family, Tess claimed that it was her fault, she needed to do something to support the whole family. Tess is a child full of responsibility.The other is “a thing′s or a person′s innate of essential qualities or character”, this one is related to Tess′beauty and some good qualities when she was born. Although life is hard, the inner of Tess is bright and jolly. Her face is always wearing a smile. So, truly, she is the daughter of her surrounding envirenment. 169In the end of the novel, after Tess killed Alec, she escaped with Angle, they came into an alter that is a stonehenge near Salisbury in the plain, dating back to the pre-history time. The center of it is a big “altar”, where is used to put sacrificial offerings in some ceremonies. It was here that Tess had a rest because of tireness and it was also here that Tess was arrested. In the Bible, aler is used for giving sacrificals to the God and doing prey. It is viewed as a holy place. Anything put on it must be pure, such as the lamb, little child. That Tess lies on it means she gives her life to the God and she assures that she is pure and innocent.B. Brave warriorTess doesn’t go for looks,d oesn’t go for wealth, but she goes for someone who makes her smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. This is the portrayal of Tess. Alec is rich, but she hates him from beginning to end. Angle wants to be a farmer; she falls in love with him and suffers the ugliest things on her own. She is a murderer, what’s more, a warrior.(1)The warrior of herselfShe is independent and doesn’t want to be the slave of wealth. She prefers working to selling her soul to make money. When her stupid mom told her to wear her beautiful dress, she refused. On their way to Alec′s house, Alec showed his dandy nature. Tess, a tender girl, would rather walk than sit on the carriage to express her angry. Staying a whole night with Alec, Tess realized that Alec is a rat. She went home after Alec impregnated her. An unmarried mother with a child is not received by her neighbors. Tess, the stanch young woman, bore all the gossips. After the baby died, she didn′t indulge in the sadness, she decised to turn a new leaf of her life. She sets out confidently. She killed the evil in her deep heart. Tess also has a hidden nature — the longing for living. It is the intense desire that forces her to live and work after tremendous disasters, such as her son′s death, Angel′s abandonment. She preferred to work on a farm rather t han asking Angel′s parents for help. She loved Angel so deeply that she wrote to him to beg his forgive.(2)Brave fight against AlecAlthough Tess was in trouble, she didn′t desert her conscience. As an impure woman, she didn′t surrender to the wealth and pow er of Alec. After Alec impregnatee her, Tess left the big mansion resolutely. A long time later, she met Alec,now a parson. her hatred to him never reduced. She despised him and condemned his hypocrisy.Finally, Alec deceived Tess that Angel would never come back. This action builded up Tess′s hatred when she saw Angel. Tess was so despirated that she killed the rat. Tess is not strong enough to fight against Alec. She has no money, her father died, her noble background has become the history. Comparing Alec, she is too small in every aspect. But the potential hidden in her soul is great. She can′t beat Alec, but she can take away his life. Without life, what he owns is nothing. Although Tess was hanged, she won the game between them.(3)rebell to the social environmentTess didn′t want to be driven by secular, she choose her road under her willing and let others gossip. As one of the most rebellous females in Victorian, Tess disdains and denies the religion. A serials things happen to her made her doubt the nature of the material world. She asked herself : Woman's chastity, really time has lost, forever has lost? All organisms have the ability to restore the source, why shouldn't the sole maiden's chastity have t his kind of ability?” (Thomas Hardy, 164)“why the sun do shine on the just and the unjust alike？”（Thomas Hardy, 184）After her father died, her family is poorer. Turning back to the discrimination around her, Tess became Alec′s mistress. Angel′s back showed his forgive, the burden didn′t relieve, Tess′s spirit callap se, she killed Alec, which broke the law,and escaped with her true husband. This action was condemned by the society. Tess killed the rat, she should compensate her life. What about Alec′s rat action. No respond. Alec is a parson, a good man. Tess scoffed the fools who believe they are just and correct.C. Foolish cowardEveryone has his own weakness. Tess′s compromise leads to her tragedy.She first came to Alec′s house, the rat showed her around. Tess ate the strawberry given to her mouth by Alec. At the end, she lived with Alec as his mistress.Tess ′s deep love to Angel also makes her a fool.Just as the saying goes “Women in Love is a Fool”. Tess adopts completely another kind of manner treating Clare. The relationship between lovers should be equal, but Tess constantly disparages herself and raises Clare. At the beginning of their love affairs, “she loves him extremely, she looks him as the g od.”(Thomas Hard, 261) “To her sublime trustfulness he was all that goodness could be - knew all that a guide, philosopher, and friend should know. She thought every line in the contour of his person the perfection of masculine beauty, his soul the soul of a saint, his intellect that of a seer……The compassion of his love for her, as she saw it, made her lift up her heart to him in devotion.”(Thomas Hard, 276) In front of love, Tess has lost herself, has lost the dignity. Just this kind of blind, unequal love make Tess drop the happy right as a wife, deepened her tragedy. At the night, Angel sleepwalked, wrapped Tess with a sheet, lifted her up from the bed and put her into a sarcophagus, as if she was a corpse. At that time, Tess should have waked him up, but she believed that it was her fault and she must get the punishment. Even though after Alec abandonted her, she still thought that it was her fa ult that made Angel′s leaving. She wrote to Angel, begging his forgive. Finally, Angel came back, she said nothing but “it is too late, it′s too late.” She forgived Angel easily. To go with Angel, she killed Alec, making herself a murderer. In view of this, in front of love, Tess just as a pupper losing her soul. Why didn′t she rebell Angel like Alec ? Why not leave Angel resolutely and have a new life ? Why didn′t she rise up to protect her rights ? Because her love. She lost the game between Angel, at the cost of her nature, her good qualities. Her timid makes her surrender to the fate and lose her direction.III. ConclusionPeople often say “Everything in life is a trade-off”. What does Tess get though her life? Her life is full of bumps and detours. She seems to escape from a tomb, but jumped into another abyss. The God gives Tess the highest soul of the women in Victorian time, she is noble and pure, but the reality actually gives her a humble blood. The unharmonious between the soul and the fresh caus ed Tess’s tragic fate. What impressed us is not Tess’s tragic destiny, it also include something nobel, worth and purity coming along. No matter how fate goes, the nobel and purity lies in the human nature will nerve fade. Although Tess bears so much, she gets eternal charm as soon as she comes out of Hardy’s Wesses novels. We love Tess, we praise Tess, we sympathize Tess. Tender is her and determinal, rebellous, sincere and brave nature touches us, purifies us. Tess is dead, but her image will remain in the heart of the readers without fading.IV.References［1］Thomas Hardy. Tess of the D’Urbervilles［M］. Beijing : Central Compilation & Translation Press,2004.［2］Chenxia. Analysis of the Tragic Mood in “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” ［J］.Journal of Renmin University of China (social societies), 1998.［3］Li Jian, Yuanjing. The Reasons of the Tragedy of Tess［J］. Journal of Daqing Teachers’ College, 2005.[4]Y uYang. From the Spirit of Revolt of the Tragic View Tess. Beijing: ShangWu Press, 1971.[5] 英美文学选读：英文/张伯香主编。