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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
That ending shocked me
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think it'll take some time for my opinion on this book to solidify.
It certainly has its flaws, among them the fact that we never really know for sure what Tess did wrong. Everything that is explicitly stated about how she got pregnant suggests she was forced (drugged by a man who was shown to be forceful in other ways), but the degree of responsibility and the way she talks later when she goes back to her 'spoiler' ('He has won me back') suggest she consented in some form... So without knowing what really happened it's hard to understand/interpret the reactions of other characters. It doesn't help that according to the introduction, different editions/versions change a lot of those details anyway, so this might not apply to other versions.
Putting the confusing tangle above aside as much as possible (or, rather, just accepting it and going with the flow), I quite liked the book. Tess's character annoyed me sometimes (being willing to accept the guidance of others when it leads her astray, and then incredibly stubborn when any kind of self preservation would make one unbend), but all her actions were in keeping with the plot and story, and made sense in context. I was eager to read on at every stage of her story. Most of all though, I liked the sense that the author was really invested in this character, and the impression the book gives that he went out of his way to understand what her lifestyle would be like.
It certainly has its flaws, among them the fact that we never really know for sure what Tess did wrong. Everything that is explicitly stated about how she got pregnant suggests she was forced (drugged by a man who was shown to be forceful in other ways), but the degree of responsibility and the way she talks later when she goes back to her 'spoiler' ('He has won me back') suggest she consented in some form... So without knowing what really happened it's hard to understand/interpret the reactions of other characters. It doesn't help that according to the introduction, different editions/versions change a lot of those details anyway, so this might not apply to other versions.
Putting the confusing tangle above aside as much as possible (or, rather, just accepting it and going with the flow), I quite liked the book. Tess's character annoyed me sometimes (being willing to accept the guidance of others when it leads her astray, and then incredibly stubborn when any kind of self preservation would make one unbend), but all her actions were in keeping with the plot and story, and made sense in context. I was eager to read on at every stage of her story. Most of all though, I liked the sense that the author was really invested in this character, and the impression the book gives that he went out of his way to understand what her lifestyle would be like.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
In his writing, Hardy stressed the vulnerability of human consciousness and the need of loving-kindness as our finest refuge from the darkness.
Hardy’s writing is both beautiful and haunting as he vividly describes the rugged landscape of rural England so beautifully that you can practically smell the wildflowers and feel the breeze on your face. And also, the novel explores some very heavy themes. What stands out Tess of the D'Urbervilles from other Victorian novels is its uncompromising views to issues such as sexual morality, inequality, and religious hypocrisy.
Tess is a young woman from a poor household who is sent to work for a wealthy family in the novel. She is beautiful, innocent, and intelligent but she is incredibly vulnerable. Watching her navigate the treacherous waters of civilized society is both distressing and inspiring. Her state of mind as being in the impossibility of peace, the forlorn faith and hope that emerged from the bleak loneliness when she was no longer Teresa Durbeyfield and not yet quite Mrs. Angel Clare was truly devastating to read.
Overall, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a timeless masterpiece that is still relevant now just as it was in 1891 when it was first published.
Hardy’s writing is both beautiful and haunting as he vividly describes the rugged landscape of rural England so beautifully that you can practically smell the wildflowers and feel the breeze on your face. And also, the novel explores some very heavy themes. What stands out Tess of the D'Urbervilles from other Victorian novels is its uncompromising views to issues such as sexual morality, inequality, and religious hypocrisy.
Tess is a young woman from a poor household who is sent to work for a wealthy family in the novel. She is beautiful, innocent, and intelligent but she is incredibly vulnerable. Watching her navigate the treacherous waters of civilized society is both distressing and inspiring. Her state of mind as being in the impossibility of peace, the forlorn faith and hope that emerged from the bleak loneliness when she was no longer Teresa Durbeyfield and not yet quite Mrs. Angel Clare was truly devastating to read.
Overall, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a timeless masterpiece that is still relevant now just as it was in 1891 when it was first published.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is not an easy read. Not because of the language or subtext, but because of what happens to Tess, a girl 'in love with her own ruin'. And to say I enjoyed this book would be wrong - I am not a sadist. But I loved Tess, as if she were my own child. I feel as if I raised her, because no one else was there to do so, and watching her character blossom in the face of such adversity filled me with so much admiration. I suppose that is what makes the penultimate chapter so powerful: "I am ready".
This novel truly sheds a painfully bright light into the mind-set of Victorian England - a rejection of romanticism if I ever saw one:
- Her beauty becomes her liability rather than an asset.
- The oppressive hand of Victorian society - she is not free to follow her heart without the guilt of a past that she played no part in and tradition that she must adhere to
- Everything you want is right in front of you, and it’s the subjugation of society that blinds you to it or forbids you from it
- History and medieval legend, Pagan and Christian references are consistently interwoven.
- The only way the dream can become real is through death, which itself makes the dream impossible
- Extremely dense and multidimensional, it is almost a Shakespearian blend of bleak anti-romantic vision and genuine tragedy
Tess has been a breath of fresh air in my literary choices lately. It is such a tragic, heartbreaking story, because tragedy isn't caused by her: it was simply just her fate.
Quotes:
- ‘And it was the touch of the imperfect upon the would-be perfect that gave the sweetness, because it was that which gave the humanity.’
- ‘The pair were, in truth, but the ashes of their former fires.’
- 'With these natures, corporeal presence is something less appealing than corporeal absence; the latter creating an ideal presence that conveniently drops the defects of the real.’
- ‘In considering what Tess was not, he overlooked what she was, and forgot that the defective can be more than the entire.’
- ‘The greater the sinner, the greater the saint’
This novel truly sheds a painfully bright light into the mind-set of Victorian England - a rejection of romanticism if I ever saw one:
- Her beauty becomes her liability rather than an asset.
- The oppressive hand of Victorian society - she is not free to follow her heart without the guilt of a past that she played no part in and tradition that she must adhere to
- Everything you want is right in front of you, and it’s the subjugation of society that blinds you to it or forbids you from it
- History and medieval legend, Pagan and Christian references are consistently interwoven.
- The only way the dream can become real is through death, which itself makes the dream impossible
- Extremely dense and multidimensional, it is almost a Shakespearian blend of bleak anti-romantic vision and genuine tragedy
Tess has been a breath of fresh air in my literary choices lately. It is such a tragic, heartbreaking story, because tragedy isn't caused by her: it was simply just her fate.
Quotes:
- ‘And it was the touch of the imperfect upon the would-be perfect that gave the sweetness, because it was that which gave the humanity.’
- ‘The pair were, in truth, but the ashes of their former fires.’
- 'With these natures, corporeal presence is something less appealing than corporeal absence; the latter creating an ideal presence that conveniently drops the defects of the real.’
- ‘In considering what Tess was not, he overlooked what she was, and forgot that the defective can be more than the entire.’
- ‘The greater the sinner, the greater the saint’