Reviews - Tessa d'Urberville: Historia kobiety czystej

Interesting. The present-day feminist in me was appalled by certain circumstances (I will not give anything major away), but I understood the time period and Tess' circumstances. I did, however, like this a LOT more than Madame Bovary simply because Tess had a mind of her own and didn't blame everything on others or her social status.

The book was long-ish, with two volumes making up its entirety, but I enjoyed the lengthy description. This isn't something I would normally read, but I would recommend it to those who like tragic, Victorian-era England, countryside love stories and long descriptions of farmland.

lisaxq's review against another edition

3.5

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters: No

shtarry's review against another edition

4.5

reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

nixazrael's review against another edition

3.0

This was a sad book. It started in the style of Jane Austen, like in Pride and Prejudice and Emma, but then it got darker and heavier and ended tragically.

jeff192's review against another edition

4.75

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

samantaned's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional sad

melobee's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

redmond's review against another edition

4.0

This book sure was... something. My AP Lit. class had to read this book in preparation for the AP, and now that I've finally finished it, Tess of the D'Urbervilles was probably one of the most enjoyable books that I've had to read throughout all four years of high school. I felt genuinely invested in Tess's unfortunate circumstances, and was so

Spoiler

devastated

when I finally reached the end of the story. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me backup and explain some of the things that this book does great.

First and foremost, Hardy's inclusion of dark humor throughout his novel is straight up brilliant. The man will have you read about a horrible thing happening in the story, follow it up with a joke, and then follow that joke up with even more horrible things that make you feel guilty for laughing at the joke that he just told you! I don't want to mention any specific moments of the book where this happens, because coming up on these little gems blind just makes them so much more amusing, but boy does Hardy do a good job of intertwining comedy with his drama.

Another great feature of Tess of the D'Urbervilles is the primary antagonist of the story,

Spoiler

Alec D'Urberville. Good GOD, never have I hated a fictional 19th century man more in my life! The man is just absolutely awful through and through, and his one brief moment of redemption (where he momentarily becomes a converted man) is immediately ended the instant his faith begins to waiver. To me, Alec D'Urberville is the kind of character that I just love to hate, and it actually brought me real-life joy when I got to the part where Tess kills him. I could write so much about all of the evil things that Alec does throughout the story, but I could also write even more about the REASONS WHY Alec does those awful things. I admire how Hardy was able to construct such a well-rounded villain, and still have him be so hateable.

With all of that said, my main gripe with the story stems from its ending.

Spoiler

While I don't believe a happy ending is necessary to bring a story to 5/5 stars, in the case of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, I do believe that its somber ending detracts from its overall message. Throughout the entire novel, Tess is shown to be a pious and selfless woman, willing to sacrifice herself time and time again to help those around her; her biggest flaw being that she will let pride prevent her from seeking help when she needs it most. However, by looking at the original title of the book: "Tess of the D'Urbervilles, a Pure Woman Faithfully Presented", we as the audience know that most of Tess's decisions are meant to come from a place of compassion, not selflessness. And it's these inherently pure aspects of Tess that made me root for her throughout the entire story, and hope that she would receive a happy ending by the novel's conclusion. With that said, Tess's bitter fate left me wondering what the message was that Hardy wanted to convey. Did he want to tell us that the world was too cruel for a pure woman like Tess?

If so, why go through the pains of writing a book with so many arcs? A simple short story would have promoted the same message much more efficiently. Sadly, I think the time to ask Hardy these questions has long passed.

Overall, I think that Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a wonderful book that everyone should read, as long as they don't mind a bit of a disappointing ending (in my opinion).

daragarah's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional 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

Content Warnings

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