Review by pablochristian - Tess of the D'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman

pablochristian 's review for:

Tess of the D'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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 one of those books, or more specifically, Tess is one of those characters that stayed with me long after I turned the final page. Her tribulations, her trials, the grace with which she confronts them—they haunt the mind like the ghosts of her lordly ancestors roaming the hills and vales of Hardy’s fictional Wessex County.

Amidst the poetry of the idyllic setting, there is a sense of destiny to the narrative, frustrating in the most dramatically potent fashion. It is like reading a natural disaster unfurl in slow motion, only interspersed with such moments of spirit and beauty that you dare to hope for a fairy tale ending.

Tess herself is a spirit of nature in many ways. She is connected to the land in which she was born, evolving with the seasons, possessing such profundity of feeling that a simple melody “could well-nigh drag her heart out of her bosom at times.” Pure, proud, and naive, Tess falls victim to circumstances beyond her control. Hardy ponders whether this is some kind of karmic justice for the sins of her conquering forebears, but more likely her misfortune is due to the guiding hand of social and economic forces far beyond any one person or family’s control.

Her husband is unable to save her, impotent as he is rendered by an unyielding tendency towards liberal idealism; much less her father, a man broken by poverty, alcoholism, and nostalgic buffoonery. Most men, however, seek to exploit Tess for her labor or beauty, none more-so than Alec d’Uberville, the libertine son of parvenu wealth, a man who would hope to take possession of Tess, much as his family has taken ownership over her ancestors’ namesake and legacy.

Against such powerful social and economic forces, Tess finds herself a leaf in the wind, blown ragged through the turmoil of a rapidly changing society. And so when she finally takes her destiny into her own hands, it is a victory in a way, every consequence of an unfeeling society be damned. You smile for Tess as you weep for her suffering, because even Tess knows that the happiness she is blessed to experience is too beautiful in its moment to ever last.

Content Warnings