tess of the drbervilles

A detailed Summary of tess of the drbervilles

Thomas Hardy was considered a fatalist. Fatalism is a view of life which insists that all action everywhere is controlled by nature of things or by a power superior to things. It grants the existence of fate, a great impersonal, a primitive force, existing from all eternity, absolutely independent of human wills, superior even to any god whom humans may have invented. The power of fate is embracing and is more difficult to understand than the gods. The scientific parallel of fatalism is determinism. It acknowledges, that man's struggle against the will behind things, is not to take advantage, but does decree that the laws of cause and effect must not be suspended. Determinism explains the conditions which fatalism describes. The use of fatalism for extending the plot was a technique used by many Victorian authors, but with Thomas Hardy it became something more than a simple device.

Due to his fatalistic view of life, Hardy presents the character of Tess as having a many forces working against her efforts to control her destiny. Fate approaches Tess in many different forms. Fate is through chance and coincidence, and the manisfestations of nature, time, and woman. The basis of Thomas Hardy's fatalism is seen in his youthf

- Hardy, Thomas, Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Oxford, New York: The World´s Classics, 1988.

- Cliff Notes on Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Cliffs Notes , Inc. Hardy, T (1980).

Woman is fate's most important instrument for opposing man's happiness. Hardy believes that woman is helpless in the hands of fate and carries out fate's work. Hardy unifies his action around a central figure, usually a woman. In search for love, the motivating passion of her life, women become the true carriers of thier own destiny. Tess and the dairy maids are a good example. Tess sees no harm in deceit, if there's anything to be gained by it. Deceit leads to tragedy. Had Tess told Angel of her secret affair with Alec, both, perhaps, would have been spared. She was undecided about telling him, and waited until her confession led to the disaster.

Hardy has shown very clearly in Tess that he considers time one of the principals of Fate. Hardy uses time with the importance of the moment, and the disillusionment and change that come with the years. First is how important just a couple of seconds are the other how little really matters in a thousand years or more. There is huge importance placed on the moment, for time is a many great moments. Moments of joy may be turned into bitterness by time. Love may be changed by time. For example, when Angel and Tess knew that "though the fascination with each had exercised over the other...would probably in their first days of separation be even more potent than ever, time must attenuate that effect...when two people are once parted...new growths insensibly bud upwards to fill each vacated place; unforeseen accidents hinder intentions, and old plans are forgotten" (Chapter 36). To be summed up, this means reason should triumph over passion. That´s they way it shouldn´t be, but the novel is portraid in that way.

ul actions and the very first works he wrote, and there is a gradual development up to the day of his death. He had a fatalistic outlook throughout his whole life. In fact, even his birth seemed to be caused by a twist of fate.

Nature is used as an evil agent in Hardy´s works. Fate appears in the form of nature, and it affects the lives of each character. It's main function is to show how man is defenseless against fate. Nature usually gives the impression of being content, but as Hardy shows us, nature can be sinister, becoming more of a character than a setting. This can be seen with this description "The night came in, and took up its place there, unconcerned and indifferent; the night which had already swallowed up his happiness, and was now a thousand other people with as little d

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Approximate Word count = 1798
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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