The book is divided into seven phases, each of which tells a concise and particular story within the larger story of Tess's life and each accomplishes specific goals in moving Tess from her simple, youthful life in the country to her tragic early death. To an extent, this makes the characters in Tess se

em one-dimensional. Angel Clare, who appears briefly in the first section, is shown to be graceful, kind, and life loving but after a while, the genuine "angel" turns cold and heartless. Alec D'Urberville, who in the beginning took advantage of the pure Tess, ended up offering a home and family to her when she had no one else to turn to. For the reader, Hardy created predictable characters to produce suspense of not being able to guess how they will turn out by the end.

As love is should not be forceful, marriage should not be considered a burden or an obligation. Marriages should be based on total trust and "togetherness," and without this, marriage cannot last. (Gottman 85) It is about knowing the good as well as the bad, the thrills and joys versus the pain and sadness. But, knowing Hardy's belief of fate allows a reader to quickly realize the story's outcome. Tess's trails inevitably are lost and she will be ruined. Her life's foundation begins to crumble when she tells Angel about her experience with Alec. Not feeling ready to deal with this, Angel flees the situation and the marriage. He says, "You were one person; now you are another... [I loved] another woman in your shape." This shows the reader that Angel's love was in no way genuine, and he, in fact, distanced himself from reality to obtain, who he thought was, the ideal pure child: a "child of nature." (Hardy 187) This seems to be more devastating to Tess than the rape itself. She had real emotions at stake in this relationship. She honestly loved Angel and she is betrayed by his deception. Angel's true self now gives the reader a character to contrast with Alec. Alec did rape Tess, but he shows an extreme amount of remorse for his actions. His guilt drives him to aid Tess's family; something he recognizes is important to Tess, but his money does not aid Tess's heart. During Tess's poverty-stricken journeys, Alec meets and proposes to her when he learns of his dead child. No reader can deny that this action is motivated, a least in part, by guilt. However, Alec does show affection towards Tess and does care for her well-being. All of the actions that Tess never truly received from her first husband, Angel.

within despair to get out."-Michel De Montaigne. (Bornstein 51)

Many readers of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles believe that Alec, logically, is Tess's opposition throughout the novel. Often, read

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1633
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)