Tess as a 'Pure Woman'

Victorian and present-day attitudes to purityEstablishingpurityOmissionBringing out the flaws of Alec and
AngelIncluding dramatic and symbolic episodesDirectcommentsEmphasising Tess's virtuesEmphasising her self-
condemnation
Although Hardy only added the novel's subtitle, 'A Pure Woman' at the last minute in one of the later
editions, various changes in the text suggest he had been changing his emphasis to bring out Tess's
purity.

Victorian and present-day attitudes to purity

When Tess of the d'Urbervilles was first published in 1891, there was a huge debate about whether Hardy
should have described Tess as pure. According to conventional Victorian morality (based on the
teachings of the church) no one who had engaged in pre-marital sex could be described as ‘pure'. Rather
they were to be seen as ‘fallen' into sexual sin – mistresses and prostitutes were commonly described as
‘fallen women' and shunned by polite society (although their male partners were not!).
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, readers are more likely to be troubled by Tess's murder of
Alec, rather than her sexual experiences. It would seem an act of gratuitous violence. Why could she not
just walk out on him?
Only by reading the novel in Hardy's terms, rather than their own, can students appreciate that there is a
deeper level on which to discuss the issue, involving intentions, desires and human endurance. This is
where the universality of the novel lies. This contextual awareness is also necessary in order to
understand Hardy's masculine construction of femininity in general, and female sexuality in particular.

Establishing purity
Hardy establishes Tess's purity in a number of ways:

Omission
Hardy does not actually provide the details of the worst things that happen to Tess:

 Her violation by Alec (Ch 11)

 The period of living with Alec immediately afterwards (Ch 12)
 Tess's confession to Angel by letter (Ch 33)
 Her confession to him face to face (Ch 34)
 Her arguments against Christianity that help cause Alec to lose his faith
 How she was persuaded to live with Alec again
 The act of murdering Alec.

It might seem that Hardy was bound by convention not to be explicit, but it is much more probable he
used these limitations to exploit ambiguity. This is a much more modern way of writing, forcing the reader
to reconstruct events and then challenging this reconstruction. It also spares us the grisly details, so that
a more idealised vision of Tess may be maintained.

Bringing out the flaws of Alec and Angel

In revising the text, Hardy makes the men seem worse:
  An element of force is added to Alec's seduction to make it seem as though it could have been
rape (in the initial serialisation, Alec involved her in a bogus marriage)
 Alec's conversion is made to seem more superficial
 Angel's hypocrisy is emphasized.

The potential difficulty of making the men more evil is to make Tess seem more a victim rather than
establishing her purity. You need to consider what you think.

Including dramatic and symbolic episodes

Hardy creates a number of dramatic situations which symbolically reinforce Tess's innocence:

 The baptism of her baby (Ch 14)

 Angel's sleepwalking and Tess's 'burial' (Ch 37)
 Her purgatorial sufferings at Flintcombe-Ash (Ch 42, 43)
 Her idyllic stay with Angel in the New Forest (Ch 57)
 The final sacrifice of herself at Stonehenge (Ch 58).

In terms of symbolic colour imagery, Hardy associates Tess with images and descriptions of white in
particular (see Colour symbolism for further detail), though the presence of red increasingly haunts her.

Direct comments
Direct comments about Tess's virtue are made either by Hardy as narrator or other characters, for
example:

 Angel's assertion to his mother, with Hardy's comments (Ch 36)

 Izz's confession of Tess's love for Angel (Ch 40)

Emphasising Tess's virtues

Tess is frequently seen to act with integrity and responsibility, such as:

 Her sense of responsibility for her hapless family (Ch 3, 4, 38, 50)
 Her efforts to commend the other girls to Angel (Ch 22)
 Her patient acceptance of Angel's judgement (Ch 35, 36, 37), linked to her loyalty, resignation
and renunciation, all of which were regarded as female virtues by the Victorians (Ch 44, 45)
 Her refusal to pity herself (Ch 41).

Emphasising her self-condemnation

Hardy does not deny Tess has weaknesses (see Characterisation: Tess), but when Tess blames herself
excessively, the reader tends to defend her against herself, e.g.:

 Causing Prince's death (Ch 4)

 Feeling condemned by the sign-writer (Ch 12)
 Hardy's comments on her feelings of guilt (Ch 13).

Linked themes: Laws of nature vs. laws of society; Tess as a victim

See also: Colour symbolism; Characterisation
Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Tess - A Pure Woman

Tess was a simple, innocent, guideless and hypersensitive girl, trapped in a traditionally
bound society. She went to the D’Urbervilles to seek help for her starved family. There she
met Alec who seduced her, ruining her life. She came back and narrated the whole story to
her mother truly that both Alec and she were seduced. When her mother asked her to make
the best of this, she refused. Later, she met Angel who jilted her on learning her of being
unchaste. However, later, realizing his own mistake, he came back to her, but, she had
started living with Alec as her mistress. The last important incident was Alec’s murder at the
hand of Tess.

The critics accuse Tess of impurity on two accounts. Firstly, the seduction scene
presupposes Tess’ implied consent. She never showed any sign of disapproval as she did
when Alec first tried to kiss her. Secondly, being the wife of Angel and Alec’s being an
improper person, Tess-like girl would never have surrendered to Alec, only to provide the
family a living.

On the Victorian standard of purity, i.e. the loss of chastity is the loss of purity, Tess would
certainly appear to be impious, because, firstly, she lost her chastity, and secondly, with her
consent. But, to Hardy, it is the most faulty and narrow concept of morality. To him,
chastity is of two types – chastity of the mind and of the body. Chastity of the body is
related to virginity, whereas that of mind is the purity of the mind and soul. To Hardy, real
chastity is the chastity of the mind and soul. One may be bodily unchaste; still he can be
chaste, if he is chaste by his soul and mind. Those who have impure soul and mind are not
‘pure’ despite the chastity of their body. He, therefore, calls Tess pure for, in spite of losing
bodily chastity she never lost purity of the soul.

Tess stands as a symbol of unflinching and pure love. She loved for the sake of love only
without any consideration. She went on loving Angel inspite of his being unfaithful.

Tess had purity of dealings, and warm feelings for everyone without any personal gain.
After losing her chastity, she never tried to deceive anyone. She told her mother and Angel
truly about their seduction.

She was a symbol of self-sacrifice and emotional self-control. She never behaved hyper-
sentimentally and always kept her passions under control of her intellect. She never raised
hue and cry and never shed tears before anyone to get sympathies. She went on sacrificing
herself for the sake of Angel, her family or anyone she came across. She virtually proposed
to Angle to marry Eza, Heely or Marian for she considered herself inferior to anyone of
them.

All this prove the purity of Tess’ soul and mind. Had she been impure, she could have
narrated one-sided story to her mother that she was raped by Alec. She could have blamed
her mother or her fate. Had she been impious, she could have killed ‘Sorrow’ at its birth to
avoid disreputation, but she loved him and baptized him herself after the refusal of
clergyman. Had she been immoral, she wouldn’t have resisted Angel’s love for a long time.
But, she was a woman, having passion to be loved; so she yielded to Angel’s love, but she
had throughout been trying to unveil her secret to Angel. She wrote him a letter, explaining
the entire situation, but the letter was misplaced. She came to know this when their
marriage had been solemnized. Due to his unchanged behaviour she was satisfied, that he
has forgiven her. Yet she had no intention to deceive Angel. Had she been cheap minded
and mean, she would have condemned Angel when he left for Brazil deserting her. But she
accepted the situation for she knew she was equally responsible. There are many incidents
crying at the top of their voice that Tess was a pure woman.

The charges leveled against Tess can be negated promptly. She didn’t have implied consent
in the seduction, for seduction is a sort of intoxication. No one is willfully seduced. As Tess
fell a victim to seduction, anyone would have been seduced under such romantic
circumstances. She was too innocent to judge Alec’s intentions for it was her first contact
with any man. Then Alec deliberately rode the horse so fast that throughout the way, she
kept feeling the close and warm touches of Alec. When they reached the appointed place,
she slept. The romantic atmosphere, darkness and the silence prevailing everywhere also
contributed to make her seduced. So we can not blame her for having been seduced with
her consent.

The second charge looks, rather, valid and undeniable. Still, before blaming Tess, we must
consider the inevitable and bitter conditions, leading Tess to accept such a slur on her fair
name. Tess had been suffering throughout her life till the saturation point arrived. She tried
her best to contact Angel, but failed; she aimed to get some job, but in vain. Her family was
at the edge of starvation after her father’s death and the serious ailment of her mother.
Then Alec assured her that Angel wouldn’t return. So she ventured to live with Alec as his
mistress. She did it under dire necessity, not for lust or any personal end. But she never
accepted Alec from her heart. Alec’s murder proves this fact. It may be an error; yet it
alone can never prove her unchaste. Keeping this last incident aside, she is undeniably
pure. So pure and honest she was that she didn’t conceal from Angel the fact of her living
with Alec as his mistress.

Tess was that perfectly a pure woman who accidentally lost her chastity and kept playing a
toy in the hands of fate. Hardy remarks on the death of Tess that:
"Justice was done and the President of the Immortals, by Aeschelylian Phrase, had
ended his sport with Tess."
This also reflects the innocence and purity of Tess, who, despite prodigious number of
sufferings, never lost the purity of her mind and soul, and, therefore, was titled ‘A pure
woman’ by Hardy.

Analyze The Character Of Tess As A Pure

Woman Or A Fallen Woman
Published: 23rd March, 2015 Last Edited: 23rd March, 2015

This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by
our professional essay writers.

INTRODUCTION
The aim of this paper is to analyze the character of Tess as a pure woman or a fallen
woman in Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891)by describing Tess as a
pure woman and comparing to a?????????????????? Bero2010-10-17T18:00:00
Redundant, unless you specifically state which aspects of her character you intend to
analyze and what type of method you propose.
- is it possible to return to this part of introduction at a later time? I would like to specify it but
still don`t know what to add. Bero2010-10-17T18:00:00
Ok, leave it for later
By presenting Tess as 'a pure woman' Hardy criticises Victorian notions of female purity.
The nineteenth-century society treated women as second class citizens. Although they did
have certain legal rights, those were not respected in real life.
The prime role of women was to produce children and to be good wives; women learnt to
play the piano, to sing, to wear dresses etc. Women were forced to live in a state of
perpetual childhood depending on the male family member. Contrary to nineteenth-century
notions of women, Hardy portrays Tess as an independent heroine. Furthermore, in
redefining the role of women Hardy focuses on sexuality.
Tess of D'Urbervilles is regarded as Hardy's tragic masterpiece, subtitled 'A Pure Woman',
first published in 1891 after being rejected by two publishers. It is a story of a country girl
who is first presented as an innocent girl but turns into a tragic heroine. From Hardy's point
of view, Tess in not responsible for what she has done. She is a victim of a series of
misfortunes which slowly destroy her personality.
The novel is written in seven chapters; each chapter representing a phase of Tess's life
after which Tess becomes more mature. With the life as series of tragedies, Tess refuses to
remain a victim and struggles through life.
In the nineteenth-century society, there were two types of women: Fallen women and Good
women i.e. pure women. Good women were seen as pure and clean i.e. virgins until the
marriage. And their bodies were seen as temples that should not be used for pleasure.
Their role was to have children and take care of the house. Any woman who did not fulfil
these expectations was seen as a fallen one. Is Tess a pure woman? Or is she a fallen
one? While the Victorian society regarded Tess as a fallen woman, Hardy seems to be
representing her as a pure woman. She seems to be a victim and femme fatale at the same
time.
Answers to these and similar questions are the aim of this paper.

1. WOMEN AND SOCIETY IN THE

NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND
Britain had lost its most important American colonies in the eighteenth-century during the
American war of independence (fought between 1775 and 1783) and when the nineteenth-
century began, the country was at a brink of war with France. Under such circumstances,
no one would have expected Britain to control the biggest empire the world had ever seen
after the end of the century. This empire included Ireland, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand, India, large parts of Africa and some smaller areas and islands (such as those in
the Caribbean). Colonization, which was seen by some as a matter of destiny, turned Britain
into the world's greatest economic power, which brought about great changes in social
structure.
The greatest symbol of such a powerful nation and empire was its monarch, Queen Victoria,
whose official title was "the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland and the first Empress of India". She ruled the empire between 1837 and 1901, which
makes her reign longer than that of any other British monarch, and is the longest of any
female monarch in history. She ascended the throne when she was only eighteen, following
the death of her uncle William IV. The reign of Queen Victoria is known as the Victorian era.
It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military progress within the
United Kingdom. Victoria was a religious mother of nine children, a devoted wife to her
husband, Prince Albert, and as such she was regarded as the best personification of the
morals of her time. She set very high moral standards which were difficult to follow for the
twentieth century monarchy.
As was already mentioned, the nineteenth-century Britain was the greatest economic power
of the world. During the nineteenth-century the factory system gradually replaced the
system of people working in their own homes or in small workshops. In England the textile
industry was the first to face changes. This caused great shifts in social structure, making
owners of industries and trades people more powerful than ever. However, the industrial
revolution created a great demand for female and child labour. While it is true that children
had always worked together with their parents, before the nineteenth-century they usually
worked part time. In the new textile factories women and children were often made to work
very long hours (often twelve hours a day or even longer). The situation improved slightly
after 1833, when the first law regulating factory working conditions was passed. Among
other things, it set a limit on the number of hours that children could work and made it illegal
for children under nine to work in cotton mills. In 1868 the Trades Union Congress was
passed, which helped even more for the working conditions to improve.
As far as the political life in nineteenth-century Britain is concerned, the House of Commons
was headed by two parties, the Whigs and the Tories. "From the late 1850s onwards, the
Whigs became the Liberals; the Tories became the Conservatives." It was a period of great
political and social unrest in Britain. It is worth mentioning here that in 1812 a Tory Prime
Minister Spencer Perceval was shot. "He was the only British prime minister ever to be
assassinated."
The nineteenth century in Britain was marked mostly by industrial development and
colonization, which had its positive and negative effects on the British society. It was
definitely a period of great changes.
The period between 1837 and 1901 is known as the "Victorian age", named so after the
Queen Victoria. There are two historical elements which affected the English society of the
nineteenth-century: colonization and industrialization. Both of these brought great increase
in wealth, making Britain the leading economic power of its time. From today's perspective,
it might seem that the Victorian age was quite conservative, since it was characterized by
great prudishness. However, most of the nineteenth-century in Britain was a tremendously
exciting period when many artistic styles, literary schools, as well as social, political and
religious movements were started. It was a time of prosperity, imperial expansion, and great
political reform.
As far as the society is concerned, there were great changes. The social classes were
reforming and the middle classes were gaining more power. There was also an emerging
commercial class, which was very wealthy. However, the conditions of the working class
(which included many children as well as women) were extremely bad. Even children at the
age of three had to work. In coal mines, children used to work from the age of five and often
died before the age of twenty-five due to the hard working conditions. Many children (and
adults) worked sixteen hours a day. Some writers and intellectuals of this period protested
against it. The most prominent was Charles Dickens, who himself worked at the age of
twelve. The reforms that were passed did not change the reality of the working classes,
although they did gain some rights (e.g. most males over the age of twenty-one gained the
right to vote).
In the nineteenth-century there was a great shift of population from rural to urban areas.
People seeking better living conditions for their families left everything and populated big
cities in search of work. By 1870 Britain had grown from ten million at the start of the
century to over twenty-six million. Millions of workers lived in slums or in empty, old
decaying upper class houses. They had no sanitation, no water supply, no paved streets,
no schools, no law or order, no decent food or new clothing. Many had to walk miles to mill
or factory work. Their working hours began at 5.30 a.m. and lasted till 10 p.m. Drinking and
abuse were frequent in family lives, since people thought that life had very little to offer
them.
Nevertheless, it was also a period of great scientific progress and ideas. Darwin's ideas
emerged in this period; there was the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London which introduced
the technical and industrial developments of the age. Railways helped connect faraway
parts of the land and made travelling cheaper and faster, and inventions like trains and
steamships made it possible to import cheap food from abroad so people were better fed.
Waterproof clothing and anaesthetics made life more comfortable and convenient. Some
things which we take for granted today, such as photography, also thrilled people of the
Victorian age.
Without a doubt, it was an extraordinarily complex age, which has sometimes been called
the Second English Renaissance. "It is, however, also the beginning of Modern Times"
(Miller).
The Victorian society was divided into four classes: nobility and gentry, middle class,
"upper" working class and "lower" working class. The woman's role and her duties were
defined by those classes providing her no other alternatives. The barriers of these classes
which included their own specific standards defined the role of a woman. It was expected of
a woman to behave according to the standards of a society class she belonged to and was
considered an offence to adopt the standards of another.
Ladies of the highest class, nobility and gentry who inherited land, wealth and titles,
managed the home and household. When it came to meeting new people with the purpose
of establishing connections in economic sense, men relied on their wives to organize parties
and dinners. Women also took care of her children, ill family members and at the same time
had to improve their cultural knowledge.
The middle class included everyone between the working class and lower gentry. The role
of middle class women varied from family to family depended mostly on how much money
they had. A single woman had an option to work as a governess if she did not marry and
had no relatives to care for her.
The "upper" working class included those who had a slightly higher level of income and
status and those who were employed in jobs that took skill or thought as opposed to
physical labour. Women of the working class found positions in shops, as teachers or
governesses.
The "lower" working class included the desperately poor, typically single women. They were
expected to support themselves and the Industrial Revolution offered them factory jobs;
some were maids, barmaids, sold flowers.
However, the most important role of a nineteenth-century woman in Britain was the one of a
wife and mother. John Simkin notes that "The laws in Britain were based on the idea that
women would get married and that their husbands would take care of them". When a
woman got married her personal property became the property of her husband, the same
as her earning if a woman worked after marriage. She could not do anything without the
consent of her husband.
A married woman was defined as one person with her husband according to the law. The
husband was supposed to take care of his wife and she was supposed to obey him. As
having no rights, a woman could not refuse forced sex by her their husband and could be
beaten by him if she did.
Simkin notices that "the idea was that upper and middle class women had to stay
dependent on a man: first as daughters and later as wives". When they were married,
women could not get a divorce without difficulties. As Simkin continues, according to the
British law men had "the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery" as opposed
to women who did not have the same right if their husbands had been unfaithful. Simkin
also notes that "Once divorced, the children became the man's property and the mother
could be prevented from seeing her children."
It was believed that education of a woman did not have to be extended as that of a man.
The most important thing for a woman to know was how to bring up her children and to
keep house. Therefore, it was unnecessary for a woman to attend university. People even
believed it was against a woman's nature and could make her ill. A woman had to stay
subordinate to her husband and the most valued virtue was obedience.

2. TESS AS A PURE WOMAN: HEROINE

AND VICTIM OR FALLEN WOMAN
Tess of D'Urbervilles is a tragic novel of a young girl named Tess who goes through many
struggles in her life and due to her innocence and youth ends up "violated by one man and
forsaken by another" (Heap).
Tess's father, John Durbeyfield, discovers that he is the descendant of the Norman noble
family of the d'Urbervilles, who came across with the Conqueror. As they very poor, the
family sends Tess to the new found relatives hoping that Tess would marry a nobleman.
Unfortunately for Tess, the new "relatives" have taken the name because it sounded good.
Tess's "cousin", Alec, takes full advantage of Tess's inferior position; he seduces and rapes
her. Tess goes back to her parents` home where she gives birth to a boy who soon dies.
So, Tess leaves home again to work as a milkmaid on a farm where she meets Angel Clare
and they fall in love. Scared of losing him, she does not tell him about her past. However, as
Angel in their wedding night confesses his previous affair, Tess, convinced that she will
finally be forgiven, confesses about her past. Angel cannot bare the thought that Tess in not
pure as he believes and therefore leaves Tess. Tess struggles through poverty but in the
end accepts the help of Alec. When Angel finally returns, he finds Tess with Alec. Tess
murders Alec and runs away with Angel; however, the police found them at Stonehenge
and Tess was hanged.
Bero2010-11-11T22:01:00
Fix this. Indent the beginnings of all paragraphs. Avoid short paragraphs.Thomas Hardy
was an established writer at the time he wrote Tess of d'Urbervilles. However, this was his
first novel to meet "public outrage, mainly because of his portrayal of a fallen woman as
being "pure""(Rowland). As Matthew Rowland notes, "Tess went through some struggles
and issues" in her life that make it difficult for us to claim whether they were completely right
or wrong. The question whether Tess is a heroine and victim or a fallen woman still remains
a mystery.
What is heroism? Angus Wilson notes that "The opportunities for heroism are limited in this
kind of world: the most people can do is sometimes not to be as weak as they've been at
other times." Arthur Ashe points out that "True heroism is remarkably sober, very
undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but to serve others at
whatever cost."
As Hardy wrote his book in the Victorian Age, it becomes obvious that he was attacking that
society through Tess. Tess leaves her home, as Rowland notes, "betraying her family duties
in order to move up" in the world. Hardy's Tess is not a typical heroine. She evolves "into a
great person in the pubic sphere even though she is a young female" (Rowland).
Most critics see Tess as a hero. "Tess has a stature that makes her own sufferings touching
and personal to the reader" (Rowland). Even the way Hardy himself writes about Tess
makes us, the readers, believe he was fond of Tess. He describes her experience of the
world, her feelings and gives us an intense reality.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that Tess is a fallen woman. They see Tess
as a woman who wronged herself in all the rules and laws of the society and therefore
should be punished.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Hardy as a Pessimist

The fact that Hardy resented being called a pessimist is no reason why he should not be
thus described.

Hardy was the painter of darker side of life as it was no wonder if people charged him
of “pessimist”. The opinion is both right and wrong in this context. Infact, there are some
factors that compels us to believe him a pessimist. He was hypersensitive; his own life was
tragic and gloomy. For a speculative soul, this world is a thorny field.

The gloomy effect of his age plays an important role in his writings. Doubts, despair,
disbelief, frustration, industrial revolution, disintegration of old social and
economic structure, Darwin’s theory of evolution were the chief characteristics of that
age. All these factors probe deep into his writings and heighten its somber, melancholic and
tragic vision.

His pessimism is also the outcome of the impressions that he receives from villager’s life.
They were plenty of tragedies in the life of the poverty stricken Wessex folk.

Hardy’s philosophy of the human condition is determined by his natural temper and
disposition. He says:

“A man’s philosophy of life is an instinctive, temperamental matter.”

Hardy, practically, excludes from his writings the sense of splendor and beauty of human
life completely. Tess’ life is totally devoid of even a single moment of happiness. He is of the
opinion:

“Happiness is but an occasional episode in a general drama of pain.”

Hardy’s conception of life is essentially tragic. He is one of those who believe that life is
boom. His novels concentrate on human sufferings and show that there is no escape for
human beings.

Tess is worst fated to the sufferings of life. She tries her best to come out of her fated circle
of misfortunes but remains fail. Throughout the novel she keeps on revolving around the
predetermined circles of her cruel fate. Being the eldest child she has to go to D’Urbervilles
for earning. Her seduction plays a vital role in her destruction. She is rejected by society on
becoming pregnant. She goes to earn for her family to Talbothays. Her love affair, her
marriage and then sudden rejection by Angle Clare, all this make her a victim of
conventional social attitude. Her sufferings in winter season of Talbothays after the
departure of Angel Clare and in the courtship with Alec are untold. Her murder of Alec in
order to rejoin Angel and her hanging soon afterwards also show a long series of sufferings
but she faces them boldly.

All this shows that Hardy’s attitude towards life is highly melancholic and depressive. He
loves people but he hates life intensely. He perceives it in the hands of cruel, blind and
oppressive ‘Unknown Will’.

As flies to wanton boys,

Are we to the gods,
They kill us for their sport.

Hardy’s universe is neither ruled by God, the Father, not informal by divine spirit. Men are
part of great network of cause and effect which make them, almost always, a prey to the
chance over which they have no control. The creator of this hostile universe is called
the “Immanent Will”, the spinner of Years, Fate, Doom and sometimes God.

Being a fatalist, chance and coincidence play a key role in his novels. In real life chance may
lead to success or sometimes to failure but in Hardy’s case chance always proves mishap.

We can see Tess in the light of author’s fatalistic outlook on life. The death of his father,
death of “Prince”, role of nature, her birth in a shiftless family, Tess’ attempts to confess to
Angel, slipping of letter under the carpet, overheard conversation, too late arrival of Angel,
meeting again with Alec, are the examples of fateful incidents. It sees that as they are pre-
planned.

Time, also, is used as a motif of fate. The time of joy with Angel is transitory and time of
miseries is very prolonged. Love, a source of happiness is also badly fated in Tess’ case. Her
love with Angle roves futile. Tess becomes an agent of her own destiny / fate. She is a
manifestation of irony of fate.

“She is alone in desert island, would she have been wretched at what had
happened to her?”

Fate is also revealed by means of many omens and signs. Hardy’s tragic vision has a tinge
of Greek tragedy in which character is helpless in the hands of fate. Shakespeare, on the
other hand, holds character fully responsible for mishap.

Tess and Jude are helpless in front of fate or destiny. But in some novels, Hardy makes
characters responsible too, as in “The Mayor of Casterbridge” Henchard is somewhat
responsible for his tragic life. But Tess is shown thoroughly a toy in hands of fate. In the
end of the novel he says:

“Justice was done and the President of the Immortals, by Aeschelylian Phrase, had
ended his sport with Tess”

This sentence represents the acme of pessimistic thinking and clinches the argument. But
Hardy is not a thorough going pessimist. His pessimism is not oppressive. BonamyDobree
observes:

“Hardy’s pessimism is not oppressive, it is not the outcome of a soul which

rebelled against life. Rebellion against life itself …”

He is not a pessimist – a misanthrope like Hobbes. He is a pessimist like the classical writers
who consider Man merely a puppet in hands of mighty fate. Simply he is gloomier than they
are.

His pessimism is redeemed by two other ingredients in his work – his lofty view of human
nature and his capability to make us laugh at comic side of things. Hardy is not a cynic by
any means and his comic gift relives the atmosphere of gloom and despondency in his
novels:

“To cal Hardy a thoroughgoing pessimist is to forget his conception of human

nature male and female.”

Hardy himself says:

“My pessimism, if pessimism it be, does not involve the assumption that the world
is going
to the dogs … On the contrary my practical philosophy is distinctly Melioristic.”

Now it is crystal clear that Hardy is a meliorist rather than a pessimist. R. A. Scott James
observes:

“Hardy did not set out to give us a pessimistic philosophy … Hardy is pessimistic
about the governance of the Universe, but not about human beings.”