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Tess of the D'Urbervilles
By George Orwell
Tess was first published in 1891 and is generally acknowledged as Hardy's finest novel. Through the unfolding of a simple plot Hardy explores one tragic theme -the general helplessness of man. The remorseless hounding to death of Tess occurs across a typical Hardy background, the Wessex country, background of all his great novels. However, in none of his other novels does he so poignantly portray the collapse of agriculture and the subsequent depopulation and changes in the countryside. Typically this background often echoes or harmonizes with the events in the story, intensifying the atmosphere and broadening it.
Hardy＇s skill at characterization is clearly evident in his portrayal of Tess herself. However, there is an unevenness in his treatment of the other characters, especially Alec d'Urberville. The language of the novel, particularly much of the dialogue, at times seems cumbersome to the modern reader. His descriptions, however, are imaginative and fused with symbolism, overtones and subtleties of mood, helped in part by the rhythm of the language itself. The ironies of the novel are another striking stylistic feature.
The opening of the novel is characteristic of Hardy and from the knowledge that John Durbeyfield gains that evening springs a simple plot a variation of the love triangle. As the record of Tess' misfortunes unfolds, however, we see a force at work that can only be called destiny or fate. This force acts upon all characters, particularly Tess, so that intentions are continually frustrated by an unexpected turn of events, of which the failure by Angel Clare to discover Tess' written confession before their marriage is typical. This and the other coincidences and improbabilities do tax the reader's credibility but should not be allowed to detract from the novel's overall direction - the hounding to death of 'a pure woman'.
This hounding epitomizes the theme of the novel - the helplessness of man. Once Tess has fallen she is unable to restore herself before the conventions of society and Hardy is unable to justify the ways of 'the President of the Immortals＂. While writing Tess Hardy was rereading the Greek Tragedians and the novel reflects this in the general view that it is man's lot to struggle and suffer. Part of this suffering is at the hand of Fate but as in Tess' case, part of this tragedy is the result of human institutions or states of mind produced by them. The dice are loaded against Tess from the start as the harshness of custom and moral law, man's inhumanity, and the particular situation of the rural poor, dog her every step.
As with all his great novels, Tess reflects Hardy's love of the Wessex countryside and he describes its geography and people clearly and faithfully. However, while writing Tess, Hardy wrote that he 'was powerfully impressed by the massive evidence of the decay in agricultural life' and he could not help reflecting and regretting this in the novel. Typically the background of the novel is used sympathetically, to intensify and broaden the atmosphere of events in the story. Thus, the reader should be aware of how storm and calm, trees, flowers, and bird-song, mist, cloud and sunshine (to mention only some of the more obvious) and finally Stonehenge itself are used as symbols enlarging the human situation into a universal experience.
Tess is Hardy's most lovingly conceived character and in no other of his novels is one character so dominant. Because we see her in so many different situations and from so many aspects we clearly see her independence and innocence, her delicacy of feeling, her pride, her capacity for suffering, her dignity and her beauty. In fact, so lively is the characterization of Tess that she obscures some of the flaws of the novel.
Hardy tries to be fair in his characterization of Angel Clare because as our sympathies for Tess increase, so does our toleration of Angel decrease. To compensate for this Hardy provides an account of his unsympathetic home background, particularly the picture of his straitlaced father and dull, conservative brothers. This background also explains Angel's love which is 'ethereal to a fault, imaginative to impracticability ... creating an ideal presence'. While we probably do not condone his behaviour to Tess, at least we might understand it.
Alec d'Urberville unfortunately is a poorly drawn character and seems little removed from the conventional, bold, bad seducer of melodrama. In his role as a convert to evangelical Christianity he is hardly more convincing. Perhaps it is not important for Alec to be lifelike as he does well enough to symbolise the kind of forces Tess is subjected to but readers generally feel that Hardy might have portrayed the 'world, the flesh and the devil' in a more credible form.
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