OMG THIS POST! THIS POST! I am such a Hardy fangirl. I read Tess at just the right point in my life, when I was 15 and around Tess's age and it's one of those books that just absolutely slaughtered me.
For a novel written and released in 1891, it is bitingly realistic in ways that most of literature wasn’t back then.
God, it's bitingly realistic for now. It's actually really disturbing how much of the social commentary and critique of the patriarchy hold up today.
So Tess may not be the smartest, or the bravest, or the most adventurous heroine in literature. She has very traditional goals and doesn’t particularly concern herself with affairs that occur outside of her small, countrified world.
Hmmm, have to disagree with you here. I think one of the most interesting and dynamic things about Tess is how her tragedies ultimately push her outside herself. There's this whole conversation she has with Angel very early in their courtship where she is struggling with why the sun shines on the "just and the unjust alike" and he is actually taken aback that someone he took for a simple country girl is capable of philosophical thought. And these are things she probably would never have bothered with if she hadn't been raped and then had a child and then lost that child. I mean that's one of the great things about Tess in general and Angel/Tess. They are absolutely doomed from the beginning and Hardy points this out by having them almost meet at the very beginning of the book and then having Angel LEAVE, because even though he's attracted to her, he isn't attracted enough to stay. Later on Tess and Angel realize that they had this encounter and she kind of bitterly asks why he didn't stay and marry her then. And the difference between those two times is the multitude of horrible experiences she has had between them. The very things about her he finds abhorrent are the very things that attract him to her the second time they meet when they actually fall for each other and marry. Like I can't with how brilliant I find this bit of plotting/characterization. It's amazing!
God, it's bitingly realistic for now. It's actually really disturbing how much of the social commentary and critique of the patriarchy hold up today.
IKR! That's why I think Hardy was ahead of his time in so many ways. It's sad how much controversy his novels received, to the extent that he gave up writing altogether. He was a genius. And it is disturbing when you think of how little has changed. It's incredible impressive that for a man writing in the 19th century he was able to critique the patriarchy so harshly 0 and accurately - as he did.
There's this whole conversation she has with Angel very early in their courtship where she is struggling with why the sun shines on the "just and the unjust alike" and he is actually taken aback that someone he took for a simple country girl is capable of philosophical thought.
Oooh, I had forgotten about this part! I guess what I meant to say is that Tess doesn't have any HUGELY ambitious outside goals that transcend the area Wessex? Like, all she wants to be is happy, and to have as normal an existence as possible, despite all her problems. I think one of the most touching aspects about Hardy's framing of Tess is that he writes about this lower class, country girl as if she were a great lady, a queen, almost a goddess - just as if she really were a real life D'Urberville. Like, just because she's not rich or upper class doesn't mean she's not an important person with problems that don't matter - because she is and they certainly do. I mean, you have all these great stories in literature about rich, privileged, upper class women, which, while not taking away from how interesting or great their stories or characters are, they don't affect me in the same way that Tess's does, because she's such realistic character with great strength, despite how 'small' her world is compared to theirs.
I did a quick search on goodreads (lol) and I think this quote kind of sums up both what you and I are trying to say:
“Many...have learned that the magnitude of lives is not as to their external displacements, but as to their subjective experiences. The impressionable peasant leads a larger, fuller, more dramatic life than the pachydermatous king.”
I guess what I meant to say is that Tess doesn't have any HUGELY ambitious outside goals that transcend the area Wessex? Like, all she wants to be is happy, and to have as normal an existence as possible, despite all her problems.
Yes, that's certainly true. And all the terrible things that happen to Tess are because her father finds out that they used to be nobility and then gets all these ideas into his head. When really she's happiest when she's working on the farm milking the cows. Those victorians and their pastoral themes!
(which reminds me of being in the Musée d'Orsay and seeing this picture of a bull and my sister was like "...Why is there a picture of a bull on the wall?" and I was like "Oh it was a reaction against industrialism and the victorians started worshiping nature and that's reflected in art." Which I guess proves my English degree is useful sometimes? Sort of?)
lol! I am considering writing my long essay or thesis about the pastoral and eco-feminist themes in Hardy, so... Musee d'Orsay better watch out, is all I'm saying :P
For a novel written and released in 1891, it is bitingly realistic in ways that most of literature wasn’t back then.
God, it's bitingly realistic for now. It's actually really disturbing how much of the social commentary and critique of the patriarchy hold up today.
So Tess may not be the smartest, or the bravest, or the most adventurous heroine in literature. She has very traditional goals and doesn’t particularly concern herself with affairs that occur outside of her small, countrified world.
Hmmm, have to disagree with you here. I think one of the most interesting and dynamic things about Tess is how her tragedies ultimately push her outside herself. There's this whole conversation she has with Angel very early in their courtship where she is struggling with why the sun shines on the "just and the unjust alike" and he is actually taken aback that someone he took for a simple country girl is capable of philosophical thought. And these are things she probably would never have bothered with if she hadn't been raped and then had a child and then lost that child. I mean that's one of the great things about Tess in general and Angel/Tess. They are absolutely doomed from the beginning and Hardy points this out by having them almost meet at the very beginning of the book and then having Angel LEAVE, because even though he's attracted to her, he isn't attracted enough to stay. Later on Tess and Angel realize that they had this encounter and she kind of bitterly asks why he didn't stay and marry her then. And the difference between those two times is the multitude of horrible experiences she has had between them. The very things about her he finds abhorrent are the very things that attract him to her the second time they meet when they actually fall for each other and marry. Like I can't with how brilliant I find this bit of plotting/characterization. It's amazing!
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IKR! That's why I think Hardy was ahead of his time in so many ways. It's sad how much controversy his novels received, to the extent that he gave up writing altogether. He was a genius. And it is disturbing when you think of how little has changed. It's incredible impressive that for a man writing in the 19th century he was able to critique the patriarchy so harshly 0 and accurately - as he did.
There's this whole conversation she has with Angel very early in their courtship where she is struggling with why the sun shines on the "just and the unjust alike" and he is actually taken aback that someone he took for a simple country girl is capable of philosophical thought.
Oooh, I had forgotten about this part! I guess what I meant to say is that Tess doesn't have any HUGELY ambitious outside goals that transcend the area Wessex? Like, all she wants to be is happy, and to have as normal an existence as possible, despite all her problems. I think one of the most touching aspects about Hardy's framing of Tess is that he writes about this lower class, country girl as if she were a great lady, a queen, almost a goddess - just as if she really were a real life D'Urberville. Like, just because she's not rich or upper class doesn't mean she's not an important person with problems that don't matter - because she is and they certainly do. I mean, you have all these great stories in literature about rich, privileged, upper class women, which, while not taking away from how interesting or great their stories or characters are, they don't affect me in the same way that Tess's does, because she's such realistic character with great strength, despite how 'small' her world is compared to theirs.
I did a quick search on goodreads (lol) and I think this quote kind of sums up both what you and I are trying to say:
“Many...have learned that the magnitude of lives is not as to their external displacements, but as to their subjective experiences. The impressionable peasant leads a larger, fuller, more dramatic life than the pachydermatous king.”
Reply
Yes, that's certainly true. And all the terrible things that happen to Tess are because her father finds out that they used to be nobility and then gets all these ideas into his head. When really she's happiest when she's working on the farm milking the cows. Those victorians and their pastoral themes!
(which reminds me of being in the Musée d'Orsay and seeing this picture of a bull and my sister was like "...Why is there a picture of a bull on the wall?" and I was like "Oh it was a reaction against industrialism and the victorians started worshiping nature and that's reflected in art." Which I guess proves my English degree is useful sometimes? Sort of?)
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