Works of Thomas Hardy discussion
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Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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Tess of the d’Urbervilles - Phase the Seventh: Chapter 53 - 59, and post-read discussion
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The monolith recalls Cross-in-Hand—and also The Chase—and the ancient pagan powers of the land. They are outside of time now, and the modern world is far away. Stonehenge was thought at Thomas Hardy’s time to be a place of ancient pagan sacrifice.
Tess fully accepts her fate as a sacrificial victim, lying down on the altar like a d’Urberville on his tomb or Christ on his cross. Tess also accepts that the previous few days have been a fantasy life, but she still wants to enjoy it while she can. They have once again become the innocent lovers of Talbothays, and their time at the mansion was their true honeymoon. The photograph I posted for yesterday's chapter shows a much more welcoming building than the d’Urberville decaying mansion!
This is almost Thomas Hardy’s metaphor for life, that no one can escape their doom, so they should live and love as best they can before death. Fate has taught her that no happiness can last, so she does not hope for much.
More thoughts about this moving chapter?
Chapter 58 is a little fantastical/surreal. Tess tells Angel about the sleepwalking incident, and this chapter has dreamlike qualities throughout.Climbing through a window into an abandoned house and living there secretly and serenely for a week. It is the honeymoon they never had originally (in another grand house) and the chance to confide and mend their damaged relationship.
It is clear that this is borrowed time (Tess is aware it is) and it is clear that it is bound to come to an end at some point.
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Yes, isn't that odd? Tess is the one who is aware of reality, at this point, whereas Angel still thinks they might be able to escape. But both are living a dream, as you say - nice point that the writing reflects this, Pankies
I think Jim also has some good points about this chapter, if you're around Jim?
Going back to Chapter 57, Angel has changed during his travels. He has had time to gain perspective (partly thanks to the stranger), he has matured and realised what a narrow-minded fool he has been in his treatment of Tess.I think he is in shock at the prospect of having her back and the fact that she has been living in sin with Alec and worse still has murdered him just doesn't fully register with him. His priority is just to be with her.
If this situation happened today, Tess might be judged much more lightly as she was provoked by Alec - both in terms of the rape, but also his pursual of her - this might be termed stalking, mental cruelty or gaslighting nowadays!
Also her husband abandoning her (for a poor reason) could have driven her to be of unsound mind when she committed her crime of passion.
However views of right and wrong were not so complex in the 19th century!
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Yes, certainly concepts were different, and there was more of a consensus about moral codes.
"living in sin" is not a phrase often used today, (although it is meaningful to some), whereas "gaslighting" is such a modern concept that I always have to look it up ...
Whether or not Alec raped Tess is debatable - we do not have enough in the text to determine this. Today he would not be charged anyway, as there is no proof.
"his pursual of her" again is arguable. If Tess went to law about this in the 21st century, yes she might get a restraining order, but her family would receive no money from him. Perhaps there would be social help now, and perhaps not. In the 19th century Alec's help will have been seen as largesse - welcome bounty from a gentleman. This is why I never try to apply modern terms or ways of thinking to Victorian novels, as it becomes meaningless.
Did Alec deserve to be murdered because he treated Tess as a kept woman? (He had offered to marry her, and from her own account it was his condescending attitude which finally provoked her.) Is Tess innocent of murder because we judge that it was a crime of passion, or did she know what she was doing? Has Angel changed very much? These are the sort of broader issues we will be talking about in a couple of days' time :)
Wow! Tough questions, Jean. This latest chapter is perhaps the toughest because we know what ramifications there are to come. I wanted to believe that Tess would find peace and happiness — and it seems that she has even though fleeting.
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I can't fathom Angel's state of mind though. As Pankies said, it "just doesn't fully register with him". He has always been so indecisive, whereas Tess perhaps, as a child of Nature, just lives in the moment and responds to it?
As the days pass, Angel and Tess, united at last, finally manage to steal a brief interlude of relative peace and shared happiness together. But we know this is only a few stolen hours; reality is marching inexorably toward them and their love has an aura of unreality about it. If they had ever had any real opportunity to exit the country, they would have had to do so immediately, before the hue and cry could catch up with them. Tess understands this instinctively, she is a realist; Angel cannot bring himself to acknowledge the truth, because if he did so, he would have been compelled to take action and that he cannot do.They move on but they do not get very far. When their pursuers arrive, Tess surrenders immediately. She cares only that she will not live to see Angel despise her.
I’m intrigued at Hardy’s choice of a setting for their final moments together: Stonehenge, a place of drama, mystery — and perhaps, fateful or dramatic events. The prehistoric aspect of the site might be symbolic of an ancient destiny, tied to Tess’s long gone forebears that has finally caught up with her. Perhaps the cosmic significance that is attributed to Stonehenge, its relationship with the sun and to ancient ritual, is meant to suggest the finality, the inevitability of Tess’s fate.
I’m told that some people visiting Stonehenge nowadays are struck with a feeling of time having stopped while they survey it. And a few individuals who are perhaps more attuned to receiving signals of intelligence from afar — such as researcher Lynne Kelly recounts in her astonishing book The Memory Code — believe they sense the presence of ancient voices.
Bridget wrote: "I also keep thinking about when Tess asks Angel if he will forgive her sin against him now that she has killed Alec. I’m not sure what to make of this. "
Earlier, between Tess telling about what happened to her and Angel leaving, he mentions he cannot forgive what happens as long as the perpetrator (read: Alec) lives. I assumed it alluded to this. There also are a couple of times both Angel and Tess see Alec as 'her husband in nature'. So now Alec is dead, Tess is a widow of her 'husband in nature', so she is free to be with Angel I guess.
Earlier, between Tess telling about what happened to her and Angel leaving, he mentions he cannot forgive what happens as long as the perpetrator (read: Alec) lives. I assumed it alluded to this. There also are a couple of times both Angel and Tess see Alec as 'her husband in nature'. So now Alec is dead, Tess is a widow of her 'husband in nature', so she is free to be with Angel I guess.
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Jim - Yes, you certainly do have a sense of awe when you see Stonehenge close up! The monoliths are unimaginably large! I used to have quite a few books about it with the various historical theories, and modern diagrams. That book looks fascinating, thank you.
We can surmise of course, but its true purpose always be a bit of a mystery.
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It is July in the city of Wintoncester. Two people walk up the road away from town, moving quickly as if trying to escape something. They are young but their heads are bowed by sadness. One is Angel Clare and the other is 'Liza Lu, who has become the image of a young Tess. They hold hands as they walk.
When they reach the top of the hill they turn helplessly back and wait beside the milestone. They can see everything from their position – the brilliant sun, the cathedral, and the College. The only stain is a large prison tower partly disguised by trees. Angel and 'Liza Lu gaze fixedly at a pole on the tower’s corner. After the clock strikes eight a black flag rises.
“The President of the Immortals” has finally ended his game of Tess’s fate, and the world has carried out its justice. Angel and 'Liza Lu fall to the ground, but after a while they stand up, take hands once more, and keep walking.
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“The city of Wintoncester, that fine old city, aforetime capital of Wessex …”
says Thomas Hardy, and the description which follows is a true picture, except that “Wintoncester” is, in real life of course “Winchester”, a city in Hampshire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester
Again Thomas Hardy has selected an old and beautiful cathedral city: the cathedral being a place of Christian worship to contrast with the pagan worship site of Stonehenge, (which as I mentioned accords more with Tess, and was the belief about Stonehenge at that time).
Here is a link to the website for Winchester Cathedral:
https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/
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As a sixteen year old, Thomas Hardy had climbed into a tree outside the gaol in Dorchester and witnessed the hanging of Martha Browne in 1856. She was the last woman to be hanged publicly in Dorset and the memory of it stayed with Thomas Hardy all his life.
By 1868 the spectacle of public hangings had become so repugnant that public opinion and campaigners, including Charles Dickens, brought about its end. Thereafter hanging took place within the walls of prison.
The habit of flying a black flag to mark an execution was to end 11 years after this novel, in 1902.
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It is so skilfully done. At each of the most dramatic points such as this, and Alec’s seduction/rape of Tess in the Chase, and her murder of him in the boarding house, Thomas Hardy has removed the narration from the climactic action. This is probably partly because he could not bear to dwell on it either!
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There is no benevolent God in Thomas Hardy’s world here, but only a cruel being using human lives for sport, and the justice of the world is harsh and unfair. I find "the President of the Immortals ... had ended his sport with Tess" is seared into my memory. This entire novel echoes a Greek tragedy, in so many ways.
Tess has reached the only fate possible in her situation as the innocent victim and unfairly persecuted woman. Perhaps she has achieved the one fleeting hope that she continued to be able to hold after all her misery—that Angel and ’Liza Lu would marry—but even that is uncertain. Are we to infer that Angel will court ’Liza Lu? As with so much in this novel, it is left ambiguous whether they hold hands for comfort, or if Angel is following Tess’s last request.
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There are many question we could (and will) ask, but one has just occurred to me on finishing, mainly for first time readers:
Would you have felt differently about this novel if it was titled something like “The Tragedy of Tess Durbeyfield”? (or even “... of Tess of the d’Urbervilles”) Looking back at the cover image for the thread for the first Phase, Thomas Hardy didn’t even consider spilling the beans about the type of book it would be, in this way. (And because it was initially serialised, nobody else could!)
Before we move on to our after read discussion, I’d like to thank everyone for joining in so enthusiastically for our first post-relaunch read of a novel. It’s been a real pleasure, and I’m overjoyed that not one chapter—and not one day—has passed without discussion. That show true involvement and commitment. Thanks all :)
And on to our further thoughts …
Thank you Jean for so ably leading us through this. I agree with you and others about the simplicity of the final chapter and to me, it makes it all the more powerful. I think if the title had foretold the story, it would have taken some of the power that was achieved. We were all so hopeful that something good would come to Tess but that would have not been the case with 'tragedy' in the very title.
I have a quick question that just came to me during my morning walk — the use of the same first letter in both Alec and Angel's names — could that be because both men are just the two sides of a coin? I'm probably putting this badly, but they both are enamored by Tess, both wish to 'possess' her, and both are flawed — and in a way, immature (Alec treating her simply as an instrument of his passion and Angel as a pure, prized possession that reflects on himself).
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He's very much a flawed angel, isn't he! And a smart alec.
The final chapter is in effect a very brief epilogue.Angel has perhaps kept his final promise to Tess, but even that is uncertain, given Angel’s weak character.
The mood is somber, the two remaining characters, Angel and Liza-Lu appear almost like stick figures who are observed from a distance. We are not told what is passing through their minds as they observe the raising of a black flag signifying the death of Tess.
Liza-Lu is a pale reflection of Tess, resembling her somewhat in appearance but entirely lacking in her spirit. We sense that Angel’s relationship with her will be very different from that with Tess because the passion, the contest of wills — and above all the workings of a malevolent fate — are entirely absent here.
In the immortal words of Tonio in I Paliacci "La comedia e finita!"
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I'm sorry this is out of order (yesterday was busy and I couldn't look at the posts) but I wanted to thank Jean for including the illustration of Tess and Clare at Stonehenge. It's a wonderful visual of Tess on the altar as Hardy describes it.
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Jim - I had similar reservations about 'Liza Lu. Just because two siblings look similar does not mean they will have similar personalities! They have had completely different experiences, and we were told that Tess was far more intelligent than the rest. She can hardly know what 'Liza Lu is like now, as she has not been living in the parental home much over the past couple of years. I feel this is fondness on her part, to say her sister is just like her.
But it is natural perhaps that Angel and 'Liza Lu would now be together for this moment.
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I feel exactly the same, Jean. As I turned the last page of my book, the black flag had not yet been raised, and even though I know the end, I was still hoping it would be different. By the way, it was very interesting to know the history of public hangings, thank you for including that. Thank you also for the link to the Winchester Cathedral. My goodness it is beautiful.
It's funny how Hardy changes the names of so many places, but he doesn't change Stonehenge. I wonder why? Perhaps because it's so mysterious and well known. Maybe he wanted his readers to specifically have that image and all the magic and paganism that comes with it in mind. With the other locations perhaps, he wanted a more general feeling of place for his readers.
Bionic Jean wrote: "At the moment Tess seems to be content - or at least resigned - doesn't she? Did you notice that she was the one to moved forward to the policemen? She instigated it, whereas perhaps someone else w..."Angel and Tess are both such interesting characters. Tess was so inarticulate for so long that her murdering the despicable Alec seemed not a complete surprise. Way back at the beginning, when she goes home to her mother after the rape, she complains to her mother that her mother never told her, never gave her words for things. Now here at the end, it's like the murder in an odd way can feel like a breakthrough -- a clear statement and action. Murder can't be justified, but it's impossible not to feel some sympathy.
Flawed through Tess is, she is more admirable than Angel. I find myself glad that she got to have this little honeymoon of sorts with Angel, but he doesn't feel like her equal.
Pamela, I do agree with Angel and Alec being flip sides of the same coin. Both of them miss out on appreciating Tess for who she is, and neither seems as full of life.
Jean, I am so glad that Hardy didn't call this "something like “The Tragedy of Tess Durbeyfield”? (or even “... of Tess of the d’Urbervilles”)!" Tragedy seems too trite a word for this book.
And thank you for the research! I was so touched to hear Hardy had himself seen a hanging and so presumably seen the black flag raised. Wow.
I got a bit behind and read the last few chapters together. Having read it before I knew Stonehenge was where they were going. The first time I read this I thought it was a bit over the top. Tess was going to be sacrificed etc. This time I really liked it, the ancient aspect of it and was struck by the fact that Tess could hear it humming. The power of the site comes through.The last chapter is so short and considering how emotional I find other parts of the novel, it’s almost anticlimactic for me.
Thanks Jean for all the extra info especially the real locations :)
Final thoughts concerning the narrative:When reading any novel, there is much insight to be gained by examining the shape of the narrative arch. It strikes me that the story arch of Tess is a downward spiral, where each attempt at regaining altitude (i.e. hope or even respite) is immediately followed by another reversal as the protagonist descends into loss and despair. This downward spiral reminds me of that of Rashkolnikov in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
Tess's downward spiral begins when her parents pack her off to their supposedly rich kinfolk; there's a halfhearted hope of better times ahead but Tess soon becomes disillusioned and falls victim to the lecherous Alec.
She attempts to regain her former status at home but soon her infant son dies.
She gains a period of calm and relief as a dairymaid and is wooed by Angel, but this ends with their disastrous wedding night and Angel's abandonment of Tess.
In desperation, Tess embarks on a journey in hopes of obtaining help from Angel's parents but that too ends in failure and deeper disillusionment. Tess falls into a period of drudgery, only to have things made worse by the tantalizing re-appearance of Alec.
Tess's confrontation with Angel, too late to save her, brings her to the final breaking point. Seeing no other way out, she murders Alec, thereby sealing her fate. Her hanging is the only possible outcome.
Interesting thoughts, Jim, never saw it that way. I pity Tess, as she tries her best, but gets cheated by men and the society. Yes, Alec raped her and couldn´t even keep to his "conversion", but Angel also misses her personality with his overdone religious thoughts.Thanks Jean for leading this discussion and all the info and summaries you gave us as well as the great pictures! Must have cost a lot of time. :)
In the previous chapter, Tess tells Angel that "what must come must come," showing that she knows that her fate is inevitable. When she is captured, the men pause to let Tess sleep in a kind of pagan reverence. When she wakes, she accepts her capture quietly, and Hardy reminds us that she's a victim.The conclusion of Tess's story also seems to me like a kind of martyrdom, that she is dying for the sins of society of which she has been a victim. Her execution ("Justice") is unjust because Hardy has shown us the combination of personalities and circumstances that led unavoidably to her crime.
Angel and Liza-Lu leave Wintoncester walking rapidly, preoccupied, anxious to get away. As in other important moments of transformation in the novel, they reach the crest of the hill and are able to see below them. After the execution, they hold hands but it is to walk into a bleak world where God sports with human lives. Angel and Liza-Lu bow to the earth "as if in prayer," but their bow is not in the direction of God but in the direction of the black flag.
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Thanks, Everyone, for your insights while we read this great novel. The pacing really worked well, and I was definitely enriched by all of the information and comments. Special thanks, Jean, for your leadership and knowledge.
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Reading these latest comments, it occurs to me that after reading all of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, we still have various different shades of opinion about it, within a general consensus. This is the mark of a true classic, isn't it? And it benefits us all to listen to those different views :)
So I promised there was a bit more to finish off Gertrude Bugler's story, and I have another "musical post" to share! Then I propose to post the questions I've saved: i.e. those posed by members which arose from the read but which we had to pass on from. Probably one a day will work, and then we have a related poem and will move on back to our weekly poems in a hopefully perfect segue ;)
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Gertrude Bugler, the actress whom Thomas Hardy chose to perform Tess was broken-hearted after his wife Florence had prevented her from taking her role to the London stage (see post at the beginning of the penultimate thread). However, after Thomas Hardy's death in 1928, Florence Dugdale, feeling some guilt over this, gave Gertrude Bugler the role of Tess in a 1929 London production at The Duke of York's Theatre, London.
After enjoying her moment in the sun, Gertrude Bugler, now married with a daughter and an ailing mother (who later died in 1940) and a younger sister Norrie, turned her back on acting and returned to Dorchester where she lived quietly and happily, living to the age of 95.
As an interesting codicil, her younger sister Norrie Woodhall was another aspiring actress, who also stayed in Dorchester. She was still alive in 2008 and for her 100th birthday she staged a production of Tess of the D'Urbervilles for the internet! Norrie Woodhall died in 2011 at the age of 105. She was the last member of the original Hardy Players.
However, Tess of the D'Urbervilles remains a great favourite of the "Thomas Hardy Society", and every year since its publication, the "Thomas Hardy players" have re-enacted the story, in live Dorset locations outdoors in the summer, using the script they used when he was alive.
And we do have recordings of Gertrude Bugler at a great age, talking about the role of Tess, and about Thomas Hardy too.
Here is an interview with Gertrude Bugler. It's just over half an hour long. (I saved it until now in case of spoilers!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0oe7...
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This is a very odd link I'd like to share with you all, particularly those interested in classical music. It's not really very well known, even by aficionados and Thomas Hardy
scholars!
Sir Edward Elgar thought of writing an opera of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and they met and had discussions but sadly Thomas Hardy died before it happened.
However the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams did use the story as inspiration for his 9th symphony. He wrote detailed programme notes, and made explicit references to characters and scenes in Tess of the D'Urbervilles - especially the "last act" so to speak, at Stonehenge. Once you know this, you can follow the end of the story very clearly, phrase by phrase in the slow movement, and Tess has her own fluty theme!
Sadly Ralph Vaughan Williams deleted his notes of the references, but if you listen with the text in mind, you can still tell :)
That's all from me for today !
Further thoughts concerning Hardy's fatalism:In this, as in all of Hardy's novels, fate is made manifest in people's actions, i.e. each character's own choices and the impact upon them of actions taken by others. The actions taken by Tess's parents, by Alec and by Angel have dire consequences for Tess. Further, Tess makes some decisions that determine her fate in large measure.
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus stated that "A person's character is his fate." In other words, our destiny is etched or engraved upon us by our thoughts and choices, not by some mysterious, omnipotent outside agency. While external forces and the seeming randomness of events do impact our lives, each of us helps the process along by the actions we take. Our freedom of choice may be limited or not easily perceived but some choices do exist. The choices each of us make will be largely determined by our character and state of mind.
It was not in Tess's nature to rebel against those who mistreated her, nor did her upbringing prepare her for what she would face. It could be said that she fell victim to the neglect, prejudice and malfeasance of others; but that does not imply any sort of predestination.
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You put forward an excellent case here Jim! We know as you said that fatalism runs through all Thomas Hardy's work - but that does not mean it is a simplistic belief of his. On the contrary, it is many-layered with other influences coming into play - as you have pointed out :)
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This is a very odd link I'd like to share with you all, particularly those interested in classical music. It's not really very well known, even by aficionados and [..."
This is amazing information! Too bad Elgar and Hardy didn't finish the opera. The story of Tess would make a fabulous opera. Maybe someone will write one someday. I'm going to go listen to the Williams symphony right now. Thanks, Jean!
Also, fabulous information on Gertrude Bulger and her sister Norrie Woodhall. Somehow, that Norrie lived until 2011 makes the writing of Tess of the D’Urbervilles seem not so long ago after all.
Anyway, after the symphony the Bulger interview is my next stop.
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"I haven't read all of Hardy's novels (off the top of my head, I'd guess I've read 10), so this is not just a rhetorical question: Is Alec D'Urberville the most despicable villain of the lot? I mean, who else is there? (view spoiler) Someone I'm not aware of?"
I've put a spoiler tag in about Far From the Madding Crowd, so to answer this question, you might find you need to do the same, please!
I can't quite see him in black and white as a villain, but I think quite a few of us do. So what do you think?
To me, Alec is most of all a frivolous and selfish person. He is dismissive of his mother's authority, and he enjoys holding power over others. He lives for pleasure.He doesn't think deeply about the harm he causes Tess or other local women by his dallying, at least until his shallow and temporary religious conversion. He blames Tess for tempting him, and he really seems to believe that it is somehow her fault that he has fallen. That being said, he embraces rather than resists the temptation, and his wholehearted pursuit of Tess after his religious awakening/fall, his manipulation, his insistence that Angel will not return, his mockery of Tess - these actions take him into villain territory.
Alec never loved Tess, and he never saw past her beauty. Angel loved the ideal of Tess only. Did anybody really know Tess, what she cared and dreamed about, what she wanted for her future?
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I still have a very hard time thinking of their night in The Chase as a consensual encounter. He had so much power over her, how could she say no? But, I realize that's me not being able to escape my modern view of the world. And the text does say that Tess was taken in by his attentions for awhile.
His villainy stems not just from that night, but rather how he relentlessly pursues Tess both at the beginning and end of the story. He's always creepy and scary when he's doing that. It's never about love.
His conversion to religion (however brief) indicates he wanted to try and be "good". Which means, he knew on some level he had been bad. Pure villains often don't have that kind of self-awareness.
The biggest thing, for me, that makes Alec complex is that Tess never tells him she's pregnant. I can't help wondering if he would have married her had he known about the baby. Her life would have been very different if she had married Alec. Of course, it's just speculation. Alec may have still abandoned her even if he knew. Which is one-way Hardy makes Alec a more complex character leaving us, as readers, to wonder.
Hi Bridget,I thought that you made a great point about Alec's complexity as a character and how his brief conversion experience was an example of this.
When I read the scenes about his conversion, I felt that Alec's desire to be a better person was sincere but he lacked the strength to see this transformation through. So, rediscovering Tess as he did, to me, seemed like the excuse Alec needed to abandon the commitment that he had made to his new-found religious path.
Had Alec been a more simplistic villain, he could have chosen to continue as an evangelist and publicly preach the gospel while privately using his authority to exploit the vulnerable. Instead, he chose to leave when he realized that his beliefs were no longer in alignment with those of his chosen path.
Bridget wrote: "I also like that answer, Erich. This was my second time reading "Tess" and it changed my view of Alec. After my first read, I saw him purely as a villain. This time through, I saw him as a more com..."
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Thank you too April for your thoughtful response. I do like to hear all these interpretations.
Our next question is related, so please continue to add thoughts about the first one if you like :)
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"Pankies - A question I have is whether with her limited education and the narrow horizons she has lived within, would Tess have had a concept of rape?
I can sense that she feels shame and powerlessness, but no anger. Perhaps given her social position and her sex, there is no point feeling anger - she has no choice but to accept her lot.
(I posted a long reply at the time, so over to you!)
If indeed it was rape — which I have a feeling was more of just giving in to the eventual (which is still rape I believe) — society has already told Tess all she needed to know, that it was her fault: she somehow led him on, was too beautiful and tempted him. There's no need for a name to what he did to her because the taint was not on Alec.And yes, what else could she do but accept her lot. To women of that era it was exactly the same as being born to poverty and accepting that that was your life, no matter the airs that her father put to their nebulous affiliation with the d'Urbeyvilles.
Thanks for your thoughts on this Pamela. It was a very patriarchal society and women were brought up to be subservient to their fathers, brothers and husbands - even if the man of the house was utterly inadequate (like John Durbeyfield). My present day perspectives make me think that living in such an environment would be unbearable, but I suppose that people generally are able to accept whatever environment is the norm around them as they grow up - especially when they little or no idea of any alternative lifestyles.Tess knew she had been wronged after the incident in the woods - Hardy tells us she was a changed person at the start of the following phase. Throughout the rest of the novel, she is dogged by feelings of guilt, and being impure (as well as grief at the loss of her baby), that all stem from that brief incident that night in the woods.
I had occasion to consult my copy of FB Pinion’s encyclopaedic A Hardy Companion (1968), and I was surprised to discover in the author’s timeline section that in 1913 “Hardy’s sister Mary died in November at Talbothays”.I’d assumed that that was an imagined location unless, of course, it was named in tribute to where Tess was happiest.
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"Right from my first reading of Hardy’s The Return of the Native many years back, I was immediately struck by his fixation on the workings of fate. Time and again, he presents his protagonists as being virtually powerless to prevent the misfortunes that befall them."
We've discussed the workings of fate a few times, but now we have read the entire novel, what are your final thoughts about this aspect, so close to Thomas Hardy's heart?
In each of Hardy's novels, there's at least one (and sometimes more than one) action that initiates a chain of events that seemingly cannot be prevented. I think Hardy perceived fate somewhat like a machine which, once set in motion, cannot be stopped until it "runs down", i.e. reaches its inevitable conclusion. The initial action is a deliberate act by one of his characters rather than some accident or natural occurrence. The character and/or state of mind of his characters prevents them from taking steps that might otherwise have broken the sequence of events. Therefore, it seems to me that Hardy perceived fate as an inescapable consequence of human fallibility rather than as some cosmic edict of the gods.In support of my argument, I would point out that Hardy very deliberately reveals the weaknesses in each of his characters and it's those failings that make his plot work and render his characters captive to their fate.
I see fate operating in the novel as Jim has described it, and there are numerous points in the book when Tess's fate is set based on circumstances combined with personalities that make the outcome inevitable.
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It seems to me there are also many moments where things just go wrong without explanation other than happenstance. Tess just happens to walk into the place where Alex is preaching. Angel happens upon Izzy, and then gives her that fateful ride. Tess runs into Farmer Gromby while alone on the road. Tess’s letter to Angel ends up under the rug.
Perhaps Hardy had in mind a little of both: character flaws and the hand of a capricious God(or Gods) at play.
Works of Thomas Hardy
Books mentioned in this topic
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (other topics)Tess of the D’Urbervilles (other topics)
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (other topics)
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (other topics)
A Hardy Companion (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Iris Murdoch (other topics)John Bayley (other topics)
Thomas Hardy (other topics)
Thomas Hardy (other topics)
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“Melchester” as Thomas Hardy describes it is in mid-Wessex. In fact it is Salisbury, in Wiltshire, a city with arguably England’s finest cathedral.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury
Stonehenge is on Salisbury Plain. Angel is correct that they could be observed for miles around.
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...