by Mimi Lu

Created on: November 27, 2007

Tess of the D'Urbervilles has often been interpreted as Thomas Hardy's criticism of the shortcomings of his society, denouncing the hypocritical nature of conventional morality, social stereotypes and the deplorable implications of Industrialisation. However, despite the novel's indisputable concern with the flawed context from which it had sprung, the relevance of Tess for the modern world remains undiminished due to Hardy's profound understanding of the nature of the world and human existence in general. For ultimately, Tess is an exploration of a universal experience in human existence played out against a relatively insignificant backdrop of nineteenth century England and therefore, it has the potential to transcend all contextual boundaries to reflect the nature of the modern world.

Nevertheless, it can be equally argued that to a significant extent, Tess is governed by Hardy's context despite the timelessness of its themes. Fundamentally, Tess is ensnared in the vicious trajectory of moral verdicts her society imposes upon her, and Hardy enforces that but for the worlds' opinion, her experiences would have simply been a liberal education.' Additionally, Hardy's incorporation of the rigid, patriarchal society into Tess also exacerbates the contextual chasm between his novel and readers from the modern world. For Tess is a criticism of the great injustices of his misogynistic society all the women in Tess suffer - whether it be the protagonist's persecution by society's double standards, Joan's mundane, impoverished existence due to her husband's incompetence, or the milkmaids' utter destruction by the ruthless backlash of unrequited love. Hardy utilised Angel and Alec to represent the extremes of manhood in his context, and so the self-righteous intellectual and the wealthy opportunist conspire to destroy the visionary essence of a woman.' Thus, the novel's inherent concern with these contextual issues almost seems to fetter Tess to Hardy's context because the modern audience is unable to access or empathise with the factors which cause the heroine's downfall.

Another factor of Hardy's society, which may seem initially incomprehensible to the modern reader, is the rigour with which the social hierarchy operated and the discriminating distinctions it placed on individuals from different social backgrounds. Thus, in this particular reading of the novel, Tess can be seen as the symbol of the fall of the rural class and indeed, Hardy seems to denounce the Industrial

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