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Tess: Analysis & Key Chapters
Phase 1 / Chapter 1
This offhand revelation about the d'Urberville name is the impetus for the rest of action of the book. Durbeyfield's
excitement and feeling of entitlement over a name with no real wealth or power behind it begins Hardy's satire of
English Victorian society, starting with the emphasis on ancient names, but also commenting on how the mighty
have fallen in modern times.
Chapter 2**
The description of the village and valley shows a part of society that is more in tune with Nature and seems to exist
in a pre-industrial era. Tess herself is first revealed at the fertility ritual of May-Day, which begins her portrayal as a
Nature goddess, and the rural women as symbols of pagan innocence.
Chapter 3
The satire of the Durbeyfields/d'Urbervilles continues with the rest of the family celebrating a name with no real
meaning or advantages attached to it. John Durbeyfield's bad diagnosis is a reminder to Tess that his days are
numbered, and introduces the theme of inevitable doom. Joan's faith in the fortune-telling book is a sign of both the
pagan superstitions and belief in the power of fate that still lives in the Vale of Blakemore. The narrator's musings
about the fate of the Durbeyfield children continues the theme of an inevitable destiny that the characters are born
into, rather than choosing for themselves.
The description of the twisting road to Rolliver's builds a sense of foreboding for Tess's future.
Chapter 4**
This is the first mention of the wealthy d'Urberville branch who are soon to take a major role in the plot. The
discovery of why Joan had been consulting her fortune-telling book, combined with her plan for Tess's marriage,
emphasizes the theme of fate and makes Tess's future seem unavoidable.
Abraham asks if the stars are all worlds just like theirs, and if some are “blighted” and some are “sound.” Tess says
they live on a blighted star, and that is why their lives are so hard.
Tess's dream is vaguely prophetic, and her falling asleep before a tragedy is the beginning of her role as the woman
as passive victim. The death of Prince is the start of Tess's misfortunes, and his bloody death both foreshadows her
later crime and symbolizes a blow to the idea of Nature, as the farm horse is killed by the sleek modern mail-cart.
The pool of Prince's blood foreshadows the bloody ceiling at the novel's climax. Tess feeling guilty for something that
was only partly her fault begins a recurring plot point, and Abraham's question seems to affirm the preordained
injustice of fate.
Chapter 5
Prince's death and Tess's own ideals set her along the inevitable path of her destiny, despite her protests. The
economic woes of the once aristocratic family are again emphasized, and seem almost a force of fate itself, pushing
her forward. And poverty is often a condition from which people can't escape, leading them to disaster.
The Chase acts as a symbol of ancient Nature and pagan powers, while the history of the d'Urberville-Stokes offers a
sharp critique on society's emphasis on old, respectable names, and the inherent valuelessness of those names
themselves. The unhappy coincidence of the Stokes choosing the d'Urberville name instead of another to burnish
their reputation is also pointed out.
Alec appears as the novel's antagonist, a figure of corruption set against Tess's female innocence and modesty. The
seal and spoon are brought up as symbols of the essentially worthless inheritance left to the Durbeyfields by their
ancestors. The narrator laments the cruel chance of these two meeting at this precise time. Nature hardly ever offers
happy coincidences, but instead prefers disasters and tragic destinies. She is trapped by the circumstance of this
meeting, and cannot escape her future.
Chapter 6
It is finally Tess's own guilt and selflessness that lead her to accept her fate and go to the other d'Urbervilles. Here
again she acts as a religious figure, sacrificing her future for her family's well-being. She imagines that she has
decided her path now and so is more at peace, although she cannot know the misfortunes to come.
Chapter 7
Even Joan, who pushed this plan so hard, has doubts now, but in the end she trusts that fate will work itself out. She
keeps believing that “what will be will be,” but for Joan that is an optimistic idea. Joan also sees beauty as a strength
for Tess, but in many ways Tess's beauty functions as a kind of weakness, attracting predatory men.
Chapter 8
“The kiss of mastery” prefigures the terrible act to come—Alec's rape of Tess—and shows Tess as a victim of male
dominance. Tess is portrayed as an animal being teased by a cruel human, and so again stands as an image for the
purer natural world.
Chapter 9
Alec says that Tess is a “temptation as never before fell to mortal man,” but that he won't try to seduce her again.
Alec draws attention to the disparity of power in their interactions. When he calls Tess a “temptation” it frames her
in religious terms, but also places her in an unwilling and passive role. She does not intend to be a temptation, but
he sees her as such and holds it against her. This foreshadows her later forced “sins.”
The circumstances of society, wealth, and gender all work in Alec's favor against Tess. She is essentially powerless,
and must rely totally on his whims and good humor. Yet she still manages to stay hopeful in her innocence, and is
able to take pleasure in working with the birds.
Chapter 10**
The outside dance at nearby Chaseborough - The dance grows wilder and more primal, and Alec's enjoyment of it
highlights his own essentially bestial nature. The atmosphere is now quite foreboding, and the feeling is that
something bad is about to happen.
Car Darch appears here as a foil for Tess, violent and passionate against Tess's modesty and innocence, and shows a
type of woman not yet seen in the novel. This scene is another example of a situation where Tess is condemned for
something that was only barely her fault. In this case the anger of the others seems to do with their jealousy of her
beauty and the attention she gets from Alec—attention she doesn't even want.
Chapter 11**
On the (prolonged) ride home, Tess falls asleep and again becomes the passive victim. The primeval powers of The
Chase take over in the night, and Tess is presented as a figure of tragic innocence, light set against the dark. This is
the last action described of the rape scene, and even this was too explicit for critics and many readers at the time of
the novel's publication.
The dark ancient trees are all around, and birds and rabbits, but the narrator wonders where Tess's guardian angel is
this night. He wonders if the god of her faith is distracted, and why such female innocence should be doomed to
violation in this way, and why these injustices happen so often. The narrator hypothesizes that probably many
d'Urberville knights had been even more cruel towards peasant girls of their day, and perhaps Tess is being punished
for this. But he admits that humans find this kind of justice unsatisfying, and finally he retreats to the saying of the
rural folk, “It was to be.” There is no good explanation, but after this she is to be a different woman altogether.
Hardy invokes Nature as Tess's element, but her pagan purity is defenceless against the cruelty of modern man and
unjust fate. His meditation on why bad things happen to good people leads to no satisfying answer, just the fatalism
of the simple townspeople, as all possible explanations seem unfair. Tess is a “Pure Woman Faithfully Presented,”
and her rape is not her own sin but something unfairly enacted upon her. The language of this scene emphasizes
that fact in the face of society's criticism.
PHASE 2
Chapter 12**
The section begins a few weeks after the scene at The Chase. Tess is walking the twenty miles back home to Marlott,
carrying a heavy basket but looking like her burden is an emotional one instead. Tess is a new woman now, one no
longer innocent and naïve but broken by the harsh world. It hurts her to even look at Marlott, the site of her old self,
the symbol of agricultural purity. She does not fear Alec anymore because he can't do anything worse to her than he
already has, so in a way she has achieved a new strength through her tribulations.
Tess has been reduced in her humanity by Alec's continued dominance, but finally her independent spirit flares up
again and she takes control briefly within her anger. This flare-up is foreshadowing for her later, more dangerous act
of rage against Alec's blithe cruelty.
The way Alec talks about the rape only makes it seem more horrible, as if his money and flippant apologies could
undo it. Alec claims it is fate that he should be bad, but he was the one with the agency in the deed. Tess gazes out
at Nature as he kisses her, but her old, familiar world gives her no comfort now.
Tess is able to retain a little dignity still by refusing to give in to Alec when she is awake. She again symbolizes Nature
as all her surroundings seem to grieve alongside her.
Joan blames Tess for not holding up her end of the plan, despite the many sacrifices Tess has already made for her
family. Even her mother did not realize the extent of Tess's innocence. Tess is able to retain at least a little dignity by
showing no regret for not getting married. Joan quickly jumps to a similar conclusion that the narrator reached, the
simple fatalism of the rural townspeople.
Chapter 13
The envious reception and Joan's boasting are especially tragic compared to the reality of Tess's situation. Once the
first hopeful night wears away, she is left alone and friendless in a condemning, unsympathetic society, and there is
no escape from this fate.
Tess likes the singing and chanting most, and these have the most in common with ancient pagan religions. This is
the first concrete example of people judging Tess negatively for her rape. She learns to avoid people and return to
the natural world, where she is most at home. Nature seems to reflect her sadness now as it reflected her purity
before.
The narrator points out the unfairness of Tess's plight; she feels herself as guilty, but it is really another who is guilty.
She feels like an intruder among the animals, but really she is as innocent as they are. It is not Tess that is in the
wrong, but society. To the natural world she has committed no sin. This is Hardy's explicit critique of the unfairness
of Victorian society and the modern world. Tess is still in accord with nature and morality; it is only the arbitrary
rules of society that she has broken.
Chapter 14**
It is August. Change of time and weather reflects how time has passed for Tess. Doom and inevitability build for the
creatures and nature (and of course Tess). The introduction of the child is done slowly – Hardy’s method of
describing the beautiful figure still seems to suggest her fate and suffering are tied to her sexuality. The child
becomes a reminder of the rape – a physical one which, unlike the emotional impact, gives us a view of the scars
beneath but also a way for the other characters to focus their condemnation. It is “on offence against society”. They
look away when Liza-Lu arrives with the baby. Hardy emphasises that it is the judgement of others which leads to
“Sorrow”, not the child itself, which she kisses fiercely and is distraught when it falls ill.
The lack of care of family and parson symbolise society’s condemnation and the narrative voice defends Tess’
instincts and need to baptise the child herself. She assumes a role of divinity and dignity. Hardy demonstrates his
value of spirituality over institutions and law – it seems the same as if the parson had done it, as such titles and job
roles are meaningless. Again shunned by society’s rules, she buries the child herself at night and acts in the face of
society’s condemnation.
Chapter 15
The narrator opens with a muse on Tess’ suffering and the injustice of fate and the predetermined path of her life.
Her musings on death and the future make her a “complex woman” – she seems to grow into a tragic and wise
heroine here.
In May, the new opportunity brings the promise of a new start. Spring and a new job symbolise a fresh start and
she’s still youthful enough to feel optimistic about Talbothays. Note the proximity to the D’Urberville estate – Tess
sees it as a good omen, a connection to the ancient name she holds, but the reader cannot help but feel foreboding.
Phase 3
Chapter 16
She journeys to the dairy and feels “akin to the landscape” – a sign of resolution and happiness in the novel. As she
descends into the vale, the joyful descriptions (e.g. birdsong, heron) promise happiness.
She muses on the D’Urberville heritage - The seal and the spoon with the d'Urberville crest are the only things the
Durbeyfields have left from their noble heritage. The smallness and uselessness of the items is a symbol of how the
d'Urberville name means nothing anymore in terms of real wealth or influence. Tess thinks angrily of them as
essentially causing her misfortunes by proving her kinship to the wealthy d'Urbervilles. They are also associated with
the old tombs of the d'Urberville knights, which again seem grand but are in effect worthless, full of nothing but the
dead.
Chapter 17
However, she is reminded of her past at the start – Richard Crick, master dairy-man, mentions the heritage that
seems to hang over her like a curse.
Introduction of Angel – a slow build up, creating a character who is different to the rest but unseen behind the cow.
A sense of intrigue is established and a sense that this man will be important in Tess’ fate, predicting their
relationship.
Chapter 18
We find out more about Angel Clare and his family, such as the Reverend Clare. A shift in focus occurs. We also hear
of the affair in London. Hardy is quick to point out such transgressions from early encounters with Angel.
Angel's tendency to idealize and stereotype foreshadows the appearance of his later faults. He is able to accept the
farm workers as unique individuals after a while, however. This relates to Hardy's emphasis on regarding Tess as a
person rather than just a symbol or ideal, and one not to be judged by social constructs of morality.
Tess remembers meeting Angel at the May Day dance but he does not at first (or clearly). He thinks of her as the
“daughter of Nature”. Here Angel begins his idealization of Tess as a pure, mythical Nature symbol. He knows he has
met her before, but cannot remember the details like Tess can, which foreshadows how his soon-forgotten whims
will affect her. In some ways, he is condemned for his carelessness as much as Alec with his education, maleness and
higher social status.
Chapter 19*
More cows and vivid natural descriptions abound as Tess and Angel begin a flirtation. Angel suggests he teach her as
their differences become clear. First he proposes a history lesson, but Tess says she avoids history. To her it is like
learning that she is only one in a long line of similar lives, and her fate is predestined by her ancestors, and nothing is
unique about her actions or experiences. Tess's wise, pessimistic views on history show her maturity and how her
past has affected her. She already understands the power of fate and being punished unfairly. She also hints at the
idea that her place in this society is a predetermined role which she must act out, a role that was inflicted upon her,
not chosen.
She begins to wonder, however, if Angel might be impressed by her heritage. Crick warns her he would not: Angel's
ideas reflect some of the narrator's earlier musings, that people can be punished for their ancestors, or that
bloodlines carry inherent traits within them. Retty is another example of a once-great family laid low, and the
changing social order.
Chapter 20
Happiness at last – time goes on, more animals appear and Tess and Angel remain in a state of limbo but it does
seem inevitable that they will come together.
However, Angel’s idolisation develops into a religious fascination, painting her as unearthly, divine, like Eve and the
archetype of the “Pure woman”. Tess seems to realise the danger in this for the future – she wishes to be just Tess
and an individual. The constant descriptions of her beauty may seem positive but can be interpreted with
foreboding.
Chapter 21
The machine breaks; when Tess loses vitality, it begins to work again. A note of hopelessness for the future (for any
of the girls) if it involves Angel is introduced. Tess feels unworthy and upset, as if she is drawing his attention from
the “purer” girls.
Chapter 22
As a result, Tess tries to show self-sacrifice and direct his attention to the other girls. His restraint and continued
attraction to her mark a contrast to Alec’s aggression. She tries to deny herself joy as she feels unworthy as the
result of her past. Either because of society or her own self-doubt, she continues to fulfil the role of victim.
Chapter 23
The ‘rescue’ where Angel carries Tess across the river is another contrast to Alec but it also moves forward their
relationship. The flood suggests this is beyond their control and inevitable. She is once again passive, standing
waiting on the bank with the other girls. Tess realises that she loves Angel, but still tries to suppress her passion and
her own happiness – Hardy uses this to increase the tension as she fights with her own desires. The fact that she
wishes to remain ‘pure’ reveals that she has not been corrupted by Alec, despite what society think. The mention of
the possibility of another wife reminds the reader that Angel, and the others, are still ruled by social constraint and
propriety, however.
Chapter 24
The season of fertility and hot weather – this reflects Tess and Angel’s passion. Angel makes advances and Tess sees
it as “unreflecting inevitableness” but actually feels joy. This fact, and that Angel stops, marks a different experience
to the rape with Alec – Hardy clearly separates them. This is another turning point in the relationship, however, and
they seem inexorably bound together at the end of Phase 3.
Phase 4
Chapter 25
That evening, Angel is still restless and the narrative turns to his contemplation of Tess’ fate. He again mirrors the
narrator’s view of a predestined fate or compassionless God, emphasising that Tess is not a doll for his temporary
pleasure but an individual (finally) with a “precious life” – the connotations being singular, of importance, with only
one chance. This starts the fourth phase with a shadow of the ‘consequence’ hanging over the reader.
Angel realises he should stay away but can’t. He returns home and this symbolises his reliance on others’ opinions –
one that foreshadows his rejection of Tess. When there, he sees Mercy (Tess’ opposite) and tries to avoid her when
he realises his preoccupation with Tess, and the natural world she represents.
We meet the rest of the Clare family: his father’s care of Angel overrides his religious beliefs and piety but the
brothers represent lifeless cutouts of what society wants them to be, with little curiosity or sense of the wider world.
There is a sense of detachment and joylessness during the meal.
Chapter 26
Angel tries to frame his wish to marry Tess and their meeting as providence – ironically, Fate is used here in a
positive way by Angel. His mother seems more concerned with social class and Angel focuses on Tess’ purity instead,
again ironically. For now, Angel is blinded by love and overlooks these concerns and social conventions.
Angel departs in the morning, eager to return to Tess, but a mention of Alec overshadows the previous chapters and
discussions. The narrator reminds us that the happiness cannot last and is predetermined as such.
Chapter 27**
When Angel re-enters the valley, he feels more vital than at home. Tess is the first to appear and we return to her
focus. There is a reminder of the nature of their new relationship and Angel’s conviction increases. He at last asks
her to marry him. This afternoon is one of the pinnacles of Tess's happiness, before the realities of her own past and
the condemning structures of society take control of their relationship.
Tess refuses, citing her social status at the reason. Finally reality catches up and again Tess must sacrifice her own
happiness because of something that was not her fault. Angel still idealizes her, and so he cannot imagine his
innocent Nature-girl having any kind of real objection to their marriage.
Oblivious of her inner turmoil, Angel recounts his visit, including the conversation about Alex. Even at the peak of her
happiness Alec's ghost comes back to haunt her. She can never escape her destiny, and hopelessly tries to push away
her own happiness.
Chapter 28**
Angel continues to pursue Tess. Angel cannot even conceive of his ideal woman having any kind of hidden flaws,
which of course makes it all the harder for her to reveal them.
Tess seeks out Nature again in her sadness. She sees the hand of fate pushing her forward, and knows that she
cannot escape.
Saturday arrives and she cries out to herself that she will allow herself to marry him. This outburst is the essence of
Tess's pain at this point. The oppressive hand of Victorian society works against her even in her anonymity and rural
freedom. She still is not free to follow her heart without guilt.
Chapter 29
Lots of proposals and affection – it seems Tess has accepted her inevitable fate in the previous chapter and now only
delays to see if she can work out how to spare Angel pain. The chapter ends with a ride in a wagon (a mirror of the
ride with Alec before the rape) to take the milk to the station.
Chapter 30**
On the drive back, Tess has an opportunity to reveal her past (they once again mention the D’Urberville family when
passing the mansion to remind her of her lack of freedom) but chooses to speak only of the family link and pretend
this was the reason for her reluctance. This could have been the moment of truth but she slips up – perhaps this is
the only selfish thing she has done, but note that this is only selfish because of society’s unfair treatment of her
anyway – she has nothing to be guilty of. The image of the mansion before the conversation suggests that nothing
would have changed anyway, and the way that they discuss the name afterwards frames their frank discussion with
foreboding. Tess insists the name is unlucky a bad omen – which, for her, it is.
Another turning point – Angel asks her to take his name instead and she finally accepts, although cannot escape her
inner guilt and turmoil. However, she kisses him of her own volition, actually acting as more than just the passive
object of desire or passion.
The chapter ends with the narrator’s musings. Nature always wins against the weak and arbitrary rules of society, so
it was inevitable that Tess should have agreed eventually. Hardy explains how this result was unavoidable from the
beginning, that “what will be will be” despite our feeble social rules. Tess asks to write to her mother in Marlott, and
Angel remembers where they met at last. Tess hopes that his first refusal of her at the dance is not a bad omen, but
yet another mention of the past emphasises the path of inevitability beyond both of their control.
Chapter 31
Tess makes contact home about her impending marriage; however, Joan advises her not to tell Angel about her past
– warning her that it could end the relationship and hinting at Angel’s abandonment. Tess makes another mistake
her – she decided to continue to idealise and trust Angel. He is presented positively here, especially in comparison to
Alec, but the comparisons she makes and the idolisation on both sides can lead to nothing good.
Despite some moments where she feels unworthy, the joy Tess experiences here is heartbreaking, especially as the
reader fears what may come. Guilt threatens this happiness; by the end, she determines to tell him the truth before
they set a date.
Chapter 32
Angel’s whims and sentiments to begin to affect Tess; he unknowingly dredges up some of her dark past and shows
he cares more about others’ opinions than her when he suggests he “train” her to meet his mother.
The date is set for 31st December – a symbolic end of the year and her troubles? Angel buys her a dress and Tess
fears it will turn red to betray her. Tess is still steeped in both her mother's superstitions and the judgments of
Victorian society. The song and the dress seem like bad omens, and she feels impure again.
Chapter 33**
Christmas Eve, a romantic outing shopping: they are still trying to prolong this episode of unreality, and play-act as a
married couple among Angel's society that will later judge them. When Tess is recognised and insulted by a man
from her past, Angel strikes him. Another unhappy coincidence where Tess's past comes up at the peak of her
happiness. Angel can physically strike it—just as he has always stopped Tess from admitting it to him—but Tess
cannot escape its reality. She writes it all down and slips it under Angel's door. The next morning Tess is distraught
but Angel acts normally. She wonders if he got the note, but feels comforted that he will forgive her either way. Fate
has intervened.
The marriage takes place, with a brief spell of happiness and excitement, yet an underlying ominous tone continues,
particularly in the symbol of the coach which is first mentioned here.
The d'Urberville coach is an old legend of the family which Angel mentions and Alec later explains to Tess. It
concerns some ancient d'Urberville who abducted a beautiful woman and then inadvertently killed her when she
tried to escape his coach. Whenever a d'Urberville hears the sound of an invisible coach it is supposed to be a bad
omen, or even to forebode that murder is about to be committed. The coach is a symbol of foreshadowing and the
theme of fate that looms over all the characters in the novel. Tess cannot escape the cruel things that happen to her,
no matter how “pure” she remains at heart. The coach also symbolizes the ancient idea of being punished for one's
ancestors. This is pointed out by the narrator when the Durbeyfields are evicted from their home, perhaps because
of the many houses the old d'Urbervilles had taken from peasants. Tess's murder of Alec is also associated with this
legend, as the symbol of the fateful coach implies both that she is the woman capture in Alec's "coach" and that, as a
d'Urberville, she always had an inescapable murderous strain in her blood.
Tess feels this foreboding when they return to the dairy. At the end of the chapter, as they leave this place of
happiness, a cock crows twice. This is another bad omen with its own sense of urgency in ending the chapter. This is
also another bird associated with Tess's fate, and the image recalls the story of the Biblical Peter denying that he
knew Jesus, like Tess betraying Angel with her silence.
Chapter 34**
They arrive at the farm with the ancient d'Urberville mansion and see that they have the place to themselves. The
moldy house upsets Tess, and she is still worried about the crowing rooster. On the walls are portraits of old, cruel-
looking d'Urberville women, and Angel can't help noticing how Tess resembles them. Even their first day as husband
and wife is shadowed by the specter of the past. The old house also provides a gloomy setting for what should be a
happy occasion. The portraits hint that Tess cannot escape her cruel blood and the fate that comes with it.
Angel’s confession time: Hardy reveals that Angel has been in almost the same situation as Tess this whole time. He
also had a sexual past to confess but waited until they were married in case Tess rejected him. His sin is actually
greater than Tess's, as his was voluntary and hers was forced upon her. This surprise confession makes the ultimate
result much more tragic.
At last hopeful, Tess feels (rightly) that their “sins” are almost the same so she should have nothing to fear for
forgiveness. In her joy she forgets the cruel conventions of society and Angel's own upbringing and strict ideals. The
gloomy diamonds of their wedding rings as they hold hands forebode that her hopes will be dashed.
Phase 5
Chapter 35**
Atmosphere is a very important component in these chapters, and as Tess nears the culmination of her tragedy, the
sense of mystical gloom intensifies. The old, abandoned, Gothic d’Urberville mansion is a perfect setting for the
emotional change that takes place. The setting also mirrors Tess’s feelings of emptiness and coldness toward her
family legacy. In exploiting the setting for dramatic and psychological effect, Hardy draws heavily on the conventions
of Gothic literature, sometimes creating very unrealistic effects.
Tess finishes her story, and the “essence of things” seems to have been transformed by it. Angel cannot yet
comprehend the truth, and asks if Tess is lying or crazy, and why she did not tell him before. Tess begs him to forgive
her, as she forgave him for “the same.” We see the hypocrisy of Victorian society personified through Angel.
Angel’s idealised view is broken and he is cruelly unemotional; Tess, meanwhile, falls into dramatics in despair at
what has happened. She points out arguments that are logical by the rules of Nature – but not society. For hours,
they walk the grounds of the mansion, but significantly end the chapter by sleeping in separate rooms.
Chapter 36
Three miserable days go by, during which Angel spends his time at the mill or with his studies. Tess wonders if they
should get a divorce, but she learns that the law does not allow divorces. Finally, Tess offers to go home, and Angel
tells her she should go.
Chapter 37**
“Clare came close, and bent over her. “Dead, dead, dead!” he murmured.”
Angel begins to sleepwalk on the third night of his estrangement from Tess, having rejected her as his wife because
of her earlier disgrace. Like Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene, Angel’s nighttime somnambulism reveals an inner
conflict within a character who earlier seems convinced of a moral idea, in control, and inflexible. For Lady Macbeth,
her earlier cold protestations that killing a king is justifiable are belied by her unconscious fixation on being
bloodstained. For Angel, the situation is reversed. He consciously maintains a conviction that Tess is bad, corrupt,
and cannot be forgiven, but his unconscious sleepwalking self reveals the tender love and moral respect for her (“so
good, so true!”) that he feels somewhere inside him. This revelation foreshadows his final realization, too late, that
his condemnation of Tess was wrongheaded. Angel’s words “dead, dead, dead” hint at Tess’s future death, but they
also signal Angel’s conception of Tess. She is alive physically, but for him she is dead morally, as dead as an idea of
purity that he once revered.
The scene becomes even harder to believe when Angel scoops up his wife, and—still asleep—carries her to her
ancestral cemetery and places her in a coffin. Hardy may have included such a scene to please a Victorian readership
that loved Gothic gloom and mystery. But the scene also attests to the hostility of fate toward Tess. Hardy means for
us to accept Tess’s tragedy as foreordained, willed by the universe, and executed by powers beyond mortal control.
By suggesting such a deterministic view of events, Hardy makes us look at the story in a new and unsettling way. For
much of the novel, Hardy seems to criticize the archaic and outmoded morality that unfairly judges and condemns
Tess, as well as the social hierarchies that allow aristocrats to exploit the lower classes and men to abuse women.
But if Tess’s tragedy is foreordained, it may not be solely the fault of outdated public moral judgment.
Chapter 38
Tess returns home and confesses what happened; she is miserable. She receives a letter from Angel and seizes on
this excuse to leave.
Chapter 39
Angel visits his parents and tells them he is traveling to Brazil and not taking Tess. His parents are alarmed and
disappointed, but Angel tells them they will meet Tess in a year, when he returns. His mother sadly demonstrates
her acceptance of Tess, even though Angel can’t look past her “trouble”.
Chapter 40
Angel plans the trip to Brazil and strangely meets Izz and invites her to Brazil but then returns her home when she
rightly claims no-one loves him as much as Tess does.
Like the visit to his parents, this proves him to be judgemental and impulsive whilst other characters emphasis Tess;
loyalty and nobility.
Chapter 41**
Tess finds sporadic work and manages to conceal her separation from home. In the meantime, Angel is ill in Brazil,
removed from Tess.
On the way home, Tess encounters the man from Chapter 33 and is forced to run and hide. She feels as though her
past and Alec are making her a “hunted soul”. Then she encounters the pheasants - “Poor darlings—to suppose
myself the most miserable being on earth in the sight o’ such misery as yours!” she exclaimed, her tears running
down as she killed the birds tenderly. In a literary sense, these flightless birds stand in sharp contrast to the high-
flying birds of Romantic poetry—we recall that Angel is compared to Shelley, who wrote an ode to a skylark.
Romantic birds leave the Earth below to soar into a higher plane of existence, but the birds here have no such luck,
having been shot down as Tess has been.
Tess’s killing of these suffering birds suggests that she is killing off that part of herself that has quietly accepted many
years of agony. After this scene Tess begins to show a more active resolution that culminates in her final murder of
Alec. Her newfound activity may not save her; indeed, her punishment for the murder, presumably death by
hanging, will snap her neck just like she snaps the necks of these pheasants. Nevertheless, it may be preferable to
her earlier passivity, providing her with a nobler way to face her fate.
Tess is too proud to ask for help from the Clares or admit what’s wrong to her family: because she remains loyal to
her sense of self and to other people, the situation in which Alec and Angel have placed her becomes impossible. The
happiness she knows at Talbothays is completely shattered, and the contrast between jovial Talbothays and cold,
hard Flintcomb-Ash hammers home Tess’s new life situation.
Chapter 42
Tess takes to making herself ugly to protect herself from lustful men, and she cuts off her eyebrows and dresses in
old, unattractive clothing. She reaches Flintcomb-Ash.
Chapter 43
Tess and Marian do hard labour, joined later by Izz. They are sent to work in the barn in the winter, and Tess meets
the man who owns the farm—it is the same man from Alec d’Urberville’s village. He accuses her of being a poor
worker, and she offers to work harder to compensate. Marian tells Tess that Angel invited Izz to travel with him to
Brazil, and Tess at first feels as though she should write to him. Before long, however, she is overcome by doubt as
to whether she really should.
Chapter 44
Tess decides to visit Angel’s family to discover what has happened to him and begins the long walk to the vicarage.
She takes off her boots and hides them, planning to put them on again for the walk home. She overhears Angel’s
brothers discussing Angel’s unfortunate marriage, and when they find her boots, they assume they belong to a
peasant. Tess is ashamed and unhappy and decides not to meet Angel’s family after all. She begins the walk home,
but she stops before a barn in which a passionate sermon is being delivered. She looks inside, and sees none other
than Alec d’Urberville.
Tess’s reencounter with Alec d’Urberville is staged at the moment of her greatest weakness, as she has gone to ask
for help from Angel’s parents. While “[grieving] for the beloved man whose unyielding judgment has caused her all
these later sorrows,” she encounters the man who condemned her to that judgment, and the stage is set for Tess’s
hardest challenge: to avoid the temptation to give in to Alec d’Urberville again in order to help herself and her
family. Hardy has arranged his story so that Tess’s most admirable strengths, such as her loyalty to her family, tempt
her toward her worst mistake. Fate manifests itself again in Tess’s visit to Angel’s family, in which her tragic course is
once again influenced by improbable circumstance. Had Tess not happened to overhear Felix and Cuthbert criticizing
Angel’s marriage, she might not leave when she does and see Alec at such a despairing and vulnerable moment.
Phase 6
Chapter 45 to 48
Tess is struck dumb when she first sees Alec; he chases her, and they end up at the symbolic Cross-in-hand
monument. He asks Tess to swear that she will never tempt him again, but when she asks a shepherd what it means
and learns it is an ill-omen. Though Alec seems at first to have undergone a remarkable transformation from a rake
into a pious and religious man, he discards this posture so effortlessly and quickly that it seems to have been a
superfluous charade—Alec’s attempts to contain his desire for Tess seem weak at best.
This proves true in the next chapter when Alec approaches Tess and asks her to marry him. He continues to
approach her and is rebuffed by Tess, who even slaps him. We might well view the relationship between Tess and
Alec as an allegory of good struggling with the temptation offered by evil – he offers money and security, two things
that would help her family’s ever-worsening situation. Tess writes a letter to Angel, asking for his help against this
temptation and professing her loyalty and love.
Chapter 49 to 52
More sorrowful news: Tess’ letter reaches Angel and he feels a powerful regret when a more experienced man says
he was wrong to leave her and then dies. Tess then receives her own bad news – her mother is dying and her father
is ill. She leaves for home immediately to work on the family’s land, with Alec once again haunting her and becoming
more of a temptation as the family situation worsens further. Then, her father dies, and the family fear losing their
house without him.
Phase the Sixth tells the story of Tess’s struggle to remain free from Alec despite her family’s increasingly desperate
plight, which Alec has the power to alleviate if Tess agrees to love him. Though Alec overtly plays the part of a villain
in this section, the real conflict is within Tess, as two of her deepest virtues, her integrity and her loyalty to her
family, prompt her in opposite directions. Her integrity demands that she stay away from Alec, whom she does not
love, but her duty to her family tempts her to go with him to save her mother and her siblings. Integrity wins out
throughout the section, but we get the sense that it is only a matter of time before Tess is forced to submit
Alec finally finishes the story of the coach from Chapter 33 after her marriage – a deadly foreshadowing of their
tragic ending – but she continues to refuse him. Instead, she decides to write Angel a final letter to say she will forget
him as she can’t forgive him. This section and part of the next is propelled along by a kind of race: Angel needs to
forgive Tess and return to her before she surrenders to Alec.
As Alec’s courtship of Tess increases in intensity, so does the string of misfortunes that plague Tess and her family.
Throughout, Alec is portrayed as a sinister and threatening figure even when supposedly in the grip of religious
conflict. Now, the family heads to Kingsbere for new lodgings but find the letter was late and the rooms are rented.
They end up sleeping in a churchyard, where Alec haunts her yet again. The supernatural, Gothic atmosphere of the
old d’Urberville mansion reappears here at the d’Urberville Aisle in the churchyard. Here, Tess, a real d’Urberville,
and Alec, an imposter, have one of their most solemn moments, as Alec asserts that he can do more for Tess than all
her lofty dead ancestors. Tess begins to realize the futility of claiming such an aristocratic legacy, since her ancestors
truly cannot help her at all. She begins to realize that Alec may be her only hope.
Phase 7
Chapter 53 to 59
Shift in narrative focus to Angel: he returns from Brazil to Tess’ most recent angry letter and worries she will not
forgive him. As he recovers at home and sends a letter to Marlott, the sense of the race intensifies with this shift in
focus. He sets out, travelling to the places of Tess’ unhappiness, and there’s a sense of impending dread when Joan
finally reveals that Tess is in Sandborne. This phase begins in an aura of mystery, as Hardy chooses not to narrate
the climax of Tess’s struggle—her return to the bed of Alec d’Urberville.
When he arrives at The Herons, we have a gradual, sickening sense of what to expect, but Angel has no idea. He
pleads for her forgiveness but Tess informs him that he’s too late. He rushes from the house and she rushes from the
room.
The narrative shifts again in Chapter 56** to Mrs Brooks for delayed suspense – she spies on Tess through the
keyhole and then notices the stain on the ceiling. Just as he excludes Tess’s return to Alec, he excludes her murder of
Alec. Just as an unsuspecting third party shows us that she has gone back to him, another unsuspecting third party
shows us that she has killed him. Tess’s mind has been at the center of the novel from its beginning, and practically
everything that has happened has been shown solely in its relation to her. By shifting attention away from her so
suddenly, Hardy creates the sense that Tess is already lost—though she is still alive, she has partially vanished into
the gloom of her fate. From that moment, the novel simply becomes a mechanical process leading to the inevitable
conclusion—Tess’s death.
Whether intentionally or not, Tess has fulfilled Angel’s proclamation that they cannot be together as long as Alec is
alive. The murder may appear justified to us at this point, after everything through which Alec has put Tess. But,
though we may sympathize with Tess’s actions, we know that Tess must now flee and live the life of a hunted
criminal. However, happiness occurs at last for 5 days for Tess and Angel at the mansion (which mirrors that of their
wedding night) until they’re discovered and must leave.
They end their journey at Stonehenge – the most Gothic of all the settings. She asks if he will marry Liza-Lu after her
death then falls asleep. By dawn they are surrounded. Tess feels strangely relieved when she wakes: “Justice” was
done, and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.
Finally, Angel and Liza-Lu watch as a black flag is raised above the prison and then walk away, hand in hand. Perhaps
there is some sense of relief and resolution at last.