Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented

9/10

This book is incredible and even better if you want to put yourself through the wringer. 

It begins as an out and out comedy with Mr. Durbeyfield getting notions about his station in life as he returns from the pub, luring the reader into a false sense of what to expect. Indeed, the book is really funny throughout and has lots of humor peppered across its various scenes and situations. Some notable examples are the story of William Dewy playing the fiddle for the bull; Marian becoming a comedy boozehound; when Tess is described as dreading her defender more than her assailant; and when one of Angel’s favourite songs is revealed as, ‘I have parks, I have hounds’.

However, it does not take too long for things to get very dark and difficult for the protagonist who seems to move from one sequentially interdependent misery to the next. I have to note how moved I was by Tess’ plight and feelings. This is attributable to the sensational and relatable characterisation and the rich, powerful, and descriptive language. Consequently, there were parts of the story during which I was an emotional wreck relating to the, not infrequent, number of sad and tearful moments. One striking instance was following her ‘confession’ to Angel, where the substance of things remained the same, but their essence is stated as having changed. Mammy Joan was right in that she should have kept her mouth shut. Tess is great. She is so competent and hard-working. Her first letter to Angel in Brazil is among the most moving things I have ever read. 

Angel treated Tess very badly, but I understand exactly why he did so from a character perspective. I also understand his later 180 after his soul searching in Brazil. Having such an internally consistent character that undergoes such a large change in outlook is formidable writing. Another amazing aspect of the story were its descriptions of how even the landscape became more depressing with unfavourable changes in circumstance.

Hopelessness and isolation were two themes addressed really well in the text. Hardy describes a belief in the world’s concern for your unpleasant situations as ‘an illusion’. “She was not an existence, an experience, a passion, a structure of sensations, to anybody but herself. To all humankind besides, Tess was only a passing thought“. Nevertheless, there is time for hope and fortitude too. Tess thinks about the ‘relativity of sorrows’ when thinking about some birds during a difficult night and attention is given to the phenomenon of the grass being ‘greener on the other side’ in the guise of farm labourers moving around for something better.

For the most part, the plot was great and the story itself really compelling. Its one aspect that I did not like was the impact that Angel’s rejection of Izz, Retty, and Marian had on them. My jaw was on the floor though when Alec appears again as a preacher at the end of the ‘fifth phase’. There was a line that reminded me of your ‘zeal of the converted’ bit: “the greater the sinner, the greater the saint“. It didn’t take him too long to regress to his old ways. When Alec shows up later when she is nursing Mammy Joan, the reveal was done in such as way that I thought it was Angel. So compelling! Gearing up for the final phase of the book, anything could have happened. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the conclusion.

The writing and level of insight were so consistently high throughout that it was difficult to choose just one or two examples:

Near the beginning: “And as each and all of them were warmed without by the sun, so each had a private little sun for her soul to bask in; some dream, some affection, some hobby, at least some remote and distant hope which, though perhaps starving to nothing, still lived on, as hopes will“.

“Beauty to her, as to all who have felt, lay not in the thing, but in what the thing symbolised“. #TrueDat

One final thought: Sleepwalking is so creepy and unnatural. If you’re a sleepwalker, stay the heck away from me!