摘 要

《德伯家的苔丝》是哈代的代表作之一，描述了一个纯洁女人苔丝走向自我毁灭的命运悲剧，主人翁苔丝的命运悲剧展示了一个时代男女不平等以及阶级差异的社会缩影。文中通过分析了克莱尔性格中“天使”与“魔鬼”的矛盾之处，以及其矛盾性格如何对苔丝的命运悲剧产生了影响，从一个新的角度讲述了克莱尔如何影响了苔丝的命运走向。哈代擅长从小说人物的性格和环境描写展现那个时代人物的命运走向以及揭示其时代背景。苔丝的命运受到了诸多因素的影响，但是本文主要从男主克莱尔的角度出发挖掘出作者的创作意图和那个时代受到阶级不平等和男女不平等影响的困扰，揭露了其女性时代悲剧。哈代的小说以他所生长生活的英格兰西南部地区为背景，富有浓重的地方色彩。其中《德伯家的苔丝》属于他所写的性格与环境小说一类。本文通过对《德伯家的苔丝》男主性格对结局走向的影响分析，能够以小见大得看出哈代所处时代下女性的社会地位和阶级的弊端。

关键词：托马斯·哈代；《德伯家的苔丝》；苔丝；安吉尔·克莱尔；命运

Abstract

Tess of the D’Urbervilles is one of Hardy‟s masterpieces which describes the miserable fate of Tess. The tragic fate of Tess shows an inequality in society between gender differences and class differences. This paper analyzes the contradiction between “angel” and “devil” in Clare‟s character, and analyzes the contradictory character‟s effect to Tess‟s fate tragedy. This paper chooses a new perspective to describe how Clare affects the direction of Tess‟s fate. Hardy is good at describing the character and environment to show the fate of the characters of that era and to reveal the background. Tess‟s fate is mainly influenced by some factors and this paper will analyze the role of Clare on Tess to manifest Hardy‟s ideas in the creation of this book, to reveal the tragedy of women between class contradictions and gender‟s inequality. These novels are writing in the background of the southwestern part of England where Hardy grew up, this novel has a strong regionalism. Among Hardy‟s creation, Tess of the D’Urberville belongs to the category of character and environmental novels. Through the analysis of the influence of the male character to Tess of the D’Urberville, we can learn the social status and class disadvantages of women in this era.

Key Words: Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Angel Clare, Destiny

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Contents

1. Introduction 1
2. Demonstration 2
   1. Angelic character of Angel Clare 2
      1. The youthful vitality 3
      2. The advanced thinking 3
   2. Devilish character of Angel Clare 5
      1. The misunderstanding 5
      2. The departure 7
   3. The reason of Tess’s finally tragic fate 8
      1. The contradictory nature of Clare 7
      2. The atonement of “devil” 9
3. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 12

Bibliography 12

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The Relevance between Clare’s Ambivalence and Tess’s Fate

Introduction

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an outstanding realist writer and an extraordinary poet in the 19th century of England. He has published nearly 20 novels through his life and Tess of the D’Urberville is one of his masterpiece. Hardy was born in Dorset, England in 1840. He began his literary creation in 1862 and published the novel Tess of the D’Urberville in 1891. In 1910, Hardy won the British Literature Achievement Award which symbolized the success of his creation.

Hardy studied the Greek tragedy and Shakespeare‟s tragedy through his life, and he was influenced by Schopenhauer‟s tragic consciousness. He recognizes the skepticism of modern scientific thoughts, which lead to his pessimistic fate of life. Moreover, he believes that no matter what kind of human civilization develops, human beings will never be able to get rid of the fate. This is Hardy‟s fatalism which is the foundation of his creation. Many scholars think it‟s the idea of fatalism which lead to the tragic fate of Tess, the character and the class of Tess are doomed to arouse the finally tragedy. However, this paper will discuss an idea that Tess‟s tragedy is man-made and avoidable which is differing from fatalism.