摘 要

托马斯.哈代的著名小说《德伯家的苔丝》描写了美丽、纯洁、善良的苔丝所经历的悲惨的一生——从被强奸到被抛弃，直至最后因谋杀被处死。本文以对哈代本人和他的作品《德伯家的苔丝》作简要介绍为开端，接着分析了造成主人公苔丝悲剧结局的主观和客观两大原因；最后得出结论：苔丝悲剧的一生是哈代所处时期穷苦人民生活的典型例子，这也是19世纪晚期资产阶级对底层人民的压迫的真实描写，同时这也是哈代作品中所要揭露的社会现实。

关键词：托马斯.哈代；《德伯家的苔丝》；悲剧；主观原因；客观原因

Contents

1. Introduction..............................................................................................................1
2. Demonstration..........................................................................................................2
   1. Objective factors of Tess’ tragedy..........................................................................2
      1. The economic status of Tess’ family………………………………………....2
      2. The social morality of Victorian age…………………………………………..3
      3. The living state of women……………………………………………………..4
      4. The legal system of the capitalist…………………………………………….5
   2. Subjective factors of Tess’ tragedy……………………………………………….5
      1. Tess’ weakness………………………………………………………………..6
      2. Alec’s physical injury to Tess………………………………………………….7
      3. Clare’s spiritual injury to Tess…………………………………………………8
3. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………9

Works Cited……………………………………………………..……………………11

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………12

An Analysis of Tess’ tragedy in Tess of the D’Urbervilles

1. Introduction

Thomas Hardy, a famous English novelist and poet, is one of the representatives of English critical realism at the turn of the 19^th century. He wrote over 20 novels and 918 poems. His novels and poetry were influenced by Romanticism, especially by the great poet William Wordsworth. Although he regarded himself primarily as a poet, he published his first collection in 1898. He gained fame by publishing novels , such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). In Victorian society, Hardy was a highly critical writer and focused more on a declining rural society.

Among his novels, “Tess of the D'Urbervilles could be regarded as the summit of his realism” (Liu Bingshan 379). Tess of the D'Urbervilles, tells the tragic life of Tess--a beautiful,pure woman. Tess is the daughter of a poor peasant family. Once her family’s only horse encounters an accident because of her, she feels very guilty, so she decides to listen to the advice of her parents to visit Mrs. D'Urberville. This visit is the start of her downfall. She meets Alec D’Urberville,who manages to seduce Tess and makes her pregnant. Tess returns to her home and gives birth to an illegitimate kid. But after several months the baby dies. In order to make a change for a new life, she goes to the north and works at a farm as a dairymaid. Then she meets Angel Clara--son of a clergyman, and they fall in love with each other. On the wedding night, Tess makes a confession about her past, but Angel does not forgive her and goes to Brazil. In order to support her family, Tess is driven to go back to Alec. Then one day Angel returns to find Tess and forgives her. Tess feels very astonished. She thinks Alec destroys her again, so she hates him very much and murders him. At the end of the story, Tess is arrested and hanged.

Tess’ life is rough and rugged. She is a brave, kind and responsible woman, but she becomes a victim to the fate. There are many reasons for her tragedy. This paper will analyze her tragedy from two main aspects: the objective factors, including the economic status of Tess’ family, the social morality of Victorian age, and the living state of women;and subjective factors, including Tess’ weakness, Alec’s physical injury and Clare’s spiritual injury to Tess. Through the above analysis, the paper comes to the conclusion that Tess’ tragedy is typical of the poor in the Victorian times. Hardy aims to disclose the capitalist oppression on the lower class in the late 19th century.

1. Demonstration
   1. Objective factors of Tess’ tragedy

In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, such objective factors as the economic status of Tess’ family, the social morality of Victorian age and the living status of women play a significant role in leading to Tess’ tragedy.