Tess of the d'Urbervilles Group

Question:

hadoora23
hadoora23
Student
College - Junior

What is Hardy's tragic and ironic vision in "Tess of the d'Urbervilles"?

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Posted by hadoora23 on Thursday December 4, 2008 at 2:06 AM and tagged with fatalism, irony, tess of the d'urbervilles, tess of the durbervilles, theme, thomas hardy.

Answers:

  1. morrol
    morrol Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Thomas Hardy was a fatalist. He believed that human life is out of the direct control of the human being. Every devastating or fortunate event that occurs is merely the result of fate. In "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", that tragic lack of hope is manifested in the guilt of a young rape victim. Tess feels immense guilt despite her inability to control what happens to her. The immense irony is that, while she feels guilt about being raped, she feels no guilt when she murders her rapist. This irony causes the reader to question the idea of justice. What is justifiable? What can we control? What is the purpose of guilt?

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/urberville/summary
    http://www.enotes.com/urberville/themes

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    Posted by morrol on Thursday December 4, 2008 at 10:08 AM