Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Them : Justice and Judgment. "Justice and Judgment" is a big theme in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. If Tess isn't responsible for her actions (she is sent to Trantridge to see the D'Urbervilles against her will; she is a victim of Fate...


summerny :

The poor peddler John Durbeyfield is stunned to learn that he is the descendant of an ancient noble family, the d’Urbervilles. Meanwhile, Tess, his eldest daughter, joins the other village girls in the May Day dance, where Tess briefly exchanges glances with a young man Angel. 
The only family income horse dies after an accident. Tess takes the responsibility and thinks to do something for family.

Mr. Durbeyfield and his wife decide to send Tess to the d’Urberville mansion, where they hope Mrs. d’Urberville will make Tess’s fortune. In reality, Mrs. d’Urberville is no relation to Tess at all: her husband, the merchant Simon Stokes, simply changed his name to d’Urberville after he retired. 
But Tess does not know this fact, and when the lascivious ,dishonest Alec, Mrs. d’Urberville’s son, procures Tess a job to d’Urberville estate, Tess has no choice but to accept, since she blames herself for an accident involving the family’s horse, its only means of income.


Tess spends several months at this job, resisting Alec’s attempts to seduce her. Finally, Alec takes advantage of her in the woods one night after a fair. Alec takes her into a deep forest seduce her . Alec Seduce her much against her will.

Tess knows she does not love Alec. She returns home to her family to give birth to Alec’s child, whom she christens as Sorrow. Sorrow dies soon after he is born, and Tess spends a miserable year at home before deciding to seek work elsewhere. 


She finally accepts a job as a milkmaid at the Talbothays Dairy. At Talbothays, Tess enjoys a period of contentment and happiness. She befriends three of her fellow milkmaids—Izz, Retty, and Marian—and meets a man named Angel Clare, who turns out to be the man from the May Day dance at the beginning of the novel. Tess and Angel slowly fall in love. They grow closer throughout Tess’s time at Talbothays, and she eventually accepts his proposal of marriage. Still, she is troubled by her past  she should tell Angel about her past. She writes him a confessional note and slips it under his door, but it slides under the carpet and Angel never sees it.

After their wedding, Angel and Tess both confess indiscretions: Angel tells Tess about an affair he had with an older woman in London, and Tess tells Angel about her history with Alec. Tess forgives Angel, but Angel cannot forgive Tess. He gives her some money and boards a ship bound for Brazil, where he thinks he might establish a farm. He tells Tess he will try to accept her past but warns her not to try to join him until he comes for her.

Tess struggles. She has a difficult time finding work and is forced to take a job at an unpleasant and prosperous farm. She tries to visit Angel’s family but overhears his brothers discussing Angel’s poor marriage, so she leaves. She hears a wandering preacher speak and is stunned to discover that he is Alec d’Urberville, who has been converted to Christianity by Angel’s father, the Reverend Clare. Alec and Tess are each shaken by their encounter, and Alec appallingly begs Tess never to tempt him again. Soon after, however, he again begs Tess to marry him, having turned his back on his -religious ways.

Tess learns from her sister Liza-Lu that her mother is near death, and Tess is forced to return home to take care of her. Her mother recovers, but her father unexpectedly dies soon after. When the family is evicted from their home, Alec offers help. But Tess refuses to accept, knowing he only wants to obligate her to him again.


At last, Angel decides to forgive his wife. He leaves Brazil, desperate to find her. Instead, he finds her mother, who tells him Tess has gone to a village called Sandbourne. There, he finds Tess in an expensive boardinghouse called The Herons, where he tells her he has forgiven her and begs her to take him back. Tess tells him he has come too late. She was unable to resist and went back to Alec d’Urberville. Angel leaves in a daze, and, heartbroken to the point of madness, Tess goes upstairs and stabs her lover to death. When the landlady finds Alec’s body, she raises an alarm, but Tess has already fled to find Angel.

Angel agrees to help Tess, though he cannot quite believe that she has actually murdered Alec. They hide out in an empty mansion for a few days, then travel farther. When they come to Stonehenge, Tess goes to sleep, but when morning breaks shortly thereafter, a search party discovers them. Tess is arrested and sent to jail. Angel and Liza-Lu watch as a black flag is raised over the prison, signaling Tess’s execution.

Summery 2 

Tess Durbeyfield is a 16-year-old simple country girl, the eldest daughter of John and Joan Durbeyfield. In a chance meeting with Parson Tringham along the road one night, John Durbeyfield discovers that he is the descendent of the d'Urbervilles, an ancient, monied family who had land holdings as far back as William the Conqueror in 1066. Upon this discovery, the financially strapped Durbeyfield family learns of a nearby "relative," and John and his wife Joan send Tess to "claim kin" in order to alleviate their impoverished condition. While visiting the d'Urbervilles at The Slopes, Tess meets Alec d'Urberville, who finds himself attracted to Tess. Alec arranges for Tess to become the caretaker for his blind mother's poultry, and Tess moves to The Slopes to take up the position. While in residence at the d'Urbervilles, Alec seduces and rapes Tess.

Tess returns home, gives birth to a son, Sorrow, the product of the rape, and works as a field worker on nearby farms. Sorrow becomes ill and dies in infancy, leaving Tess devastated at her loss. Tess makes another journey away from home to nearby Talbothays Dairy to become a milkmaid to a good-natured dairyman, Mr. Crick. There she meets and falls in love with a travelling farmer's apprentice, Angel Clare. She tries to resist Angel's pleas for her hand in marriage but eventually marries Angel. He does not know Tess' past, although she has tried on several occasions to tell him. After the wedding, Tess and Angel confess their pasts to each other. Tess forgives Angel for his past indiscretions, but Angel cannot forgive Tess for having a child with another man.

Angel suggests that the two split up, with Angel going to Brazil for a year and Tess going back home. Tess agrees and returns to her parent's house. Tess eventually leaves home again for work in another town at Flintcomb-Ash farm, where the working conditions are very harsh. Tess is reunited with some of her friends from Talbothays, and they all settle in at Flintcomb to the hard work routine. Tess is determined to see Angel's family in nearby Emminster but loses her nerve at the last minute. On her return to Flintcomb, Tess sees Alec again, now a practicing evangelical minister, preaching to the folks in the countryside. When Alec sees Tess, he is struck dumb and leaves his position to pursue her. Alec follows her to Flintcomb, asking her to marry him. Tess refuses in the strongest terms, but Alec is persistent.

Tess returns home to find her mother recovering from her illness, but her father, John, dies suddenly from an unknown ailment. The burden of her family's welfare falls on Tess' shoulders. Destitute now and homeless (they have been evicted from their cottage), the Durbeyfields have nowhere to go. Tess knows that she cannot resist Alec's money and the comforts her family can use. Furthermore, Alec insists that Angel will never return and has abandoned her — an idea that Tess has already come to believe herself.

In the meantime, Angel returns from Brazil to look for Tess and to begin his own farm in England. When Angel finds Tess' family, Joan informs him that Tess has gone to Sandbourne, a fashionable seaside resort in the south of England. Angel finds Tess there, living as an upper-class lady with Alec d'Urberville. In the meeting with Angel, Tess asks him to leave and not return for her. Angel does leave, resigned that he had judged Tess too harshly and returned too late.

After her meeting with Angel, Tess confronts Alec and accuses him of lying to her about Angel. In a fit of anger and fury, Tess stabs Alec through the heart with a carving knife, killing him. Tess finds Angel to tell him of the deed. Angel has trouble believing Tess' story but welcomes her back.

The two travel the countryside via back roads to avoid detection. Their plan is to make for a port and leave the country as soon as possible. They spend a week in a vacant house, reunited in bliss for a short time. They are discovered, however, and the trail ends at Stonehenge, the ancient pagan monument, when the police arrest Tess and take her away.

Before she is executed for her crime, Tess has Angel promise to marry her sister Liza Lu once she is gone. Angel agrees and he, along with Liza Lu, witnesses a black flag raised in the city of Wintoncester, signifying that Tess' death sentence has been carried out. The two, Angel and Liza Lu, leave together, and the tragic tale of Tess ends.

Character list :

Tess (Teresa) Durbeyfield The main character and heroine of the novel. She is beautiful and irresistible to men. She is also young, innocent, and uneducated — unaware that the world is rife with lust, cruelty, and vanity.

Alec d'Urberville Heir to d'Urberville fortune who has Tess brought to The Slopes with the hope of seducing her. He is the consummate playboy, who knows no bounds to debauch women. He ruins Tess and does not know that she has had his child until much later. He convinces Tess that Angel, her husband, will not return from Brazil, and he finally pays for his deceit with his life.

Angel Clare Youngest son of Parson Clare of Emminster, who becomes Tess' husband. After the wedding, when he finally learns of Tess' past with Alec and her son Sorrow, he leaves her and spends the next year in Brazil. Angel eventually returns to England to reclaim Tess but finds her with Alec. After Alec's murder, Angel remains with Tess until her arrest and agrees to take Liza Lu as his wife after Tess meets her fate on the gallows.

John Durbeyfield Tess' father. He is a haggler/higgler, a middleman who buys vegetables and poultry from wholesalers to sell to retailers. Uneducated and poor, he is shiftless, drinks to excess, and is not a good provider for his family, leaving them destitute when he dies.

Joan Durbeyfield Tess' mother who does her best to raise her seven children. It is Joan's plan to sent Tess to "claim kin" with the d'Urbervilles. Joan fails to warn Tess of the desires of men and the meaning of love.

Eliza-Louise (Liza Lu) Liza Lu is the second Durbeyfield child; she is twelve years old when the novel begins and appears in only a few chapters. In the end, Liza Lu and Angel are united, as Tess had asked, when Tess dies.

Abraham, Hope, and Modesty Durbeyfield The other Durbeyfield children; Tess' younger siblings.

Sorrow Durbeyfield/d'Urberville Tess' child with Alec d'Urberville, who dies in infancy.

Parson and Mrs. Clare Angel's parents.

Cuthbert and Felix Clare Angel's brothers.

Parson Tringham The minister who tells John Durbeyfield of his lineage.

Mrs. d'Urberville Alec's mother, a sixty-year-old widow who owns The Slopes.

Mercy Chant The woman Angel's family wanted him to marry; she eventually marries Cuthbert Clare.

Mr. Richard Crick Dairy farmer who owns Talbothays Dairy. He is kind to Tess and Angel.

Izz Huett, Marian, and Retty Priddle Tess' friends at Talbothays and Flintcomb-Ash. All are also in love with Angel.

Farmer Groby Farmer in charge of Flintcomb-Ash, the second farm where Tess works. He is very hard and demanding.

Mrs. Brooks Innkeeper at Sandbourne for The Herons, where Alec is murdered.

Character of : 

Tess Durbeyfield  -  The novel’s protagonist. Tess is a beautiful, loyal young woman living with her impoverished family in the village of Marlott. Tess has a keen sense of responsibility and is committed to doing the best she can for her family, although her inexperience and lack of wise parenting leave her extremely vulnerable. Her life is complicated when her father discovers a link to the noble line of the d’Urbervilles, and, as a result, Tess is sent to work at the d’Urberville mansion. Unfortunately, her ideals cannot prevent her from sliding further and further into misfortune after she becomes pregnant by Alec d’Urberville. The terrible irony is that Tess and her family are not really related to this branch of the d’Urbervilles at all: Alec’s father, a merchant named Simon Stokes, simply assumed the name after he retired.

Angel Clare -  An intelligent young man who has decided to become a farmer to preserve his intellectual freedom from the pressures of city life. Angel’s father and his two brothers are respected clergymen, but Angel’s religious doubts have kept him from joining the ministry. He meets Tess when she is a milkmaid at the Talbothays Dairy and quickly falls in love with her.

Read an in-depth analysis of Angel Clare.

Alec d’Urberville  -  The handsome, amoral son of a wealthy merchant named Simon Stokes. Alec is not really a d’Urberville—his father simply took on the name of the ancient noble family after he built his mansion and retired. Alec is a manipulative, sinister young man who does everything he can to seduce the inexperienced Tess when she comes to work for his family. When he finally has his way with her, out in the woods, he subsequently tries to help her but is unable to make her love him.

Mr. John Durbeyfield -  Tess’s father, a lazy peddler in Marlott. John is naturally quick, but he hates work. When he learns that he descends from the noble line of the d’Urbervilles, he is quick to make an attempt to profit from the connection.

Mrs. Joan Durbeyfield -  Tess’s mother. Joan has a strong sense of propriety and very particular hopes for Tess’s life. She is continually disappointed and hurt by the way in which her daughter’s life actually proceeds. But she is also somewhat simpleminded and naturally forgiving, and she is unable to remain angry with Tess—particularly once Tess becomes her primary means of support.

Mrs. d’Urberville -  Alec’s mother, and the widow of Simon Stokes. Mrs. d’Urberville is blind and often ill. She cares deeply for her animals, but not for her maid Elizabeth, her son Alec, nor Tess when she comes to work for her. In fact, she never sees Tess as anything more than an impoverished girl.

Three Important questions : 

1/Tess is more sinned against than sinner."

2/How far was Tess herself responsible for her tragedy?

3/ Do you consider Tess as a pure woman