Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Almost from the start, I knew Tess’ fate was sealed and perhaps that is why I was unable to muster up much in the way of sympathy for this doomed young woman.

The Durbyfields struggle to survive and when the patriarch mistakenly believes he is a descendant to the wealthy D’Urberville family, both he and his wife set about using their daughter, Tess, to make their claim to what they hope is a fortune.

Sadly, Tess is put in the path of the scoundrel, Alec D’Urberville. The naive and inexperienced Tess is urged in to working at his family’s farm and her future is forever damned.

Angel Clare is Tess’ true love, but his unyielding judgment of Tess when she reveals her past prevents what should have been a fairytale love story. His independent character has allowed him to persue his own interests rather than follow his brothers in the clergy, yet his strict religious upbringing has not given him the ability to forgive what he believes is unforgivable.

The cad, Alec D’Urberville may actually love Tess, however, his constant pursuit and seduction eventually result in taking Tess’ future away. His comeuppance is no surprise and perhaps, even well deserved.

If Jack Durbeyfield, the family patriarch, spent as much time trying to support his family as he did supporting his drinking in the pub, things may have turned out quite differently. If only…

Quotes:

She knew how to hit to a hair’s-breadth that moment of evening when the light and the darkness are so evenly balanced that the constraint of day and the suspense of night neutralize each other, leaving absolute mental liberty.

The gray half-tones of daybreak are not the gray half-tones of the day’s close, though the degree of their shade may be the same. In the twilight of the morning light seems active, darkness passive; in the twilight of evening it is the darkness which is active and crescent, and the light which is the drowsy reverse.

Any meeting with Mr. Hardy would most definitely have to be out-of-doors as his rural upbringing is quite evident in his writings. Maybe a slow stroll and then some tea with a light lunch would allow me to discover his writing methods.

My rating for Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a 7 out of 10.

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Next up , Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog…