Thesis: Hardy is concerned with the natural cycles of the world, and the disruption caused by convention, which usurps nature's role. He combats convention with the voice of the individual and the continuing circularity of nature.

Phase the First: The Circles of Life

The circularity of life is a major theme of the novel. Hardy treats it as the natural order of things. The structure of the novel reflects this reigning image of the circle at several levels. First, the use of seasons to denote the passage of time implies circularity rather than a linear world-view. Years are shown as repetitions with variations rather than as new creations. Tess herself views time in this way, as she reflects on the various recurring dates which mark events in her life. "She philosophically noted dates as they came past in the revolution of the year; the disastrous night of her undoing at Trantidge with its dark background of the Chase; also the dates of the baby's birth and death; also her own birthday; and every other day individualized by incidents in which she had taken some share. She suddenly thought one afternoon… that there was yet another date, of greater importance to her than those; that of her own death" (149). In the novel, the past and the future are merely points on the cycle which nature designs. Reveals the destructive aspect of this realization to Angel when she declares her disinclination to study history which will only tell that she is "one of a long row only… just like thousands' and thousands'" (182). Secondly, the plot itself is not only circular, but contains a myriad of smaller circles within it. The main circle of the plot is from the discovery of the D'Urberville Tombs to Tess's death. Within this circle revolve others. The life and death of Sorrow is a small circle within the larger one. Alec D'Urberville's repentance and recantation form another. Clare's and Tess's physical journeys towards and away from and back again to each other represent more circles. Hardy's consistent use of these circles in the plot reinforces their importance to the theme. The diction of the novel seems designed to forcefully remind the reader of this theme. At the start of the novel Tess and her companions dance in a circle on the green; at it’s end, she stops to rest at Stonehenge. Also, the pattern made by the reapers in the field is circular. This instance highlights the non-benevolent nature of nature, as the conclusion of the circle is "certain death" for the animals within. This prefigures the ultimate end of all life's circles: Sorrow's death following close after this scene. This pattern of circularity is particularly appropriate given Tess's reproductive cycle. The cycles of life which rule her externally mirror her own internal cycles over which she has no control and which contribute to her "trouble" as her mother so tactfully describes it. The diction pattern of circularity appears even in the most innocuous of places. While Tess and Angel are enjoying a romantic walk in the countryside, Hardy sees fit to describe the herons "watching them by moving their heads round in a slow, horizontal, passionless wheel, like the turn of puppets by clockwork" (187). Here is the image which Hardy enthrones as the ruling spirit of the novel. Nature cannot be escaped, but only endured, like by Joan Durbyfield who views the occurrence of misfortunes merely as that, rather than as lessons. While Hardy makes nature's circularity the pattern of the novel, he does not assert that nature is kind in its progress, but that the ills of the natural kind are preferable to the ills imposed by convention.

Phase the Second: Conventionality Kills

Hardy goes to great lengths to establish the foil to the natural order: conventionality. It is convention which brands Tess as a fallen woman after her rape and subsequent motherhood. It is convention which drives Angel away after her revelation. Convention states that while Angel's youthful dalliances are to be excused, Tess's victimization is inexcusable. Tess feels guilty at Angel's attentions because she is "in the eyes of propriety far less worthy of him than the homelier ones whom he ignored" (206). It is plain that in the novel, convention kills. Tess's woe is due to the imposition by others of laws which Hardy considers o be outside of the natural order. He further (ironically) decries it on the lips of Angel as anti-intellectual. The mores of society are, like the religion of Angel's father based in an antiquated "geocentric" world-view. The geocentric view associated with convention runs counter to the law of nature in two ways. The first and obvious way is that it does not reflect the actual reality of nature. The second, and especially pertinent in this novel, is that the geocentric view stands opposed to the circularity of nature which the novel espouses. Convention, like geocentrism, is seen as an artificial imposition by "society" upon nature. Ironically, Hardy shows that convention, too has a sort of circularity. In describing Angel's older brothers' tastes in art, music and architecture, and even their preference for eyewear, Hardy notes the changing and recurring nature of fashion. Another instance of this artificial circularity is his note that "such unimpeachable models" as Angel's older brothers are "turned out yearly by the lathe of systematic tuition" (219). (Of course, Cuthbert and Felix went to Cambridge and we may assume that Hardy was not including the educational practices of Oxford in his condemnation.) He notes the foolishness of this artificial circularity in observing that the brothers chose their eyewear according to fashion "without reference to the particular variety of defect in their own vision" (219). Once again, convention works to the detriment of nature.

Phase the Third: Individuation

There is a defense against both the anonymity of history and the crushing weight of convention: Individuation. Characters in the novel are most authentically themselves when they reject convention in favor of the acknowledgement of the individual. Angel comes to this realization in his rejection of the bucolic stereotype of Hodge. Hardy notes that "the conventional farm-folk of his imagination - personified by the pitiable dummy known as Hodge - were obliterated after a few days' residence" (173). This realization is given nearly two-pages of description. This realization is described as being an end of Angel's "monotonousness" (173). Pascal's quotation equates this rejection of convention in favor of the individual with intelligence: "plus d'esprit," the Spanish equivalent of which, grande espiritu" is frequently translated as "magnanimity" or literally as "greatness of spirit/soul/mind." Convention is deemed fit for "les gens du commun" or rather, for the "dead common." Despite his realization, Angel falls into the trap of convention when he views Tess as "no longer the milkmaid, but a visionary essence of woman - a whole sex condensed into one typical form. He called her Artemis, Demeter, and other fanciful names" (187). Tess rejects these titles and insists "call me Tess" (187). She later likewise rejects Angel's application of the name "Theresa D'Urberville" and expresses her preference for "Tess Durbyfield" which has served her just fine. Angel is wrong is asserting that Tess is not the same woman when he learns of her past. She is the same individual who has gone through her various experiences. She is not the same stereotype or convention which Angel has imposed upon her. Tess exemplifies her own individuality in the events surrounding the death of Sorrow. Without the aid of the clergy or of men, she effects the means of salvation for her child. Her private action is efficacious where convention fails. Convention chooses to condemn her child for its illegitimacy while Tess, the pure woman, affirms life through her individuality.

Phase the Fourth: Nature's Circles Inexorably Assert Themselves

Despite the grave disruption caused by convention, the natural order strives to reassert itself. Tess's pregnancy is one such intrusion of nature upon imposed convention. Alec has no intention of siring a child when he forces himself upon Tess. He is merely asserting his perceived right as employer, landholder and sometime benefactor. The convention of patriarchy entitles him to take what pleasure he will from the women in his custody. Nature however challenges patriarchy by means of Tess's reproductive cycle. The workings of Tess's womb in conceiving as a result of her rape reinforce the natural order against the convention of patriarchy. Her womb asserts the primacy of nature's cycles, in this instance her reproductive cycle, over society. Nature's victory is hardly to Tess's personal benefit, but nature's dominance is established. Another such assertion of nature's primacy is the constant commentary of circularity in connection with the lives of the characters. This is achieved through the diction expressed in the instances of the herons observing Angel and Tess as well as their final parting at the circle of stones. Ultimately, Tess's death completes a cycle which begins with the image of the D'Urberville tombs. Finally, life continues without the continued existence of Tess, Alec or John. Nature, as Hopkins writes "is ne'er spent." The individuals who carry out its cycles and designs are ultimately part of the greater scheme which continues despite the imposition of convention.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles, like the other major works by Thomas Hardy, although technically a nineteenth century work, anticipates the twentieth century in regard to the nature and treatment of its subject matter. Tess of the d'Urbervilles was the twelfth novel published by Thomas Hardy. He began the novel in 1889 and it was originally serialized in the Graphic after being rejected by several other periodicals from July to December in 1891. It was finally published as a novel in December of 1891. The novel questions society's sexual mores by compassionately portraying a heroine who is seduced by the son of her employer and who thus is not considered a pure and chaste woman by the rest of society. Upon its publication, Tess of the d'Urbervilles encountered brutally hostile reviews; although it is now considered a major work of fiction, the poor reception of Tess and Jude the Obscure precipitated Thomas Hardy's transition from writing fiction to poetry. Nevertheless, the novel was commercially successful and assured Hardy's financial security.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles deals with several significant contemporary subjects for Hardy, including the struggles of religious belief that occurred during Hardy's lifetime. Hardy was largely influenced by the Oxford movement, a spiritual movement involving extremely devout thinking and actions. Hardy's family members were primarily orthodox Christians and Hardy himself considered entering the clergy, as did many of his relatives. Yet Hardy eventually abandoned his devout faith in God based on the scientific advances of his contemporaries, including most prominently Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Hardy's own religious experiences can thus be seen in the character of Angel Clare, who resists the conservative religious beliefs of his parents to take a more religious and secular view of philosophy.

The novel also reflects Hardy's preoccupation with social class that continues through his novels. Hardy had connections to both the working and the upper class, but felt that he belonged to neither. This is reflected in the pessimism contained in Tess of the d'Urbervilles toward the chances for Tess to ascend in society and Angel's precarious position as neither a member of the upper class nor a working person equivalent to his fellow milkers at Talbothays. Again, like Angel Clare, Thomas Hardy found himself torn between different social spheres with which he could not fully align himself. Tess of the d'Urbervilles reflects that divide.

The poor peddler John Durbeyfield is stunned to learn that he is the descendent of an ancient noble family, the d'Urbervilles. He and his wife decide to send their oldest daughter, Tess , to

the d'Urberville mansion, where they hope Mrs. d'Urberville will make her 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, and when the lascivious Alec d'Urberville, Mrs. d'Uberville's son, procures her a job tending fowls on the d'Urberville estate, Tess has no choice but to accept.

After Tess spends several months at this job, Alec finally manages to seduce her, taking advantage of her in the woods one night after a fair. Tess knows she doesn't love Alec, and she returns home to her family to give birth to Alec's child, which she christens 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 with whom she falls in love. They grow closer together throughout Tess's time at Talbothays, and she eventually accepts his proposal to marry him. Still, she is troubled by pangs of conscience and feels she should tell Angel about her past. She tries to write him a confessional note and slip it under his door, but it slides under the carpet; 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 contact 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 unprosperous farm. She tries to visit Angel's family, but overhears his brothers discussing Angel's poor marriage, and she leaves. She hears a wandering preacher speak, and is stunned to discover that he is Alec d'Urberville, having 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 is again begging 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 she is forced to return home to take care of her. Her mother recovers, but her father unexpectedly dies soon after. 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, and he leaves Brazil desperate to find her. Instead he finds her mother, who tells him Tess has gone to a village called Sandbourne. Here, 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; 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 her, though he cannot quite believe that she has actually murdered Alec. They hide out in an empty mansion for a few days, then travel further. When they come to Stonehenge, they go to sleep; in the morning, they are discovered by a search party. Tess is arrested and sent to jail. Angel and Liza-Lu watch as the black flag is raised over the prison, signaling Tess's execution.

Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles begins with the chance meeting between Parson Tringham and John Durbeyfield. The parson addresses the impoverished Durbeyfield as "Sir John," and remarks that he has just learned that the Durbeyfields are descended from the d'Urbervilles, a family once renowned in England. Although Parson Tringham mentions this only to note how the mighty have fallen, John Durbeyfield rejoices over the news. Durbeyfield arrives at home during the May Day dance, in which his daughter Tess dances. During this celebration, Tess happens to meet three brothers: Felix, Cuthbert and Angel Clare. Angel does not dance with Tess, but takes note of her as the most striking of the girls. When Tess arrives at home, she learns that her father is at the tavern celebrating the news of his esteemed family connections. Since John must awake early to deliver bees, Tess sends her mother to get her father, then her brother Abraham, and finally goes to the tavern herself when none of them return.

At the tavern, John Durbeyfield reveals that he has a grand plan to send his daughter to claim kinship with the remaining d'Urbervilles, and thus make her eligible to marry a gentleman. The next morning, John Durbeyfield is too ill to undertake his journey, thus Tess and Abraham deliver the bees. During their travels, the carriage wrecks and their horse is killed. Since the family has no source of income without their horse, Tess agrees to go to the home of the Stoke-d'Urbervilles to claim kinship. There she meets Alec d'Urberville, who shows her the estate and prepares to kiss her. Tess returns home and later receives a letter from Mrs. Stoke-d'Urberville, who offers Tess employment tending to her chickens. When Alec comes to take Tess to the d'Urberville estate, Joan thinks that he may marry Tess. On the way to the d'Urberville estate at Trantridge, Alec drives the carriage recklessly and tells Tess to grasp him around the waist. He persists, and when Tess refuses him she calls her an artful hussy and rather sensitive for a cottage girl.

When Tess meets Mrs. Stoke-d'Urberville, she learns that the blind woman has no knowledge that Tess is a relative. Tess becomes more accustomed to Alec, despite his continual propositions to her. She finds Alec hiding behind the curtains while Tess whistles to the bullfinches in his mother's bedroom.

During a weekend visit to Chaseborough, Tess travels with several other girls. Among these girls are Car and Nancy Darch, nicknamed the Queen of Spades and the Queen of Diamonds. Car carries a wicker basket with groceries on her head, and finds that a stream of treacle drips from this basket down her back. While all of the girls laugh at Car, she only notices that Tess is laughing and confronts her. Car appears ready to fight Tess when Alec d'Urberville arrives and takes her away. As Alec whisks Tess off, Car's mother remarks that Tess has "gotten out of the frying pan and into the fire."

On the journey home, Alec asks Tess why she dislikes when he kisses her, and she replies that she does not love him and in fact is sometimes angered by him. When Tess learns that Alec has prolonged the ride home, she decides to walk home herself. Alec asks her to wait while he ascertains their precise location, and returns to find Tess, who has fallen asleep. Alec has sex with Tess.

Several weeks later, Tess returns home. Tess tells Alec that she hates herself for her weakness and will never love him. While at home, Tess admits to her mother what happened and asks her why she did not warn Tess about the danger that men pose. Rumors abound concerning Tess's return to the village of Marlott. In fact Tess is pregnant and has bears the child months later. However, the child becomes gravely ill before she has had it baptized. Without the opportunity to call a minister, Tess baptizes the baby herself with the name Sorrow before it dies. When Tess meets the parson the next day, he agrees that the baby had been properly baptized, but refuses to give Sorrow a Christian burial until she convinces him otherwise.

Tess leaves Marlott once again to work at Talbothays dairy, where she works for Richard Crick and finds that Angel Clare, whom she vaguely remembers, now works at the dairy. The other milkmaids (Izz Huett, Retty Priddle, Marian) tell Tess that Angel is there to learn milking and that, since he is a parson's son, rarely notices the girls. Although his brothers are each clergymen and he was expected to be as well, Angel did not attend college because of philosophical and religious differences with his father and established church doctrine. He works at Talbothays to study the workings of a dairy in preparation for owning a farm himself one day.

Angel grows fond of Tess, and begins arranging the cows so that she may milk the ones that are her favorites. However, Tess learns from Dairyman Crick that Angel has scorn for members of noble families, even those whose families have fallen from prominence. Tess realizes that the three other milkmaids are attracted to Tess, but they know that Angel prefers Tess. When Tess overhears the three milkmaids discussing this, she feels jealousy at the others' attraction for Angel, and begins to believe that, as a working woman, she is more suited to be a farmer's wife than a woman of equal rank as Angel. Still, Tess retreats from Angel's affections until he finally declares his love for her.

Angel visits his home in Emminster, where he discusses the possibility of marriage with his parents. While visiting his family, Angel realizes how life at Talbothays had changed him. Although his parents suggest that Angel marry a local girl, Mercy Chant, Angel suggests that he should marry a woman with practical talents. His parents only consent when they feel certain that the woman is an unimpeachable Christian. When Angel returns from Emminster, he proposes to Tess, who rejects him without giving him a reason. Although he persists, she finally admits that she is a d'Urberville, thus a member of the type of family that he despises. When Angel remains unfazed by this news, she agrees to marry him.

Tess writes to her mother to ask whether she should admit the entirety of her past to Angel, but her mother assures her that she should not. Tess remains nervous concerning her impending marriage, attempting to postpone the date and forgetting to make important wedding plans. While in town with Angel, Tess sees a man who recognizes her from Trantridge and remarks on her questionable reputation. Angel defends her honor, but Tess realizes that she must tell him about her past with Alec d'Urberville. Tess writes Angel a letter and slips it under his doorway. The next morning Angel behaves normally. It is only on the day of her wedding that Tess finds that the letter slid under the carpet and Angel thus never found it.

After Angel and Tess marry, they go to Wellbridge for their honeymoon and remain at a home once owned by the d'Urbervilles. Tess learns from Jonathan Kail, who delivers a wedding gift from the Cricks, that the girls at Talbothays have suffered greatly since Angel and Tess left. On their wedding night, Angel and Tess vow to tell one another their faults. Angel admits that he had a short affair with a stranger in London, while Tess admits about Alec d'Urberville.

After telling Angel her story, Tess begs for forgiveness, but he claims that forgiveness is irrelevant, for she was one person and is now another woman in the same shape. She vows to do anything he asks and to die if he would so desire, but he claims that there is discordance between her current self-sacrifice and past self-preservation. Although he claims to forgive her, Angel still questions whether or not he still loves her. Angel's obstinate nature blocks his acceptance of Tess's faults on principle, and he remains with Tess only to avoid scandal until he tells her that they should separate.

That night, Angel begins sleepwalking and carries Tess out of their home and across the nearby river to the local cemetery, where he places her in a coffin. She leads him back to bed without waking him, and the next morning he seems to remember nothing of the event. Angel tells Tess that he will go away from her and she should not come to him, but may write if she is ill or needs anything.

Tess returns home, where her family remains impoverished and Tess has no place to stay. When Tess receives a letter from Angel telling her that he has gone to the north of England to look for a farm, Tess uses this as an excuse to leave Marlott. Angel visits his parents and tells them nothing about his separation, but they sense that some difficulty has occurred in his marriage. Angel decides to go to Brazil to look for a farm, although he realizes that he has treated Tess poorly. Before leaving for Brazil, Angel sees Izz Huett and proposes that she accompany him to Brazil. When he asks her whether she loves him as much as Tess does, Izz replies that nobody could love him more than Tess does, because Tess would give up her life for Angel. Angel realizes his foolishness and tells Izz that her answer saved him from great folly.

Tess journeys to Flintcomb-Ash, where she will join Marian at a different farm. On her way to the farm, Tess finds the man from Trantridge who identified her when she was with Angel, and he demands an apology for allowing Angel to wrongfully defend her honor. Tess hides from him, and after she is propositioned by young men in a nearby inn the next morning, she clips off her eyebrows to make herself less unattractive.

Tess works as a swede-hacker at Flintcomb-Ash, a barren and rough place. Marian believes that Tess has been abused and thinks Angel may be to blame, but Tess refuses to allow Marian to mention Angel's name in such a derogatory manner. Izz Huett and Retty Priddle join Marian and Tess at Flintcomb-Ash, and Tess learns that the man who insulted her is the owner of the farm where she works. Car and Nancy Darch work at this farm as well, although neither recognize Tess. Since the conditions at Flintcomb-Ash are so arduous, Tess visits Emminster to ask the Clares for assistance, but does not approach them when she overhears Felix and Cuthbert Clare discussing how disreputable Angel's new wife must be. While returning to Flintcomb-Ash, Tess learns that a noted preacher is nearby: Alec d'Urberville.

When Tess confronts Alec, he claims that he has a newfound duty to save others and feels that he must save Tess. Still, he seems to blame Tess for her tempting Alec to sin, and makes her swear never to tempt him again. Alec begins to visit Tess frequently, despite her overt suspicion and dislike for him, and even asks her to marry him and accompany him to Africa where he plans to be a missionary. Tess refuses and admits to Alec that she is already married, but Alec derides the idea that her marriage is secure and attempts to refute Tess's (and Angel's) religious views. Alec accuses Tess once more of tempting him, and blames her for his backsliding from Christianity. Alec soon disavows his faith and loses the adornments of it, returning to his more fashionable ways and giving up preaching. When Alec tells Tess that she should leave her husband, she slaps him and then refuses to back down when Alec appears ready to return her blow. She tells Alec that she will not cry if he hits her, because she will always be his victim.

Alec soon tries a different tactic to get Tess to submit to him; he attempts to dominate her by exerting financial superiority. Alec offers to support her family, but only as a means to make Tess and her family dependent. Tess returns home to Marlott when she learns that her mother may be dying and her father is quite ill, but soon after her return her father dies instead, while her mother recovers. After the death of John Durbeyfield, the family loses their home and must find accommodations elsewhere. They move to Kingsbere, where the d'Urberville family tomb is located. Although Alec offers to support the Durbeyfields, Tess refuses, even when he offers a guarantee in writing that he would continue to support them no matter the relationship between Tess and himself. When the Durbeyfields reach Kingsbere, they find no room at the inn where they were scheduled to stay, and thus must remain in the church near the d'Urberville family vault.

Angel Clare returns home from Brazil, weak and sickly, and finds the letter from Tess in which she claims that she will try to forget him. Angel writes to her home at Marlott to search for her, but only later finds out that the Durbeyfields are no longer at Marlott and that Joan does not know where her daughter is. Angel decides to search for Tess, and eventually finds her mother, who reluctantly admits to Angel that Tess is at Sandbourne, a thriving village nearby.

Angel finds Tess at an inn at Sandbourne, where she has been living a comfortable life with Alec d'Urberville. Tess tells Angel that it is too late, and that Alec convinced her that he would never return. Tess admits that she hates Alec now, for he lied to her about Angel. After Angel leaves, Tess returns to her room and begins to sob. Alec finds her, and after a heated argument Tess stabs Alec in the heart, killing him.

As the dejected Angel leaves town, he finds Tess following him. She admits that she has killed Alec, and the two continue along together to escape. They remain at a deserted mansion before continuing northward to find a boat out of England. They rest at Stonehenge; there Tess, who realizes that she will inevitably be captured, asks Alec to marry her sister, Liza-Lu, after she is gone. As Tess sleeps a party of men surround Angel and Tess to capture her and arrest her for Alec's murder. Tess is executed for her crime, while Angel does her bidding and presumably marries Liza-Lu.

Tess Durbeyfield : The novel's protagonist , a beautiful, loyal young woman living with her impoverished family in the village of Marlott. Tess is extremely responsible and is committed to doing the best she can for her family. Her life is complicated when her father discovers he is descended from the noble line of the d'Urbervilles; 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.

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 the name of the ancient noble family after he built his mansion and retired. Alec is a manipulative, sinister young man, and does everything he can to seduce the inexperienced Tess when she comes to work for his family. When he finally succeeds--by taking advantage of her while she sleeps--he really tries to help her, but is unable to make her love him.

John Durbeyfield : Tess's father, a lazy peddler in Marlott. John is naturally quick, but he hates work; when he learns that he is descended from the noble line of the d'Urbervilles, he is quick to make an attempt to profit by the connection.

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 her daughter's life actually proceeds. But she is also somewhat simple-minded and naturally forgiving, and she is unable to remain angry with Tess--particulary once Tess becomes her primary means of support.

Mrs. d'Urberville : Alec's mother, the widow of Simon Stokes. Mrs. d'Urberville is blind and often ill.

Marian, Izz Huett, and Retty Priddle : Milkmaids Tess befriends at the Talbothays Dairy, and who remain close to her throughout the rest of her life. Marian, Izz, and Retty are all in love with Angel , and take it hard when he chooses Tess over them: Marian turns to drink, Retty attempts suicide, and Izz nearly runs off to Brazil with Angel when he leaves Tess. Nevertheless, they remain helpful to Tess: Marian helps her find a job at a farm called Flintcomb-Ash, and she and Izz write Angel a plaintive letter encouraging him to give Tess another chance.

Reverend Clare : Angel's father, a somewhat intractable but principled clergyman in the town of Emminster. Mr. Clare considers it his duty to convert the populace; one of his most difficult cases proves to be none other than Alec d'Urberville.

Mrs. Clare : Angel's mother, a loving but somewhat snobbish woman who places great stock in social class.

Reverend Felix Clare : Angel's brother, a village curate.

Reverend Cuthbert Clare : Angel's brother, a classical scholar at Cambridge.

Eliza Louisa Durbeyfield : Liza-Lu is Tess's younger sister; Tess believes Liza-Lu has all her good qualities and none of her bad ones, and encourages Angel to look after and even marry Liza-Lu after Tess dies.

Sorrow : Tess's son with Alec d'Urberville ; Sorrow dies in his early infancy, after Tess christens him herself. She later buries him herself as well, and decorates his grave.

Mercy Chant : The daughter of a friend of the Reverend Clare. Mr. Clare hopes Angel will marry Mercy, but after Angel marries Tess , she is engaged to Cuthbert instead.

Tess Durbeyfield : The young daughter of a rural working class family at the start of the novel, Tess Durbeyfield is sent to claim kinship with the wealthier side of her family, the d'Urbervilles, when her family faces imminent poverty. After being seduced by Alec d'Urberville, she bears his child, which dies in infancy, and must leave her home to start a new life elsewhere. Although Tess is dutiful and obedient as the novel begins, she gains great strength and fortitude through her suffering, but remains unwavering in her love for Angel Clare and is prepared to do anything that Angel might wish.

Angel Clare : The son of a parson and the youngest of three brothers, Angel did not enter college as his siblings, despite his superior intellect, but rather diverged from the career path his father intended for him, the ministry, to study agriculture so that he might become a farmer. Despite holding more liberal opinions than his father and brothers, Angel Clare is nevertheless equally dogmatic and obstinate. He has a deeply theoretical mindset; it is this quality that causes him to reject Tess when he learns information about her past that contradicts his idealistic view of her.

Alec d'Urberville : The sophisticated, urbane son of the elderly, blind Mrs. Stoke-d'Urberville, Alec is rapacious and possessive, believing that his status in society and his financial situation gives him power to possess and control Tess after he gives her a job caring for his mother's chickens. After seducing Tess, Alec reforms his hedonistic ways to become a fundamentalist preacher, but soon deviates from his newfound spirituality once he sees Tess again.

Mrs. Brooks : She is the householder at The Herons, the boarding establishment at Sandbourne where Alec and Tess stay together. She discovers Alec after Tess stabs him in the heart.

Mercy Chant : Reverend Clare and his wife intend this young woman from Emminster to marry Angel, despite his affection for Tess, for she holds proper religious views, according to the Clares.

Reverend Clare : A fundamentalist parson in the style that has nearly died out when the novel begins, Reverend Clare does not send his son, Angel, to college because the two disagree on religious philosophy. Reverend Clare is responsible for Alec d'Urberville's conversion after he confronts Alec.

Cuthbert Clare : He is one of Angel's older brothers.

Felix Clare: He is one of Angel's older brothers.

Mrs. Clare : Angel's mother is a conservative woman who dislikes the idea that Angel has married Tess, believing her to be a simple country girl unsuitable for her more refined son.

Richard Crick : The dairyman and owner of Talbothays Dairy, he employs both Tess and Angel. Dairyman Crick is a gregarious, jovial man who treats Tess well as an employer.

Abraham Durbeyfield : The younger brother of Tess, Abraham accompanies his sister when she must deliver a cart of bees in place of their father.

Joan Durbeyfield : Tess's mother is a bawdy, irresponsible woman who views her daughter only in exploitative terms, believing that she can send Tess to the d'Urbervilles explicitly to marry a gentleman and thus raise the fortunes of her family. Tess returns home when Joan is deathly ill, but she makes a sudden recovery just as her husband's health worsens.

John Durbeyfield : A jovial, irresponsible man, John Durbeyfield sets the plot of the novel in motion when he learns that the Durbeyfield family is descended from the renowned d'Urbervilles. John suffers from heart disease, and when he dies his family is evicted from their home and forced to move to Kingsbere.

Liza-Lu Durbeyfield : Tess's younger sister travels to Flintcomb-Ash to request that her sister return home when her parents are ill. Before Tess is caught, she asks Angel to marry Liza-Lu after Tess has died.

Car Darch : Nicknamed the Queen of Spades, this woman nearly fights Tess when Tess laughs at Car when she stains her dress with treacle. Tess is only saved from a brawl when Alec saves her. Tess later meets Car again when the two work together at Flintcomb-Ash.

Nancy Darch : Nicknamed the Queen of Diamonds, Nancy is the sister of Car and accompanies her sister to Flintcomb-Ash to work.

Farmer Groby : When Angel and Tess are in town before their wedding, this former Trantridge Cross resident identifies Tess as a woman of ill repute, causing Angel to defend her honor. Later he nearly accosts Tess as she travels to Flintcomb-Ash, and appears a third time as her employer at Flintcomb. Because of her early cold treatment of him, Farmer Groby is a difficult taskmaster who treats Tess poorly.

Izz Huett : One of the dairymaids at Talbothays Dairy with whom Tess stays, Izz Huett is also in love with Angel Clare, but after his separation from Tess when he invites her to accompany him to Brazil, Izz refuses because of Tess's love for Angel. Izz later works with Tess at Flintcomb-Ash and sends a letter to Angel telling him to forgive Tess.

Jonathan Kail : A servant at Talbothays' dairy, he delivers news of the other works to Tess and Angel during their honeymoon.

Marian : One of the dairymaids at Talbothays with whom Tess stays, Marian is also in love with Angel Clare and becomes an alcoholic after Tess and Angel marry. Marian invites Tess to come to Flintcomb-Ash where she works, and with Izz Huett sends a letter to Angel telling him to forgive Tess.

Retty Priddle : One of the dairymaids at Talbothays with whom Tess stays, Retty is also in love with Angel Clare. After Tess and Angel marry, Retty attempts to drown herself, but soon joins her former dairymaids at Flintcomb-Ash.

Mrs. Stoke-d'Urberville : An elderly, blind woman and the mother of Alec, she employs Tess to look after her chickens. She dies not long after Tess leaves Trantridge Cross.

Parson Tringham : This clergyman in Marlott tells John Durbeyfield that his family is descended from the noted d'Urberville family.

Marlott - This is Tess’s home town where she grew up and returned to after the incident at the d’Urbervilles.

Alec d’Urberville’s house - Tess went to stay at this house after their family fell in need and sought help from the supposed relatives.

Talbothays - Trying to find a new life, Tess came here and met Angel whom she fell in love with and married despite competition from three other girls.

The father of the Durbeyfield household is wandering home when he is told that he is of the ancient line of the d’Urbervilles, a once powerful family. Knowing this, he returns home happy and relays the news to his family. Although being from a once great family, his current family is in need and decides to seek help from relatives by the name of d’Urberville. The family sent Tess to ask them for help. Tess went and began working for them. However, she finds out that they are not truly of the d’Urberville line and simply changed their names to d’Urberville. Also, she finds out that the son of the house, Alec, is not of good character. He rapes her and she gets pregnant. She leaves for home in a bad mood. Gives birth, and works with the other girls in the fields. The baby dies and Tess decides to look for a new life elsewhere where no one knows of her and the incident after promising herself that she would never get married. She ends up at Talbothays working as a milk maid. There, she meets three girls and a man, Angel Clare, working there. She and the other three girls like Angel, but Angel picks Tess out of the three. They fall in love, and get married. However, Tess never told Angel about the rape and the child until the night after the wedding. Although he had an affair before the wedding, he grows furious and leaves her to go to America where he grows ill. In the meantime, Tess returns home distraught and seeks to flee from her troubles. She meets Alec who still loves her and keeps pressing her to marry him saying that Angel is never going to come back. Marian, one of the girls who liked Angel, finds Tess work at the farm she works at. There she works for a year before deciding to live with Alec. She lives with Alec for a while before Angel comes back expressing his continuing love for her. However, to leave Alec, she murders him and leaves with Angel. They stay in a house on the way home for a week. However, when they leave, Tess is arrested for murder and executed. Angel marries Tess’s younger sister as Tess’s last wish.

The pillar with the hand print - This pillar symbolizes Tess’s guilt of adultery and murder. Alec says that it was erected by the druid’s for some punishment, while others say it was a cross. Tess was arrested after sleeping by it.

Tess’s baby - This baby symbolized Tess’s bad circumstances which was out of Tess’s control. It symbolizes innocence in a sense since this baby was innocent having done nothing wrong, but it was punished by society for coming from such an evil act. Having been raped, Tess was also innocent of the crime, but she was still punished and pushed aside by society.

Hardy’s writing style is simple but wordy. His sentence structures are not long or very complicated, but the complexity in his work comes from the way he uses several sentences. For example, he uses a lot of imagery and describes the scenery in great detail. While each individual sentence may not be difficult to understand, it is the way the various sentences fit together to form a whole picture which separates him from other authors.

This book deals with the oppression of an innocent girl. Most of the consequences she faced were not consequences of her own actions which makes this story somewhat of a tragedy in that sense giving the book a mood that you can try to make for yourself a good life, but you do not determine your own outcome.