Men’s Roles in Tess’s Tragic life

李小梅

Abstract：Thomas Hardy was a famous critical realistic novelist at the turn of the 19th century in England. Tess of the DUrbervilles is the most influential one of all his works， which is a tragedy and Tess is a tragic feature who is the protagonist of this novel. Hardy delineated a lot of characters and showed various persons enchantments in it. In the former studies， analysis of Tesss tragedy has become a heated theme and there are many different opinions about the causes of Tesss tragedies. This paper is devoted to the analysis of Tesss tragedy in feminist perspective to discuss the characters from her father， Alec dUrbervilles and Angel Clare to find out the main factor of her death. And then sum up mens roles make Tesss tragedy from bad to worse. Based on the analysis， a conclusion can be drawn that Tess is the victim of sexual polities. By studying this paper， you may get a comparatively vivid understanding of the causes of Tesss tragedy.

Key Words： feminist； sexual politics； patriarchal system； sexual virtue standards

Thomas Hardy is a critic realistic novelist. He expressed his discontentedness to the reality and observed the society with the critic and realistic views. In addition， his novels were largely based on his knowledge of a rural society. Tess of the d'Urbervilles， published in 1891， is one of the Hardy's last and most significant works. In this novel， Hardy reached the height of his achievement as a novelist. Virginia Woolf once commented to read Tess is to drink deep of the beauty of the earth and it shapes the women another peak in literary. （1965：27）The novel attracts and moves countless readers for its tragic fate of Tess.

Tess was a woman of integrity and pure in heart， yet she was driven to the hell. From the previous studies， there are many different opinions about Tsss. It is obvious that people regard Tesss tragedy was caused by her Family background， her personal characteristics and the morality and ethic in the Britain's Victorian era. Cheryll Glotfelty concluded “the novels theme as the emphasis of moneys importance in transitional society because its the economic situation of her family leads to her tragedy”， which means she would not have encountered such a disgrace end. （1996：220）. Meanwhile ， John Alcorn concluded the theme as the criticism of social background in Victorian time and it lies in the criticism of social conditions under the control of capitalism.（1977：57） Merryn William in his book writes“ Its absolutely unfair for a poor women like Tess in the double standard of Victorian society.” （2005：102） Shouhua Qi & William W. Morgan in his paper thought Angel， Alec and the vainglorious parents are responsible for the tragedy of Tess.（2001） Zhenpin Yao， the professor thinks Angel and Alec has captured， killed and destroyed Tess spiritually and bodily after analysis the characters in details.（2004：J –p32）

However， from Kate Millett， the famous feminist literary criticsbook ，Sexual Politics， it shows“ Sexual polities”， which implements sexual rule， sexual oppression and discrimination and we should take the rules of patriarch as a power one group uses to control another in deeper roots . （1969： 24）

Tesss father Jack beyfild is lazy， ignorant， incapable and selfish who just think of himself. After he learned that he was descendant of a noble family， he became indolent and sluggish. Even though his family was very poor， he never took the responsibility to make his family live better life but was addicted to alcohol. So Tess， the oldest daughter of this family， was obliged to take the duty of supporting her family. Tesss fathers irresponsibility forced Tess to go into the way towards tragedy and reflected the fathers patriarch.

For Alec， the desire is carnal， erotic， straightforward and visible. Alec is in full knowledge of his exploitation and acknowledges how bad he for seducing Tess for his own momentary pleasure. Alec's act of abuse， the most life-altering event that Tess experiences in the novel， is clearly the most serious instance of male domination over female. He took advantage of Tesss innocence and helplessness to set a trap to seduce her and rape her. Innocence is crucial for a woman at that time of the society but Alec robbed all Tesss right to happiness since he raped her. Alec just cared about himself and his needs more than others. He even did wrong to others to benefit for himself. Alec is possessive of Tess although she is technically married to Angel. He exemplifies this point when he says， “remember， my lady， I was your master once， I will be your master again. If you are any mans wife you are mine！”（Tess： 1994-p74） This line again represents Alecs characteristic of selfishness and patriarchal ideas.

And for Angel， his love for Tess seems to be pure and gentle but still dominates her in an unhealthy way. He continually refuses to get to the real-life woman. When he calls Tess with the names like “daughter of nature” and “Artemis”， （Tess： p121） we feel that he is denying the true Tess in favor of a mental image he creates and prefers. Angel Clare is an opposite of Alec who is educated， reserved and subtle， but this fluctuation on the part of Angel is one of the most important causal factors in the development of Tesss character and her final ruin. Before the acquaintance of Angel， Tess suffered very much from her tragic life but Angel enlightened Tesss final hope for happiness. But Angels desertion of her made Tesss life a completely tragedy. Robert Ackerman said， when Tess needing love more than herself， he abruptly withdraws and crushed her. The injury he inflicts on her is therefore much more severe than anything Alec could be done.” （1996：102）Angel had an idea of egoism， even though， he himself was not a pure man， and he could not to accept Tess who was not a really pure bride. Angel idealizes her as the incarnation of innocence， purity and virginity， yet fails to see that Tesss beauty lies more in her spiritual power which she has gained from her past sufferings. Angel is the slave to custom and conventionality and so the idealist can not face reality and leaves Tess which was a deathblow to innocent woman Tess. Linda M. Shires commented the beauty and political reasons changes Tess fate. （2002）

From all the analysis， Tess lived in such conditions which the masculine authority played an important role in traditional society. At the age， women were regarded as being subordinate in the household. The chastity for them is the most important thing. The traditional view on chastity considered a womens chastity as the prerogative of her husband. If the women lost her virtue， she must be immoral. On the one hand， the male made the moral standards for the female， demanding of the female to be pure and virginal； on the other hand， the man indulged himself in sexual matters. They demanded that the most magnanimous act the female had should be chastity； nevertheless， those who broke the womens chastity were the males themselves. That is to say， only the males in that society were right. The female could say nothing for his wrong. So Under such circumstances， after Tess lost her virginity， she should be Alecs concubine or make their relationship legalized according to the social morals and forever condemned as the fallen women who have to pay for the others sin while Alec can get away his sin easily. Tess asked Clare “Forgive me as you are forgiven， I forgive you” （Tess： p128） would become the impossibility. Merryn William in his book writes “Its absolutely unfair for a poor women like Tess in the double standard of Victorian society.” （2005：102）

Whats more， the power that men exert over women is linked primarily to their maleness. The erotic motive of Alec and the pure imagination of Angel are two typical presentations of men's desire of women. There seems to be an eternal conflict between the two. Tess is so beautiful that men will try every means to approach her either by seizing on her or admiring her and substituting an idealized picture of her for the real-life woman. Sometimes this command is purposeful， in the mans full knowledge of his exploitation， Alecs act of abuse， the most life-altering event that Tess experiences in the novel， is clearly the most serious instance of male domination over a female. But there are other， less blatant examples of womens passivity toward dominant men. When， after Angel reveals that he prefers Tess， Tesss friend Retty attempts suicide and her friend Marian becomes an alcoholic， which makes their earlier schoolgirl-type crushes on Angel seem disturbing. This devotion is not merely fanciful love， but unhealthy obsession. These girls appear utterly dominated by a desire for a man who， we are told explicitly， does not even realize that they are interested in him. This sort of unconscious male domination of women is perhaps even more unsettling than Alecs outward and self-conscious cruelty. In sexual virtue standards society， women should be beautiful and virtuous， gentle and biddable， and should obey to her husband and families like wretched slave.

Hardy portrayed Tess as a pure and innocent woman who has the quality of endurance and self-sacrifice. However， in the mens center society， she only survives as a beautiful object to be appreciated and exchanged by males because of the sexual politics. As a woman in this sexual virtue standards patriarchal system， she should be beautiful and virtuous， gentle and biddable， and should cleave to her husband and families like wretched slave. So Tess couldnt express her opinions and control her fate. Facing so many cases， it seems that Tess tragedy is unavoidable. So Hardy defied the Victorian moral standard and the inevitable doom of the protagonist resisting against fate under the particular historical circumstances and social atmosphere is implied. Anyway Tesss pathetic and miserable tragedy was caused by many means and impressed and moved readers deeply.

[Works Cite]

①Cheryll， Glotfelty. the Ecocritism Reader Landmarks in literary Ecology. New York： Columbia University Press， 1996.

②John， Alcorn. the nature novel from Hardy to Lawrence. New York： Norton， 1977.

③ Kate， Millett. Sexual Politics. Trans. Zhong Liangming. Beijing： Social Science Academic press， 1991.

④Linda M. Shires. The radical aesthetic of Tess of the dUrbervilles. Ed. Dale Kramer， China： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2002.

⑤ Merryn ，William. A preface to Hardy. Beijing： Peking University Press， 2005.

⑥ Shouhua Qi& William W. Morgan. Tragic Effect of Thomas Hardys Major Novels. China： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2001.

⑦ Thomas Hardy. Tess of the dUrbervilles. China： Foreign Language Teaching &Research Press and Oxford University Press， 1994.

⑧ Zhenpin Yao. the new interpretation of the characters in Tess of the dUrbervilles. Shanghai： Journal of central China Normal University， （Social Science Edition） 20.4（2004）： 23-32

（作者單位：陕西理工大学 外国语学院，陕西 汉中 723001）