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Thomas HardyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Tess Durbeyfield is the protagonist of the novel; the plot revolves around her development as a character and the conflict she experiences. Tess is a beautiful young woman with physical characteristics that men tend to find alluring; Hardy describes features, such as a “pouted-up deep red mouth” (21), that imply that Tess possesses a voluptuous beauty. However, Tess’s beauty is largely a source of suffering for her, as it piques Alec d’Urberville’s interest in her and sets the tragic plot in motion.
In addition to her beauty, Tess’s blend of rustic simplicity and thoughtful intelligence also makes her a source of interest to both major male characters. She has received a better education than many of the local villagers; the narrator comments on the vast discrepancy in education between Tess and her mother by explaining that “there was a gap of two hundred years as ordinarily understood” (29). Angel is struck by Tess’s existential musing that “this hobble of being alive is rather serious” and later offers to further her education because he can tell that she possesses a keen innate intelligence (139). However, Tess is also quite sheltered, which often leaves her vulnerable to errors and manipulation: When she tells her mother what Alec has done to her, Tess laments, “[L]adies know what to fend hands against […] but I never had the chance o’ learning” (94).
By Thomas Hardy
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave
Thomas Hardy
At an Inn
At an Inn
Thomas Hardy
Channel Firing
Channel Firing
Thomas Hardy
Far From The Madding Crowd
Far From The Madding Crowd
Thomas Hardy
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Thomas Hardy
Neutral Tones
Neutral Tones
Thomas Hardy
The Convergence of the Twain
The Convergence of the Twain: Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"
Thomas Hardy
The Darkling Thrush
The Darkling Thrush
Thomas Hardy
The Man He Killed
The Man He Killed
Thomas Hardy
The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Thomas Hardy
The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native
Thomas Hardy
The Withered Arm and Other Stories
The Withered Arm and Other Stories
Thomas Hardy
The Woodlanders
The Woodlanders
Thomas Hardy
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