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The Suffering of Tess D'urberville

Summary:   Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a tragic novel written by Thomas Hardy. In this novel, Tess, a poor and lonely young woman, experiences a series of unfortunate events which shape her character throughout the story. Her most significant tragedies include the death of her horse, Prince, her rape, the death of her baby, Angel leaving her, and her execution.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a tragic novel written by Thomas Hardy. In this novel, Tess, a poor and lonely young woman, experiences a series of unfortunate events which shape her character throughout the story. Her most significant tragedies include the death of her horse, Prince, her rape, the death of her baby, Angel leaving her, and her execution. She constantly blames herself for these occurrences and rightly should, for she causes most of her own suffering. Tess is the cause of her own misery, because she puts herself in dangerous and vulnerable situations, she feels guilty for things she is not wholly responsible for, and she allows herself to be easily tricked and manipulated by Alec D'Urberville.

Throughout the book, the reader finds Tess in various situations which she puts herself into that result in her misery. In Marlott, while delivering the beehives for her father, she falls asleep in the cart and her horse is accidentally killed by another cart. Later, when she decides to go to Trantridge to meet her rich "relatives," she meets Alec and he takes a liking to her and treats her like a lady. However, when she goes back to work for his mother, he does not appear to be the gentle man he was before, for he is dressed in filthy clothes and is smoking a cigar. Tess chooses to go with him anyway, and he attempts to kiss her several times against her wishes. Later on in the story, Tess encounters a woman named Car Darch, or "Queen of Spades." While walking back to Trantridge from the dance, someone notices treacle running down Car's neck, and everyone, including Tess, laughs at her. When Car sees Tess laughing she is infuriated and tries to pick a fight with her. If Tess had not laughed, she would not have had such an experience. To make matters worse, Alec comes and offers Tess a ride back on his horse, and she agrees to go with him. Alec begins to wander off into the Chase, and he finds themselves lost in the woods. After Tess falls asleep, Alec takes the opportunity at hand and rapes her. A year later, Tess has a baby called Sorrow, who does as an infant. When Tess finds a new job at a farm a few years later, she sees Car Darch again, as well as a man from Trantridge, and feels trapped, for she has had a bad episode with both of them. Much later, when Tess moves in with Alec, she kills him and is hanged for it.

Tess makes her suffering worse by blaming herself for everything. Some examples of these incidents include the death of her horse, not dancing with Angel, telling Angel about her rape (he left her for it), leaving her boots behind at the Clares' and being made fun of for her boots, and rejecting Angel when he comes back for her. The author exemplifies these ideas with powerful quotes from the text: "'I will obey you lke your wretched slave even if it is to lay down and die.'" (247). This shows how sorry she is that she was raped. "But her mood of long-suffering made his way easy for him......Pride, too, entered into her submission." (247). This shows how submissive Tess feels even though it's not her fault.

Tess finds herself being tricked by Alec constantly. He is always able to convince her to go with him, even after raping her. If Tess had not stayed at the barn, he would have never seen her again. However, he convinces her to move in with him and turn away Angel. Finally, Tess kills Alec, realizing what he has done to her, and goes back to Angel.

Tess Durbeyfield causes her own misery by blaming herself, listening to Alec, and putting herself in dangerous situations. She makes matters seem worse than they really are, and always listens to Alec. This shows how Tess, and not fate, is the cause of her misery and anguish.