(页数:7字数:4314)Abstract: This paper mainly focuses on the spirit of revolt of Tess. First of all, this paper begins with a brief introduction to the novel. Then, this paper makes a brief commentary of the novel. Moreover, it concentrates on :(1) Tess’s fight to the moribund society. (2) Tess’s resistance to the traditional moral concept. (3) Tess’s resistance to the hypocritical religion. (4) Tess’s resistance to the unfortunate marriage. And at last the paper reveals that Tess is actually a character with the spirit of revolt all through her life.
key words:tragedy,Spirit of revolt,industrial movement,unfortunate fate
The industrial revolution of the 19th century and the emergence of machinery to the work force sparked the women’s movement in Europe. Therefore the excuse of the physical difference between men and women was no longer valid due to the replacement of the laborer’s (male) strong arms with machines. Women entered the work force. This was a turning point for women’s social, political and cultural roles. The controlling power of the societies was very much interested in this new working group. Women did not have pre-defined expectations on workers rights and easily played into the hands of the controlling power. The male dominating power of the time was benefiting from the cheap labor provided by women. This change conflicted with the traditional role of women at home and in the family.
The financial independence resulted by this social development led women to gain more confidence in society and created a condition for breaking the barriers towards freedom. The bourgeois ideologues feared the consequences of the women’s freedom but could not ignore the economic benefit of this change. Therefore, they introduced the philosophy of equality so that they could continue the suppression of women in the name of religion and ethics.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was a Britain's critical realism novelist and poet at the end of the 19th century. Father of his architect, he himself studied architecture too. He spent his most time in homeland, which was a special prefecture. Hardy's creation period includes carrying out the transition to the stage of imperialism from non- monopoly capitalism. He sees that the capitalist system is to give help to the working people, especially who experienced misfortune and disaster, bring them to agriculture and show sympathy to them. His novel fill with his background in homeland, including the near prefecture district. This is an almost industrial at all farming region, but it is permeated by the capitalism too. Especially after the seventies, the invasion of the capitalism destroyed the whole countryside, make the foundation of the patriarchal clan system society of the countryside collapse completely. He has observed the agricultural crisis to fill in miserable consequence that the special prefecture causes in one, describe this regional peasant's disaster received. But he explains the reason why the society changes with idealism, thinks what controlled people's destiny is a kind of " fill the will of the universe"1. This is a view of fatalism.
Hardy’s masterpiece Tess of the d'Urbervilles describes the miserable experience of a rural girl. But too unfortunate to overthrow this girl who calls Tess, she relies on her own hands to work, moving people with her own sincerity. She is " a pure woman "2. Finally she winds up with the tragedy, which is why people often discuss her as the source of the tragedy. However, I saw her powerful fight, fighting against the society, the hypocritical religion. All her did was to abandon the old ethical society and to pursuit a happy marriage. She has shown in front of common people her own practical action that she is insulted, which indicates a resisting powerful woman's images.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, is the first famous work of Britain outstanding realistic writer, Hardy. Because Hardy had once had experience of living in the Ministry of Agriculture, he was extremely familiar with peasants' life, personality, custom, language, etc. Works of Hardy reflect capitalist factor invading Britain social economy, politics, morals, and enormous custom changes of under countryside, showed the miserable destiny of the rural working people of specific historical period. Hardy’s theme that create his novel, usually show the antinomy between people and society, personality and environment, especially through the description of issues such as love and marriage, displaying the individual confliction when people fight against social outmoded practice, religion law, morals custom. In his works, especially woman images in the works of him have deeply shown this characteristic. Tess of the d'Urbervilles, is the essential reflection of Hardy’s style and the society he wanted to show.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, background of works takes place under a very grave situation that capital brings disaster to the partial rural individual small-scale peasant economy of Britain. It shows a brief of a rural girl Tess and burns it miserably. Tess of woman protagonist, d'Urbervilles is that one is pure, kindhearted, beautiful, strong and the rural woman image of Britain with spirit of revolt. Tess’s life is being surrounded by peaceful and beautiful hills, nine people of one family relying on father’s small business cultivating with one old horse on the land. Tess, as the eldest daughter of the family bears much responsibility, including her parents' advice by every means, letting her recognize the so-called distant relative -- d'Urbervilles. Tess has deep love for working, and she never feel ashamed for her own poor origin, and she also hated the connections with " the distant relative "3. And Tess reach d’Urbervilles’s house, under pressure of the family, on one weekend evening, the son of d’Urbervilles, Alec, stained the helpless young girl. Her destiny transferred from then on. She has illegitimate children, and has done baptism for this child, but lost him again. She met Clare and fall in love with him, but her honesty on newly married night, Clare makes diverge from she. During the day that the husband leaves away, Tess has no way under the pressure of the helplessness, have come back to Alec's side. And the returning of Angel Clare makes Tess fall into incomparable, she hate the limit of reaching to Alec, so she killed him in all desperation. And after the happy life with the Angel Clare in a few days, she finally accepted " murderer "4's criminal law calmly. Though Tess catch transient and have a great one tragic, tragic burning from her, we have seen that she keeps resisting, resisting the unfair society, the traditional morals, the hypocritical religion, and the unfortunate marriage. So, from the point view of Angel, Tess is a misfortune person in the story, but not a weak one. What Hardy entrusted to Tess is that she is insulted, but has women's image of having spirit of revolt. She is not a person who set off in the novel, but rules the woman protagonist completely of the whole novel.
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