Tess as a “TRAGIC HEROINE”

Tess of the D’Urbervilles is generally regarded as Hardy's masterpiece, and

certainly it is his most ambitious tragic novel. This novel is basically the story
of a country girl, Tess whose fate is tragic and in the end she becomes a "tragic
heroine". The book reveals Tess's life, how the first-presented innocent girl turns
into a tragic heroine.
Love plays an important role in Tess's life because love does not mean
happiness to her but it causes her inconveniences. Her life is a series of
misfortunes which slowly destroys her personality/spirit. The first misfortune is
of Tess's family when their horse dies in a fatal accident. The death of the horse
can be interpreted as the symbol of "change", her life changes into a series of
tragedies. Tess blames herself for loosing the family's means of livelihood.
Tess's sense of responsibility for her family is one of the book's most important
elements.
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At almost every stage of her life, her actions are influenced by this fact. This
affection for her family leads to get in contact with the lustful, dishonest and
cruel young man, Alec, who is attracted by her eyes. Her innocence and naivety
allows her to be seduced by this unscrupulous man. Her honour is slightly blown
upon because she is expecting a baby. In the course of the novel as well until
this point we can always find hints of foreshadowing of what is to come: the
misfortunes and the tragedy. For instance Tess mentions the possibility of the
pregnancy and the fact that Tess regards herself as a "murderess"- which she
actually becomes.
She herself baptised the child "Sorrow" just before he dies. I think she gave this
name to her child because she was not really happy about him. The child
represented her sorrow. After the death of her child she does not become
pessimistic but she wants to start her new life with optimism as if the death of
the child meant the end of her sorrow. Her experiences have turned her from girl
to woman. She wants to forget about the past and wants to go somewhere where
nobody knows her life and secret. In the hope of starting her new life she sets
out and she gets to Talbothays where she meets her second love Angel Clare.
Her soft voice attracts him first and he falls in love with Tess.
This love seems to be different from the first one because Angel truly loves her.
Angel proposes her to marry him and when Tess agrees, her life seems to get
into the right way again. Tess makes a big mistake when conceals the truth from
Angel and with this she loses the opportunity to be happy. Beside the
misfortunes she is also responsible for what happens to her. She wants to tell
Angel the truth but maybe she is afraid of the offence which can come out of it.
She decides to write a letter to him in which she tells him about her shameful
past. The circumstances are against her because the letter which she wrote slips
under the carpet and Angel misses to know the truth.
On their wedding night Tess manages to tell him everything about her past but it
is too late and Angel turns away from her and he feels that he is no longer able
to acknowledge her as his wife. Till now we know Tess as an infirm person who
is not brave enough to stand for her right. She is not able to refuse Alec, to
confess her secret, to tell her family about her relationship with Angel. Her
naivety and her lies also help her fate to become tragic. Tess is not so strong to
stand on her own and after Angel abandons her, she returns home. Instead of
helping, her parents blame her and Tess decides to leave home. As I mentioned
above here we can also notice her parents influence on her. Tess's real sufferings
begin when Angel abandons her for the second time. She has no money and
now, her pride is what stops her to be happy.
As the anniversary of her wedding approaches Tess finally decides to go to
Angel's parents to ask them for information. When she hears Angel's brothers
discussing Angel's unfortunate marriage in despair she goes away. On the way
home she meets Alec who is a preacher now. He wants to seduce her once again
and at this point her marriage helps her to refuse Alec. She puts her pride away
and writes a letter to Angel for help. Another misfortune comes to Tess. Her
mother is very ill and Alec takes advantage of this opportunity. He helps them
and Tess agrees to live with him. She, as always chooses unhappiness for the
sake of her family.
Her real love, Angel returns determined to find her but Tess already lives as
Alec's wife. She proudly tells Angel that he is too late and Alec regained her
with his kindness to her family. Tess realises that she can not live like this and
after a quarrel with Alec, she kills him. Angel does not abandon but protect her.
They run away to Stonehenge where Tess lives the happiest moments of her life.
Stonehenge is a symbolic place because its religious nature. She is arrested here
by the police and sentenced to death. Tess has a tragic end because she accepts
her fate.
Hardy gives a detailed description of Tess's character and somehow her
character is in parallel with her fate. We can find many things in her character
which helps her to be a tragic heroine. She is a beautiful girl and there is a
continual stress on her beauty throughout the novel. The two man were attracted
by her beauty. Alec was attracted by her eyes while Angel was attracted by her
fluty voice. Slowly her beauty became a burden to her and when she voluntary
disfigures it, the reader becomes affected by it.
There are contradictory qualities in her character of pride and independence of
spirit with a passivity and submissiveness towards other people and her fate: Her
determination in leaving Alec, her unwillingness to tell her parents about her
marriage, or to approach Angel's parents. She is a credible character, her flaws
are not obscured. Tess's tragedy results mainly because she endures the
conventional values on her by other people, but the intensity of her suffering is
because she acknowledged those values.
She is always afraid of what others will say or think, she suffers under the
prejudices of the society. Tess's suffering is repeatedly associated with animal
suffering as well at the end of the novel when Tess is arrested and her breathing
is "like that of a lesser creature than a woman". I think Tess is a tragic heroine
because she accepts the imposition on conventional values on her by other
people and that she accepts her fate.