Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Author: Thomas Hardy
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: Easy Read Classics Series. To promote English learning among Chinese middle school students, cultivate their cultural literacy and literary appreciation, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press (SFLP) has, after extensive deliberation and market research, decided to introduce a series of abridged literary classics from Macmillan Publishing Company in the UK to Chinese middle school students. SFLP has carefully selected 40 books from Macmillan's abridged literary classics series, compiling them into the "Easy Read Classics Series," with difficulty levels spanning Levels 3 to 8 of the "English Curriculum Standards." This series includes classic works by literary masters from the UK, the US, France, and other countries, featuring the works of renowned authors such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, Hardy, and Alexandre Dumas. To help middle school students better grasp the essence of the original works and the creative journeys of the authors, SFLP has also specially annotated the language difficulties in the reading materials and included background introductions about the authors and their works. We sincerely hope that the "Easy Read Classics Series" will help improve the literary appreciation skills of Chinese middle school students, cultivate their moral character, enhance their English reading abilities, and become the key to opening the door to reading English literary classics for middle school students. Tess, an innocent and simple girl, is determined to change her family's declining fate. She agrees to her parents' request and comes to work as a poultry keeper in a noble family, only to become a victim of the young and reckless Aleister. She returns home and lives alone in gloom until her frail infant dies. Later, she leaves again and works as a milkmaid at a dairy farm. There, she meets Angel Clare, the son of a pastor, and they genuinely fall in love. On their wedding night, Clare confesses his past recklessness, and Tess openly shares her own past with her husband, but in return, she receives Angel's betrayal and indifference. Fate once again casts Tess into the depths of despair.