Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Author: (English) Hardy Wang Jing
Annotation:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Reading is an important way to improve English proficiency. For college students who already have high school-level English, reading original works of British and American literature is particularly significant. Through reading original texts, one can directly experience the thoughts and emotions, social conditions, customs, and ways of thinking of British and American people. This is not only beneficial for enhancing literary appreciation and enriching English knowledge but also plays an irreplaceable role in improving English proficiency. The vastness of British and American literature, combined with the limited time of college students, makes in-depth reading of outstanding works the best way to acquire knowledge and improve English skills. Based on this consideration, Qingdao Publishing House has organized experts to carefully select and compile this series of classic British and American literature. This series consists of 10 books: The Great Gatsby, The Heart of Darkness, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Robinson Crusoe, The Apple Tree, The Red Badge of Courage, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Portrait of a Young Artist, and Oliver Twist.
Recommendation Reasons:
1) Expertly Selected Masterpieces: Renowned experts in foreign literature have repeatedly screened and selected the classics of British and American literature, choosing the best from the best. The selected works are not only representative but also take into account factors such as readability and language difficulty.
2) Preface by a Famous Scholar and Expert Guidance: The renowned foreign literature expert Fang Ping wrote the preface, believing that readers with a certain level of English proficiency must selectively read outstanding works of British and American literature to further improve their English. Each selected work is accompanied by expert guidance, providing historical background and author introductions to help readers better understand the artistic techniques, character traits, and main content of the works.
3) Expert Annotations for Easy Reading: The doubts and difficulties in this series have been annotated by experts in British and American literature, allowing readers to read the entire book without constantly consulting a dictionary, saving both time and effort.
4) Appropriately Challenging and Affordable: When selecting the works, the compilers also considered the difficulty and length of the texts, enabling readers to easily explore the classics of British and American literature and quickly improve their English skills.
Usage Suggestions:
How to read this series of books, Fang Ping suggests that college students read as advised by the famous British writer Bacon: Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and a few to be chewed and digested. College students can choose to read in-depth or broadly according to their needs to achieve the best learning results. Tess of the d'Urbervilles, a masterpiece by the famous British novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), is a novel that depicts the tragic fate of a rural girl, Tess, who is humiliated. Tess is an innocent girl who wants to earn a living through her own labor and pursue basic personal happiness. However, the oppressive forces of society did not spare even such a vulnerable woman, ultimately leading to her tragedy. The novel's strong anti-religious, anti-feudal moral, and anti-capitalist legal tendencies, although opposed by the British upper class at the time, were beloved by a wide readership. It was quickly translated into multiple languages upon publication and was even adapted into films, bringing Thomas Hardy worldwide fame.
In the beautiful and secluded Breckland, the Durbeyfields lived in poverty. Old Mr. Durbeyfield was a rural peddler who made a modest living. The family of nine barely survived by farming a small plot of land with an old horse. One evening in late May, the Rev. Clere told Mr. Durbeyfield a useless piece of news—he had discovered that Mr. Durbeyfield was a direct descendant of the ancient warrior family of d'Urbervilles. Mr. Durbeyfield, lazy and fond of alcohol, became drunk upon learning of his noble ancestry that night. Unable to deliver goods due to his drunkenness, 17-year-old Tess bravely took over her father's task of selling honeycombs to the market. However, on the way to the market, her carriage collided with a mail coach, killing her old horse and leaving the family without a source of income. Tess felt deep sorrow and shame. To help her family out of financial hardship, she followed her mother's arrangement to travel to a wealthy d'Urberville grandmother to claim kinship. Mr. d'Urberville was a merchant from the north of England who, after amassing wealth, aspired to settle in the south and live as a squire. He had chosen the surname "d'Urberville" from a museum, pretending to be a noble family. Tess and her parents were completely unaware of these circumstances. Mrs. d'Urberville was a eccentric, blind old woman. Her son, Aleck, a young playboy in his early 20s, saw the beautiful Tess and set his sights on possessing her. He persuaded Tess to work at his chicken farm. At the d'Urberville estate, Tess was completely at Aleck's mercy. She felt wary and resisted his advances but could not avoid him. One Saturday night in September, after returning from the market, Tess and her companions were mocked and insulted by a group of drunk women. Humiliated and angry, she longed to escape them. Following closely behind was Aleck, who rode up and asked Tess to mount his horse. Without hesitation, she climbed onto his horse. They rode for a while, and Aleck deliberately steered them onto a detour far from the d'Urberville estate. At midnight, when Tess realized what was happening, they were already in an ancient forest preserve. The forest was dark and foggy, making it impossible to discern direction or path. Terrified, Tess tried to walk back alone, but it was no use. She sat on a pile of leaves while Aleck went to find their way. When he returned in the dark, he stumbled upon something. The faint grayish-white shape was Tess, dressed in white, lying on the dry leaves. Aleck knelt down, his face touching hers. She was sleeping soundly, her tears still wet on her lashes. Darkness and silence enveloped the surroundings.
Furious and resentful, Tess left the d'Urbervilles a month later, carrying a heavy basket, and walked home along the mountain path. After returning home, Tess told her mother about the terrible incident. Her mother's only concern was that Aleck had no intention of marrying her. Tess was heartbroken. Soon, news of Tess spread through the village, and she was ridiculed and gossiped about. She hid at home, afraid to go out. Worse still, Tess discovered horrifying changes in her body. A child came into the world, but it died soon after. Now, she knew that the path ahead was long and rugged, and she would have to walk it alone, without sympathy or help. Overwhelmed by depression, she wished there was a grave before her to which she could plunge. She often wondered if a woman's virtue, once lost, could never be regained. All living organisms had the ability to restore themselves, so why was a virgin's virtue an exception? She decided to leave her hometown, where her past had left her suffocated, and start a new life in a stranger's land.
Another spring arrived, and Tess left home again, taking a job as a milkmaid at the Hays Dairy. The scenery was picturesque, and Tess felt joyful. There, she met a young man named Angel Clare. Angel was the son of a Low Church minister who refused to follow in his father's footsteps and instead wanted to be a farmer and landowner. While learning milking techniques at the dairy, he noticed Tess, a quiet girl who was different from other rural girls, and fell in love with her. He thought Tess was a beautiful and innocent young woman and believed she was the perfect one. He began to pay attention to her and get closer to her. They met frequently, often in the dim morning light, among the violets or at the pink dawn. Because milking required getting up very early, and they were often the first ones to rise. They would go outdoors to an open, misty meadow, where the morning light and fog blended, making them feel as if they were Adam and Eve. Through their shared labor, their feelings for each other grew, and gradually, like fire, their love became intense. Angel's love for Tess changed his vision of life. He wanted to give up the arranged marriage his family had planned for him and marry Tess, the daughter of nature, full of poetry. Although Tess loved Angel deeply, the shame of her past lost purity weighed heavily on her, causing her immense pain. She tried several times to tell Angel about her past but swallowed her words at the last moment. Tess carried a heavy cross. She felt that if she didn't reveal her past to Angel, it would be a deception. Therefore, a few days before the wedding, she gathered the courage to write a letter to Angel, explaining her past. She slipped the letter under Angel's door, leaving it to his discretion. However, the letter fell under the rug and was never seen by Angel. On the wedding day, Tess discovered the letter under the rug and, disappointed, destroyed it, deciding to tell her husband that night.
On their wedding night, they arrived at a rented house, an ancestral estate of Tess's family. Before Tess could tell Angel about her past, he revealed a part of his own. He had spent 48 hours in with a stranger in London. As soon as Angel admitted his guilt and confessed to Tess, she immediately forgave him. After hearing his story, she felt an indescribable sense of relief and joy, believing her own sins were no greater than his. But she never imagined that when she revealed her own story, Angel would not forgive her. He turned cruel, mocking Tess as the descendant of a fallen noble family and a rural woman who didn't understand what dignity was. No matter how Tess pleaded, he remained unmoved. Angel was an advanced thinker with a kind heart, a typical figure of his time. Although he tried to judge things independently, when faced with an extraordinary situation, he was still a slave to conventions. He abandoned Tess and went alone to Brazil. Tess was left alone in despair. She endured silently, waiting for a day when she could be reunited with Angel. To save Angel's reputation, she returned to her parents' home and refused to tell them about her husband's departure. She also concealed her identity as Angel's wife from outsiders. She used the money Angel had given her to support her family and lived without means, taking on short-term jobs.
In winter, Tess walked alone on the path to the highland farm. She wore a workwoman's uniform, her half face covered with a cloth, and her eyebrows plucked. Passersby were startled by her appearance. Tess, tears in her eyes, said to herself, "From now on, I will always dress to appear ugly, because Angel is not here to protect me. I love only him, and I am willing for other men to despise me." At the Oakwell farm, she endured scorn and mistreatment and was forced to do menial labor. She fed bundles of wheat into a high-speed threshing machine, exhausted but enduring, waiting for news from Angel and hoping one day they could be reunited.
On December 30 of the following year, Tess heard a preacher deliver a sermon. The preacher was Aleck d'Urberville, the man who had tormented her. Four years earlier, Aleck had been full of obscenities, but now he spoke of virtue and morality. His hypocrisy disgusted Tess. Seeing Tess, Aleck abandoned his sermon and his teachings, and once again began to harass her at the farm. Enraged, Tess struck him with her glove. But Aleck did not give up. He threatened fiercely, "Remember this, my lady. You couldn't escape my grasp before, and you won't escape it now. If you are to be a wife, you will be my wife!" Unable to bear the heavy physical labor and Aleck's relentless harassment and threats, Tess wrote a heartfelt letter to Angel, begging him to rescue her. Meanwhile, her female coworker also wrote a letter to Angel, urging him to return quickly to protect his wife. In Brazil, Angel suffered greatly, fell ill with fever, and saw his dream of farming shattered. He began to regret his actions and realized his treatment of Tess was unjust and cruel. Although Tess's virtue had been violated in the past, her character was noble. Angel recognized his mistake and returned to England to find his wife, determined to make amends. But when he found Tess in a seaside apartment, it was too late. It turned out that after her father's death, Tess had been waiting for Angel's reply but had no choice but to return to Aleck to support her mother and five siblings. Seeing this, Angel left in despair. Angel's return brought Tess immense pain. She felt her entire life had been ruined by Aleck. In her despair, she killed Aleck with a kitchen knife and chased after Angel as he left. They avoided the main roads and hid in an empty house in the wilderness, spending their happiest days as a married couple. Later, they came to a heath with standing stones. Exhausted, Tess lay on the altar and told Angel that she hoped he would marry her younger sister, Lydgate, after her death.
A few days later, the police who were hunting them discovered their hiding place. Tess saw the strangers and was not frightened, as she had expected this. She stood up, shook the dirt from her shoulders, and calmly said to them, "I am done. Let's go." When dawn broke, Tess was led away by the police, walking to the gallows with composure. Angel, following Tess's wishes, took her sister and began a new life.