Tess - Red Candle, a must-read classic for teenagers

Author: Thomas Hardy
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: How society forces a pure, simple, upright, hardworking, intelligent, and beautiful rural girl to the brink of despair and ultimately to murder. Tess of the d'Urbervilles tells such a story. The loss of innocence of the protagonist, Tess, is mainly the responsibility of Alec; her second fall into Alec's hands is the responsibility of her parents, Angel, and Alec; and her killing Alec is the final resistance of the oppressed weakling. Throughout Tess, we see her pure nature struggling against the forces that press upon her. In the end, she is driven to the gallows, becoming a sacrifice on the altar, while society and readers still coldly discuss her chastity—how callous the world is!