Criticism on Hardy's Tess of The D'Urbervilles

The review that stuck out to me most was Raymond Williams "Love and Work." He talks mostly about how Hardy writes about where he comes from and who he is. However, in doing this he is neither one thing nor another. "He is neither owner nor tenant, dealer nor labourer, but an observer and chronicler, often again with uncertainty about his actual relation" (464). Even more interesting Williams suggests that Hardy "was not writing for them but about them" (464). Williams implies that Hardy was more about the abstract.

This review really stuck to me because it doesn't really praise Hardy completely nor put him down like most critics do. Instead it analysis where Hardy is coming from. I think by knowing more about his character we can understand Tess and the novel more. By  Hardy not being one specific thing but rather being an observer I think that the missing pieces in the novel make more sense. In other words, he was "uncertain about his actual relation" and I think we too see this in Tess. Therefore, I think this is why we don't get an explanation of why Tess runs back to Alec, kills Alec, etc. He leaves it up for the reader to decide because he doesn't know the relationships and he wasn't "writing for them but about them." It is interesting to think that maybe Hardy didn't put these big moments in his novel because he doesn't know the answer to why or how they played out the way they did.

Contemporary Reviews of Tess

The Illustrated London News applauds Thomas Hardy for what they call "the finest work which he has yet produced" (382). The review suggests that Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of Hardy's best works because he challenges the conventional reader. Not only does it challenge the conventional ready but the novel shows women in such a way that does not put blame on their misfortunes but on nature. Whereas, The Saturday Review has a completely different opinion on Tess of the D'Urbervilles "Mr. Hardy, it must be conceded, tells an unpleasant story in a very unpleasant way" (384). The Saturday Review implies that the novel is unpleasant because of the main character in it Tess. They are not pleased with how Tess went back to Alec after loathing for the whole novel.

I never understood nor can I now understand why Tess is so disliked. I understand that she ran back to Alec after loathing him for much of the novel, but what woman hasn't ran back to a guy that did her wrong? Especially if the guy is begging day in and day out and if their true love left them. Alec was in my eyes a rebound boy, and Tess realized this when she ran back to her love the minute he returned. While, yes she killed Alec; and that is beyond crazy, she snapped after a long life  misfortunes. This is why I have to agree with The Illustrated London News, Hardy wrote a novel that went against the normal novel of the time. Every reader wanted a happy ending, however, Hardy was smart enough to see that life in general is not filled with happy endings. Therefore, I think his novel is more of a truthful novel. Crappy things happen in life, but sometimes we can't control what happens, much like Tess couldn't with certain events.