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.
I definitely agree. Like I said in my own blog, I like that Tess seemed like a more rounded and believable character than the ones in the other novels. Maybe that's just bias as someone in this century, but I certainly think it's what made the book a much faster read than the others as well.
ReplyDeleteTruth Novel. That should be a genre of its own. I agree with you completely. Unlike many authors of that time, Hardy seemed to focus of the life as reality instead of life as a fairy tale. I feel like he could have ended that novel at a few different points and created that happy ending, like when Tess and Alec reunite, of when Angle (finally) returns. But instead he pushed the novel, and the characters further and further and created a very powerful ending, although it does not fit into the romantic "and they lived happily ever after." Which could be a very large reason on why the novel received so much criticism.
ReplyDeleteTess is a character that stands up for herself and works hard for her families needs. Hardy did a good job in showing that life is hard to many people all the time instead of some of the time. He also broke the mold by having Tess kill Alec because it was something that no other female has done before.
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