Thomas Hardy: 'Tess of the d'Urbevilles‪'‬

This critical and contextual study by a distinguished

critic sheds new light on Hardy’s famous novel of



rural life, sexual desire and tragic irony. The co-

ordinating theme of this study is that Hardy designed



Tess of the d'Urbervilles to be controversial, and it

has surpassed his design. An initial biographical

chapter relates Tess to Hardy’s career: the novel

caused scandal but brought him wealth. Next, the

work’s process of composition is discussed, and

differences between the censored serial and the

book versions are explained. An analysis of the plot

gives particular attention to its ironic strategies, and

a further section deals with problematic aspects of

characterisation, including the views of the narrator.

Various themes and contexts are explored, notably

Hardy’s attitudes to religion, evolution, politics and

sexuality. There follows a discussion of selected

literary aspects: naturalism and realism, leitmotifs

and thematic patterns, optical effects and

defamiliarisation, and the use of specialised

vocabularies. Hardy’s descriptive powers when

rendering the rural world receive particular analysis.

A critical survey then summarises critical

approaches to this novel between Hardy’s day and

the present.