Q.

Tessoft
heD'
Urber
vil
l
es:
Tess-APur
eWoman.

Tesswasasi mple,
innocent,
guidel
essandhy persensi
ti
vegirl
,tr
appedinat r
adi
ti
onall
yboundsociet
y.Shewentt othe
D’Urbervi
ll
estoseekhelpforherstarvedfamil
y.ThereshemetAl ecwhoseducedher ,r
uini
ngherl
ife.Shecamebackandnar rat
ed
thewhol estorytohermothertrul
ythatbothAl
ecandshewer eseduced.Whenhermot heraskedhertomaket hebestofthi
s,she
refused.Later
,shemetAngel whoj i
lt
edheronlearningherofbeingunchaste.However
,lat
er,
real
i
zinghisownmi stake,
hecame
backt oher,but,
shehadst ar
tedli
vingwit
hAlecashermi st
ress.Thelasti
mpor t
anti
nci
dentwasAlec’smurderatthehandofTess.

Thecri
ti
csaccuseTessofimpuri
tyont
woaccounts.Fi
rstl
y,t
heseductionscenepresupposesTess’i
mpli
edconsent
.She
nev
ershowedanysignofdisappr
oval
asshedidwhenAlecfir
sttr
iedtokissher.Secondly
,bei
ngthewifeofAngel
andAlec’
sbei
ng
animpr
operper
son,Tess-
li
kegirl
wouldnev
erhavesur
renderedtoAlec,
onlytopr ov
idethefamil
yali
ving.

OntheVi ctori
anstandardofpur i
ty,
i.
e.thelossofchast i
tyisthelossofpur i
ty,
Tesswoul dcer
tai
nlyappeartobeimpious,
because,fi
rstl
y ,
shelostherchastit
y,andsecondly,wit
hherconsent .But,toHardy,i
tisthemostfaul
tyandnar r
owconceptof
mor al
i
ty.Tohi m,chasti
tyisoftwot ypes–chast i
tyofthemi ndandoft hebody.Chastit
yofthebodyisrelat
edtovir
gini
ty,wher
eas
thatofmindist hepuri
tyofthemi ndandsoul .ToHardy ,
real chasti
tyisthechasti
tyofthemindandsoul .Onemaybebodi ly
unchaste;sti
l
l hecanbechast e,i
fhei schastebyhissoul andmi nd.Thosewhohav eimpuresoulandmi ndarenot‘
pure’despi
te
thechasti
tyoft hei
rbody.He, t
herefore,
call
sTesspur efor,inspiteoflosingbodil
ychastit
ysheneverlostpuri
tyoft
hesoul .

Tessst andsasasy mbol ofunf l

inchingandpur elove.Shelovedforthesakeofloveonlywi t
houtanyconsi der
ati
on.Shewent
onl ov i
ngAngel inspit
eofhisbei ngunf aithful
.Tesshadpur it
yofdealings,andwarmf eel
ingsforeveryonewi t
houtanypersonalgai
n.
Afterl osingherchastity,
shenev ertr
iedt odeceiveanyone.Shet ol
dhermot herandAngel tr
ulyabouttheirseducti
on.Shewasa
symbol ofself-
sacrif
iceandemot i
onal self
-cont
rol.Sheneverbehavedhy per-
senti
mentall
yandal wayskeptherpassionsunder
cont rolofherintell
ect.Shenev erraisedhueandcr yandnev ershedtearsbeforeanyonetogetsy mpathies.Shewentonsacr i
fi
cing
hersel fforthesakeofAngel ,herf ami l
yorany oneshecameacr oss.Shev i
rt
uall
yproposedtoAngl etomar ryEza,HeelyorMari
an
forsheconsi der
edher selfi
nferiortoany oneoft hem.

Al
lthi
spr ovet hepurityofTess’ soulandmind.Hadshebeeni mpure,shecouldhav enarratedone-si
dedstoryt
ohermot her
thatshewasr apedbyAl ec.Shecoul dhav ebl
amedhermot herorherfat
e.Hadshebeeni mpi ous,shecouldhaveki
lled‘
Sorrow’ at
i
tsbi rt
htoav oiddisreputation,butshelovedhim andbapt i
zedhim her
selfaftertheref
usalofcl er
gyman.Hadshebeeni mmor al
,
shewoul dn’thav eresist
edAngel ’
sloveforalongt ime.But,shewasawoman, havingpassiontobel oved;sosheyi
eldedtoAngel ’
s
l
ov e,butshehadt hroughoutbeent r
yingtounveilhersecrettoAngel.Shewr otehim alett
er,explai
ningtheenti
resi
tuati
on,butthe
l
etterwasmi splaced.Shecamet oknowt hiswhent heirmar r
iagehadbeensol emnized.Duet ohisunchangedbehaviourshewas
satisfi
ed,t
hathehasf or
givenher .Yetshehadnoi ntenti
ontodeceiveAngel.Hadshebeencheapmi ndedandmean, shewoul d
hav econdemnedAngel whenhel eftforBrazi
ldesertingher.Butsheacceptedt hesit
uati
onf orsheknewshewasequal l
y
responsibl
e.Ther ear emanyi nci
dentscryingatthet opoftheirvoi
cethatTesswasapur ewoman.

Thechar gesl
ev el
edagainstTesscanbenegat edpr
ompt ly
.Shedi dn’thaveimpli
edconsentint heseduct
ion,f
orseductioni
sa
sortofintoxicati
on.Noonei swill
full
yseduced.AsTessf ellavicti
mt oseduct i
on,any
onewouldhav ebeenseducedundersuch
romanticcircumst ances.Shewast ooinnocenttojudgeAlec’si
nt enti
onsf oritwasherfi
rstcontactwi t
hanyman.ThenAl ec
deli
beratelyrodethehor sesofastthatthroughouttheway,shekeptf eelingt hecl
oseandwar mt ouchesofAlec.Whent hey
reachedt heappointedplace,sheslept.Theromanticatmospher e,darknessandt hesil
enceprevail
ingev er
ywherealsocontri
but
ed
tomakeherseduced.Sowecannotbl ameherf orhavi
ngbeenseducedwi t
hherconsent.

Thesecondchar gelooks,rather,v
ali
dandundeni abl
e.Sti
l
l,bef
oreblami ngTess, wemustconsi derthei
nev i
tabl
eandbi tt
er
conditi
ons,l
eadingTesst oacceptsuchasl uronherfai
rname.Tesshadbeensuf feri
ngthroughoutherli
fet
il
l t
hesaturati
onpoint
arri
ved.Shetriedherbestt ocont actAngel
, butfai
l
ed;sheaimedtogetsomej ob,buti
nv ai
n.Herfamilywasatt heedgeof
starvati
onafterherfather’
sdeat handt heseriousail
mentofhermother.ThenAl ecassuredherthatAngelwouldn’tr
eturn.Soshe
venturedtoli
v ewit
hAl ecashi smi str
ess.Shedi di
tunderdi
renecessit
y ,
notf orlustoranypersonalend.Butshenev eraccepted
Alecf r
om herheart.Alec’
smur derpr ovesthisfact
.Itmaybeaner r
or;yetitalonecannev erproveherunchaste.Keepingthisl
ast
i
ncidentaside,sheisundeni abl
ypur e.Sopur eandhonestshewast hatshedi dn’tconcealfr
om Angel t
hefactofherlivi
ngwi t
hAlec
ashismi st
ress.

Tesswasthatperf
ectl
yapurewomanwhoacci dent
all
ylostherchastit
yandkeptplay i
ngatoyinthehandsoffate.Har
dy
remarksonthedeathofTessthat:"
Justi
cewasdoneandt hePresidentoftheImmortal
s, byAeschel
yl
ianPhrase,hadendedhi
s
sportwit
hTess."Thi
salsorefl
ect
stheinnocenceandpuri
tyofTess,who, despi
tepr
odigiousnumberofsufferi
ngs,neverl
ostt
he
puri
tyofhermindandsoul,and,t
heref
ore,wasti
tl
ed‘Apurewoman’ byHardy.