Literature B1+ Units

Tess of the d'Urbervilles 28/11/07 12:54 Page 1

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy intermediate

‘Your father has just heard some good news,’ Tess’s

5

TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES

mother said. ‘The Durbeyfields are members of the
oldest and most noble family in the whole country.
Our real name is d’Urberville!’

When Tess Durbeyfield is asked by her father to find

ABOUT THE STORY

their wealthy relations, she soon finds herself chased
by the rich and wicked Alec d’Urberville. The events
that follow bring Tess terrible guilt and shame.

Tess finally escapes to find new love and happiness.

But her shameful past is never far behind.

THOMAS HARDY
• Extra grammar and vocabulary exercises
• Notes about the life of Thomas Hardy

Tess Durbeyfield comes from a poor, working-class rural family. However, her father learns that
• Notes about the story
• Points for Understanding comprehension questions
• Glossary of difficult vocabulary
• Free resources including worksheets, tests and author

they are actually descended from a noble family, and that their real name is d’Urberville. One day,
data sheets at www.macmillanenglish.com/readers

• Audio CD/download available for this title

an accident kills the family horse, their only source of income. Tess blames herself for the accident 1 Starter MACMILLAN READERS
This series provides a wide variety of enjoyable reading
Tess of the d’Urbervilles

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3 Elementary material for all learners of English. Macmillan Readers
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and so agrees to her mother and father’s suggestion that she go and see the d’Urbervilles, a rich
4 Pre-intermediate
5 Intermediate
titles as well as specially written stories, published at
six levels.
Thomas Hardy
6 Upper

british english

landowning family in the next village. She plans to explain their family connection in the hope
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that she will be able to find employment with her newly discovered rich relatives. Use your Macmillan
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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tess of the d’Urbervilles, published in 1891, is one of Thomas Hardy’s most famous novels. Like most of his novels, it is
set in the fictional county of Wessex, an area that comprises the south-west of England. In the novel, Hardy examines
social class in Victorian England. He also explores the shift away from the traditional classifications of working-, middle-
and upper-class to a new kind of landowning class, in which people whose families did not originally have money were
able to become rich through industry and were able to buy land. It also examines the injustices and unfairness of life,
and how easily women of the time were controlled and dominated by men. The book was made into a film in 1979 and
then a mini series for TV in 2008.

4G 9:20 56%

25 ‘Your mother, sir’, answered Tess.

Chapter 2
‘I’m afraid that you cannot speak to her. She is ill.

Alec d’Urberville What do you want to talk to her about?’

Early the next day, Tess walked to Shaston, and from
there a van took her to Trantridge.
At the village of Trantridge, Tess got out of the van and
walked up the hill. After a few minutes she saw The
5 Slopes - a large, new manor house which was surrounded
by some land, garden and a little farm. Behind the house
was The Chase - a hill covered with trees.
‘I thought that we were an old family, but this house
and farm are all new’, Tess said to herself. Suddenly,
10 she wanted to go home again.
The d’Urbervilles - or the Stoke-d’Urbervilles, as they
first called themselves - were not really d’Urbervilles
at all. The Stokes were from the north of England. The
family had given themselves the name of d’Urberville
15 when they came to live in the south of England. Of
course, Tess did not know this. Parson Tringham was
right. John Durbeyfield and his family were the only
real d’Urbervilles in Wessex.
A tall young gentleman came out of the house. He was
20 about twenty-four years old, with dark brown eyes
and a black moustache.
‘Well, my beauty,’ he said, looking at Tess and smiling.
‘What can I do for you? I’m Alec d’Urberville. Have you
come to speak to me, or my mother?’
‘It - it’s something foolish. I’m afraid to tell you,’
Tess replied.
30 ‘Tell me,’ said the young man. ‘I like foolish things’.
‘I - I am from the same family as you, sir’.
‘Oh! Are you poor relatives? Are you a member of
the Stoke family?’
‘No, the d’Urberville family, sir’.
35 ‘Ah, yes. I meant to say the d’Urbervilles’.
‘We are called Durbeyfield, but our parson
discovered that we are d’Urbervilles’, said Tess.
‘Mother said that we are the oldest part of the
family. She wanted me to tell you this. And I have to
40 tell you that our horse died in an accident.’
Alec d’Urberville looked at Tess until she blushed.
‘Well where do you live, my pretty girl?’ he asked.
‘What do you do?’
Tess told him about her home in Marlott and her
45 family. She told him that she helped her father to
look after his chickens. Finally she said, ‘I will go
back to Marlott on the van from Trantridge, sir’.
‘It’s some time before the van returns’, he said.
‘Until then, let’s walk in the gardens. Do you like
50 strawberries, my pretty?

A VOCABULARY FOCUS
van (line 2): here a horse drawn wagon for transporting people
manor house (line 5): a large country house
foolish (line 28): lacking good sense and judgement
meant (line 35): intended
blushed (line 41): to go red because you are shy or embarrassed

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 Literature
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
  Before reading
1 In late 19th century England, where Tess of the
d’Urbervilles is set, social class was extremely
important. What do you understand by the terms
below? What kind of jobs would people from each
class do? Discuss your ideas in pairs.
a working class
b middle class
c upper class
d landowning class/landed gentry
e nobility/aristocracy
2 Read About the story. Discuss the following
questions in pairs.
1 Why do Tess’s parents send her to see the
d’Urberville family?
2 Do you think the family are wise to send Tess to find
the d’Urbervilles?
3 What do you think will happen when Tess meets the
d’Urbervilles? What will they say or do?
  While reading
1 Read the extract. Answer these questions in your
own words.
1 What is Tess’s journey like to reach the d’Urbervilles?
2 What does Tess notice about the house and farm
when she arrives? Why is she surprised?
3 How does Tess feel when she arrives at the house?
4 Who is Alec?
5 Why does Tess feel foolish when she introduces
herself?
2 Think about the characters of Tess and Alec.
1 How would you describe each of the characters?
Look for evidence in the text to support your
opinions.
2 How do you think each of them feels about the other
one? Again, look for examples in the text.
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B1+ Units
3 The excerpt describes some confusion
surrounding people’s names. Answer these
questions. Find evidence to support your answer
where relevant.
1 What is Tess’s family’s original version of the name
‘d’Urberville’? How are the two names different?
2 Where is Alec’s family originally from and what was
their family name?
3 Why do you think they changed their family name?
4 Who does Alec initially think Tess is?
5 Why does he say ‘Ah, yes. I meant to say the
d’Urbervilles.’?
4 In line 8 Tess says ‘I thought that they were an old
family, but this house and farm are all new.’ What
does Tess mean by ‘old family’? What is significant
about the fact that the house and the farm are
new? What does it say about the social class of
the d’Urbervilles?
  After reading
1 Work in groups and discuss these questions.
1 What does the extract tell you about social mobility
in late 19th century England?
2 Who is the more powerful of the two characters, and
why?
3 How do you think Tess would feel if she knew the
truth about Alec’s family? Would it change the way
she feels or behaves towards him? If so, in what way?
2 Work in pairs. Imagine that Tess finds out the
truth about Alec’s family and the family name.
Discuss what happens next. Use the questions
below as well as your own ideas.
1 Does Tess confront Alec, or does she not say
anything?
2 Does it change what Tess asks from the d’Urbervilles,
or the way she behaves towards Alec?
3 Does Alec find out that she knows? If so, how does
this change his attitude towards her?
3 Now write a passage describing what happens
immediately after Tess discovers the truth about
Alec. When you have finished, work in small
groups and read your extracts. Were your ideas
similar or different?
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