4。1。 Birds, Symbol of Hope and Freedom 10

4。2。 Tess, Similar to Rabbits, Having no Resistance 11

4。3。 Cows and Cocks, Symbols of Tess’s Tragic Fate 11

5。 Conclusion 13

6。 References 14

1。 Introduction

Thomas Hardy (1840--1928)，novelist and poet, is one of the representatives of English critical realism at the turn of the 19th century。 He was born in Dorset, an agricultural district in the southern England, where he called “Wessex” in his books。 His father, a builder himself, wanted him to be a builder。 From his father Hardy gained an appreciation of music and from his mother an appetite for learning and the delights of the countryside about his rural home。 However, because of his family’s social position, he couldn’t get a university education, and his formal education ended at the age of sixteen。 Permeated by religion and music, these early years in the rural South West were to have a profound influence on Hardy and the imaginary “Wessex” of his later novels。 At the age of 22, Hardy later moved to London, where he studied architecture for five years but at the same time also became interested in literature and philosophy。 On his return to his native countryside in 1867, Hardy began to write novels。 His first attempt at literature proved successful。 So he gave up architecture and made literature as his profession。 While, for the last three decades of his life, he turned back to poetry and became one of the major Victorian poets。 Hardy wrote prodigiously and himself grouped his Victorian novels into three series: novels of character and environment, romances and fantasies and novels of ingenuity。 His principal works are Wessex Novels, those describing the characters and environment of his native countryside, and with those traditional characters he was always sympathetic and mourns over their failure and misfortune, which reflected his stoical pessimism and sense of tragedy in human life。

Hardy’s writing features lie in his determinist stance on the nature of life and the cosmos, his sharp sense of the humorous and absurd and his love and observation of the natural world with strong symbolic effect。 Hardy’s stories are always moving and bewitching。 He deviates consciously from traditional Victorian realism that emphasizes plot more than characterization。 It is definitely to his credit that he manages to bring back to fiction a high sense of tragedy, the Greek sense of fatality。 What’s more, Hardy places emphasis on the deeper psychology of his characters。 Hardy’s language possesses a silent power and charm, studded with rhetorical devices and poetic imagery, richly connotative。 From优Y尔E论W文W网wWw.YouERw.com 加QQ75201,8766

1。1。 Brief Introduction of Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Tess of the D’Urbervilles, which can be regarded as the summit of Hardy’s literary creation, possesses a very important position in literary history of the world。 Since its first publication in 1891, it has attracted people’s attention and argument。 This story is about the tragic fate of a sixteen-year-old girl named Tess Durbeyfield。 Her innocence and ignorance of sex causes the seduction by Alec and therefore lose the chastity。 After physical and spiritual sufferings, Tess leaves home and works as a dairymaid on a distant farm to start a new life。 There she falls in love with Angel Clare, a clergyman’s son, who comes close to Tess, caring her and loving her。 However, on the wedding night, after Tess’s confession about her past, Clare’s attitude changes drastically and deserts her abruptly for Brazil。 Hopelessly, the oppression of life drives Tess to seek assistance from Alec and becomes his mistress。 Years later Angel Clare returns from Brazil, repenting his harshness, but find her living with Alec。 Under the torment of the hate for Alec and the love for Angel, Tess falls into great despair, so she decides to stab Alec and run away with her lover。 But then she is speedily arrested and hanged。 论文网