温州师范学院外语系98本 陈茜
'…Poor wounded name! My bosom as a bed shall lodge three.' No one who has ever
read Tess of the D'ubervilles by Thomas Hardy can restrain from moved and showy
great sympathy to the heroine. Tess was a tragic character; her tragedy was
the result of her strong sense of responsibility.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles depicts the life of a pure beautiful countryside woman.
Tess was raped by Alec when she was young. At a dairy farm, she fell in love
with Angel, a good young man. On their wedding night, she took great courage
to tell the bridegroom her unfortunate past. Angel couldn't bear it and left
her. Tess was regarded as a corrupt woman by her fellows. Yielding to the poor
life, she had to live together with Alec who had been a preacher, shortly after;
angel came back from Brazil and asked for Tess's forgiveness to his mercilessness.
Therefore, Tess was sunk on the deeps of despair. She thought it was Alec who
destroyed her happiness and finally stabbed him. She herself was hanged as a
punishment.
Obviously, Tess thought it was her task to kill Alec; it was her responsibility-for herself, for her husband and for the possible girls who suffered the same with her. The task had been finished, so she couldn't wait to tell her husband and smile returned to her face.
The sense of responsibility made Tess respond naturally to every particular situation. This respond dragged her into difficult positions and confronted her with tragic ending. Hardy succeeded in depicting his heroine, who is seduced, abandoned, and finally driven to murder for which she is hanged, a pure woman and innocent of any intention to sin.
