现实百态 》 德伯的苔絲 Tess of the d'Urbervilles 》
第一章 I
托馬斯·哈代 Thomas Hardy
I
《德伯的苔絲》是哈代的代作，它描寫一位農村姑娘的悲慘命運。哈代在小說的副標題中稱女主人公為“一個純潔的女人”，公開地維多利亞時代虛偽的社會道德挑戰。
《德伯的苔絲》-內容簡介
因生活無着落，苔絲由父母安排，去德伯威爾族認親，誰知道德伯威爾是一個冒充的資本。德伯威爾太太的兒子阿萊是個花花公子，他趁機侮辱苔絲。苔絲毅然離開德伯威爾。她結識低教派牧師的兒子萊爾。新婚之夜，苔絲訴說自己的遭遇，萊爾翻臉無情，拋棄苔絲，獨自去巴西。流浪中，她再次遭遇偽善的教徒阿萊的糾纏。迫於生計，她重又到他的身邊。萊爾在巴西的經使他認識到自己的過錯，國尋找苔絲。萊爾的到來使苔絲陷入矛盾之中，與阿萊爭吵，由於絶望而殺死他。隨，她和萊爾在荒野度過茶几天神奇的逃亡生活。七月的一個清晨，城監獄樓閣的高桿上緩緩升起執行死刑的黑旗，萊爾因此抱憾終生。
《德伯的苔絲》-故事梗概
故事生在英格蘭南部的德瑟特。傍晚，暮色籠罩着遼闊的田野，一群少女穿着白色的連衣裙，戴着白花編成的花冠，踏着明快的鄉村舞節奏，在草坪上跳舞。她們中間有個姑娘叫苔絲，生得秀麗、端莊，周圍沒一個姑娘比得上她。然而，就從這一天起，厄運一直追隨着她。
她的父親約翰•德皮菲爾德剛纔聽本村的牧師說，德皮菲爾德其實是古老騎士名門德伯維爾的直子孫。窮極潦倒的約翰聽信以為真喜出望外，趕緊把這喜訊告訴老婆喬安娜。喬安娜想起在德蘭特山那邊，住着一位姓德伯維爾的有錢的老太太。於是他們决定讓苔絲去認這門本。苔絲為想幫助鄰里里程度過苦日子，勉強答應，但心很憂。
第二天，苔絲穿着素淨的長裙，輓着一隻籃子走進德伯維爾。她畏畏縮縮不敢前進，正待她想往走時，一個男子的聲音叫住她：“喂，漂亮的妞兒，有何貴？”他就是老太太的兒子亞雷·德伯維爾。他叼着支煙，慢慢朝苔絲走來。苔絲很窘，結結巴巴地說出原委。“窮親戚。”亞雷明白。其實，他知道“德伯維爾”和“德皮菲爾德”是兩個完全不同的姓氏，再說，他的姓氏“德伯維爾”也是用高價買來的，所以根本沒“親戚”這事。但他還是說動母親讓她在養雞場活。因為，他已被苔絲的美貌吸引住。
在德伯維爾，養雞場的活不算重，老太太也不算難侍候，是亞雷時時纏着她。一天晚上，苔絲和其她女工一塊到鄰村去參加舞會。舞會結束時，天已很晚。天上月光皎潔，她們三五成群地村去。一個叫卡爾的姑娘，頭上頂着柳條籃子，糖漿從縫漏出來淌在她背上，遭到大的取笑。她無處火，竟朝着苔絲駡起來：“你這個賤貨，你以為有那個男人寵着，就神氣啦……”苔絲很委屈。這時，亞雷騎着馬出現在她們中間，他知道事情的原委，就叫苔絲上他的馬。
亞雷趕着馬走進森林。苔絲睜着疲乏的眼睛問：“您走錯路吧？”“管它呢。這是英格蘭最古老、最美麗的森林。今晚多美，我這良辰美景永無頭……”苔絲有些不安，但聽到亞雷說他已送一匹馬給她時，又有些感激。亞雷拿起苔絲的手偷偷吻一下，又要擁抱她，本能的恐懼使苔絲猛力將亞雷推下馬去。亞雷跌倒在地，頭撞在樹樁上鮮血直淌。苔絲緊張而又歉疚地蹲在他身旁抽抽嗒嗒地哭。亞雷趁勢把她擁進懷熱烈地吻她。苔絲被這長長的吻陶醉，情不自禁地依偎在他懷。亞雷慢慢解開她小夾的紐扣，撩起她的裙子，將整個身子撲上去。此時清醒的苔絲拼命掙紮，但已無濟於事……
從此，穿着粗衣的苔絲不見，亞雷把她打扮得雍容華貴，但這些遮不住苔絲的滿腔愁苦，她决定學家全家家庭家乡，再也不想做亞雷的玩物。當苔絲走進村看見自己的時，禁不住淚流滿面。
幾個月以，亞雷的孩子出世，但不久便夭受不了。苔絲掩埋孩子在萊莫爾山𠔌的一牧場找到一份擠牛奶的工作。場主待人很和氣，同事們也相處得很好，苔絲的心情開始好起來，她覺得以前的那段經似乎已經很遙遠。這時，有個年輕人闖進她心中，他叫安吉爾，是牧師的兒子，到牧場來是專學擠扔的。安吉爾也在心中深深地愛着苔絲。一天，苔絲在野外擠牛奶，安吉爾走到她身邊，突然抱住她給她久久的一吻。安吉爾走，苔絲仰靠在牛背上，心蕩神馳。
安吉爾苔絲求婚，這使苔絲陷入矛盾和痛苦中。她愛安吉爾，安吉爾是她苦難生活中唯一的希望，她不失去他；但她又不能欺騙安吉爾，對他隱瞞自己以往的經。然而，一旦告訴安吉爾，他還會愛她嗎？苔絲不敢想象。但最，苔絲還是把自己過去的一切寫信告訴安吉爾。苔絲把信塞進安吉爾閣樓的門縫徹夜難眠。好不容易熬到天明，她神情嚴肅地站在閣樓下等待着判决。安吉爾終於下來，他像以前一樣熱烈地擁抱苔絲，苔絲如釋重負。他們在結婚前的一段時間，沉浸在幸福的峰巔。可是有一天，苔絲抱着野花去裝點安吉爾的閣樓時，現自己寫的那封信仍原封未動地插在門下。苔絲愣住，經過激烈的矛盾，她終於把信塞進自己的衣襟中。因為她太渴望幸福。
結婚的日子終於到，婚禮結束，他們去郊外的墅度蜜月。女把宅內佈置得喜氣洋洋。安吉爾把一隻精緻的摩洛哥皮箱放在苔絲的前，苔絲小心翼翼地打開，眼前剎時一片珠光寶氣，那是安吉爾的傳珍寶——鑽石項鏈和耳環。安吉爾親手給苔絲佩戴，退茶几步入神地欣賞着，安吉爾再次為苔絲的美貌而傾倒。“我要告訴你一件事，”安吉爾神情嚴肅，他請求苔絲寬恕他以前和一個女人廝混的事。苔絲用她熱烈的擁抱答安吉爾。她鼓足勇氣，講她和亞雷的事。但安吉爾的神色立即黯淡下來，他走出房間，在宅前一條昏暗的小路上徘徊。他不肯寬恕苔絲，他愛以前心中的那個苔絲，而不受現在這個失去貞節的，帶着沒落貴族血液的苔絲。苔絲茫然地站在黑暗中，凄苦不已。
安吉爾為名譽既不和苔絲離婚，又不和苔絲生活在一起。第二天，他身去巴西，苔絲退下耳環、項鏈，受不了娘。苔絲再也沒有希望，生活又越來越艱難。父親死，母親因付不出房租被趕到大街上，帶四五個弟妹到處流浪，最衹有衹不過好在路邊搭個帳篷聊避風雨。苔絲在各處着苦活，流汗水，受凌辱。
苔絲曾給安吉爾寫過信，但都如石沉大海，杳無音訊。直到年以，安吉爾在外吃不少苦，對以前不理解的事終於能理解，他意識到自己這樣對待苔絲是不公正的。他還愛着苔絲，於是他趕英國方百計地尋找苔絲，最在海濱一座漂亮的墅找到她。但安吉爾已經來得太晚，在她最難的時候，亞雷幫助她們度過難關，所以苔絲又跟他過。苔絲穿着華麗的睡衣來見安吉爾，她用極冷漠的態度對安吉爾說：“……請走吧，以不要再來。”安吉爾無可奈何，得傷心地走。苔絲到房，伏在桌上痛哭不已。這年來的遭遇使她太傷心，她恨這個左右着她命運的道貌岸然的男人亞雷！過不久，房東太太見苔絲穿着出遠門的衣服匆匆地走出公寓。她有些疑惑，擡頭朝樓上看看，目光落在天花上。雪白的樓上有一個紅點，又一個紅點，而且越來越大，她爬上桌子伸手一摸，是血！
“我把他殺。”苔絲在將要啓動的火車上找到安吉爾，平靜地把殺亞雷的事告訴他。安吉爾望着她蒼白的臉色和白襯裙底襟的血跡，萬分激動地把她緊抱在懷中：“苔絲，我永遠愛你，再也不離開你。”
為躲避追緝，他們在第二站便下車。在僻幽處，他們現一座正待出租的大空宅，便破窗而入。第二天，酣睡中的安吉爾和苔絲被一陣響聲驚醒。原來是看房老太婆現他們。於是，他們又開始逃跑。野外、狂風呼嘯，豺狼嚎叫。荒野的頭，有座龐大的祭遺跡，苔絲疲憊至極，躺在石階上漸漸睡着。遠處，升起一片灰茫茫的霧，忽然，“得得”的馬蹄聲從四面八方朝他們包圍過來，安吉爾眼看無法逃脫，便懇求警察讓苔絲再躺一會兒。但苔絲醒，她望望警察，平靜地說：“走吧。”
四名警察騎着馬在荒野上慢慢地走着，中間是安吉爾和戴着手銬的苔絲。這時，在他們的身，從神的竪柱之間冉冉升起一輪紅日……
《德伯的苔絲》-人物分析
苔絲：女主人公苔絲是一個勤勞善良、美麗純的農姑娘，同時在她身上又有着可貴的堅強、自尊和大膽反抗厄運的品格。為搖擺鐘擺擺放擺手擺明擺龍門陣脫窮，她的母親打她去有錢的“本”亞雷做工，結果遭到亞雷的蹂躪，失去 “清白”。此時的她不僅要面對生活的貧，還要抵禦“道德”的壓力。她來到牛奶場當女工，和來自城的具有“自由思想”的安璣•萊真心相愛。新婚之夜，苔絲為忠實自己的丈夫，安璣講述自己以往的“過失”。現很高的道德勇氣。當丈夫不能諒解，幸福已經破滅時，她又忍住痛苦，咬緊牙關，毅然地獨立謀生。在對待亞雷的態度上，苔絲也充分現自己的人格尊嚴。亞雷百般引誘，她不為之所動，明確示厭惡。最，她在忍無可忍的情況下，殺死這個毀她一生的仇人。
作者也真實地寫到苔絲身上的弱點。苔絲明顯受到舊道德和宿命論思想的影響。她對萊的態度和他對自己命運的悲嘆（“我的命為什麽這樣苦？”“一切都是命中註定的。”）都說明這一點。這樣的描寫，從一定的意義上講，也是現實生活的反映。當然，作本身的命運觀也加深小說的悲觀主義和宿命論的氣氛。苔絲的悲劇是在工業資本日益占領農村，個勞動者喪失生産資料，淪為雇傭勞動者的大背景下出現的。哈代對苔絲的不幸滿懷同情。在小說中，他大聲疾呼：“哪兒是保護苔絲的天使呢？哪兒是她一心信仰的上帝呢？”苔絲是哈代塑造得最為出色的藝形象。
安璣•萊：小說中的安璣•萊形象也刻畫得很成功。他文質彬彬，溫文爾雅，卻反對宗教和傳統的道德。他違背父母的意，到農村學習農業技術，就是想更好地“為人類服務”。應該說，他的人道主義和自由思想有一定的進步意義。但是，萊沒有真正擺脫傳統的道德觀念，在關鍵的時刻，仍然站在傳統的社會禮俗和道德一邊。新婚之夜，苔絲將自己的悲慘遭遇告訴他時，他首先想到的仍然是資産階級的當面表面反面方面正面迎面滿面封面地面路面世面平面斜面前面下面四面十面一面洗心革面方方面面面貌面容面色面目面面俱到和舊的道德，現出虛偽、無情和冷酷。對於苔絲的死，他也有不可推卸的責任。對資産階級的虛偽道德，作給予尖銳的抨擊。
亞雷：具有諷刺意味的是，直接給苔絲帶來不幸的亞雷，不僅是粗魯卑俗、作非為的鄉間惡棍形象，而且是虛偽的宗教和資産階級國機器的代。苔絲再次和亞雷見的時候，亞雷居然已經當上牧師，農民滔滔不絶地宣講聖經。作者通過亞雷形象的塑造，毫不留情地暴露英國社會的黑暗和宗教的虛偽，其批判的力量力透紙背。
哈代善於細膩地描寫人物的內心活動，主要人物形象刻畫生動。優美的農村自然景色的描寫充滿詩情畫意，且能與人物思想情感的描寫巧妙結，具有很強的藝感染力。
《德伯的苔絲》-苔絲的悲劇
苔絲的悲劇是社會悲劇？是命運悲劇？還是性格悲劇？抑或是三之外的什麽？苔絲的悲劇首先是社會悲劇。哈代的“威塞斯”小說是以其故鄉威塞斯為背景的。19世紀中期英國資本主義工業文明侵入農村，哈代的故鄉也遭到強大的衝擊，其宗法社會迅速解，個農民在經濟上陷入失業、貧的悲慘境地。面對工業文明帶來的果，哈代作為一個人道主義着者，心靈受到強烈衝擊，在感情上深深地依戀古老的宗法文明，痛恨工業文明對人們和諧生存狀態的摧毀。哈代鄉土小說的社會悲劇意識立足於當時的社會背景，以工業文明與宗法文明的衝突為切入點，用由全景到局部、由到點的客觀描述筆法，深入地現人們的生存境。《苔絲》中，哈代對當時工業文明對鄉村的衝擊進行全景式描繪，然以苔絲作為個農民的縮影，深入展現人們在物質境中的痛苦掙紮。社會悲劇是人同社會環境的衝突造成的。苔絲生活在英國資本主義侵襲到農村毒化社會氣氛的維多利亞時代。這位弱女子，儘管聰明美麗，勤勞善良，但貧如洗、經濟拮据，負擔沉重，她處於低下的社會地位，作為一個勞動者、一個無權無錢的農業工人，自然會受到資本主義社會的姓种种氏壓迫和凌辱，這些壓迫和凌辱有經濟的、權勢的、肉的、更有精神的、宗教的、道德的、傳統觀念的。她的悲劇是時代造成的，同時，亞雷和雷代受不了把苔絲推深淵的兩不同的客觀社會勢力，他們直接地共同造成苔絲的社會悲劇。
苔絲生活的時代是19世紀80年代。此時，英國資本主義不僅在都市長足展，資本主義大規模的經營方式在農村也開始萌芽（作品所描寫的千克克勤克儉老闆的大牛奶、富農葛露卑農場就是這資本主義生産方式的寫照），隨着資本主義的侵入，長統治下的英國農村一步步趨崩潰，造成個農民的破産，走貧。苔絲作為一個貧苦農民的女兒，而又作為一個雇傭勞動者，其命運必然是悲慘的。因此，苔絲的悲劇是時代、社會悲劇。
苔絲悲劇的第二個原因，也是其悲劇的直接原因，即她是暴力、惡勢力及維護它們的法律、國機器的受害者。這暴力、惡勢力的集中代就是亞雷·德伯。
苔絲在緑草如茵、風景如畫的鄉野長大，儘管家庭生活窘迫，但少女時代的苔絲內心是明朗、歡快的。她熱愛生活、敢於面對一切難，為維持家庭，不惜犧牲自己。第一次去德伯認親，是她極不願意的，可鄰里里程唯一幫助父親維持生計的老馬一死，弟妹一大群，父親又時常洶酒，生活實在艱難，為一人的生活，這個從未出過門的姑娘，帶着膽怯和羞愧的心情，終於去德伯作幫工。
《德伯的苔絲》《德伯的苔絲》
亞雷的父親是個有錢的商人，而冠以貴族德伯的姓氏。這個闊少憑父親的金錢、權勢在鄉野稱霸，為非作歹。他第一次見到苔絲，荒淫好色的嘴臉就暴露無遺。由於苔絲年幼無知，缺乏經驗，而周圍的環境又是那樣黑暗，沒有一個人幫助，沒有一個人保護，因此，他趁人之危，設下圈套，蹂躪、玷污苔絲，毀壞苔絲少女的貞潔和一生的幸福。儘管來他在老萊牧師的幫助下一度改邪歸正，自己也作牧師打算變賣産到非洲去傳教，然而十年的惡習未根除。當他再度碰見苔絲以，邪念再生，年的教誨前功盡弃，倒是苔絲看透這個身着道袍的牧師的靈魂：“象你這人本來都是拿我這樣人開心作樂的，顧自己樂個夠，至於我怎麽受罪你就管不着啦；你作完樂，開夠心，就又說你悟道，預備死再到天堂上去享樂；天下的便宜都叫你占去。”苔絲一針見血地揭穿亞雷皈依宗教的虛偽，亞雷行為的本身也明作者對宗教力量的懷疑。此，亞雷又百般來糾纏、脅逼苔絲，他駡她是傻老婆，欺騙苔絲說她丈夫再也不會來，威脅說：“你記住，我的夫人，你從前沒逃出我的手心去，你這還是逃不出我的手心去。你要作太太，你就得作我的太太。”但是，苔絲寧可繼續留在棱窟槐富農葛露卑的農場忍受殘酷的剝削和壓榨，承受超負荷的重力勞動，也不願意屈服於亞雷，接受他的幫助。然而父親病死，母親身體不好，弟妹失學，房子租賃到期，一人被攆出村子無處安身，為一人的活命，苔絲不得不忍辱含垢，接受亞雷的幫助，作他的情婦。從此，徹底斷送她終生的幸福。苔絲一生都是強權和暴力的受害者。亞雷之所以敢稱霸四野，為非作歹，為所欲為，不僅因為他有錢、有勢，而且更主要的是有資産階級國機器、法律的保護。社會和法律都認為侮辱和迫害苔絲的人是正當的，而受迫害的苔絲則是有罪的。苔絲一生都必得逆來順受，忍受含垢，不能自衛，而當她有生以來第一次起來自衛的時候，“‘典型’明證，埃斯庫羅斯所說的那個衆神主宰對於苔絲的戲弄也完結。”苔絲成資産階級國祭上的祭品。苔絲的悲慘遭遇，社會對苔絲的不公正，明資産階級法律的不仁道和虛偽。
傳統倫理道德對苔絲精神上的摧殘，是苔絲悲劇的又一主要原因。如果說以亞雷為代的惡勢力及其強大的盾——國機器、法律對苔絲的迫害是一種無形的更可怕的精神殘害。
《德伯的苔絲》-相關評論
《德伯的苔絲》是英國著名小說和詩人托馬斯.哈代創作的代作之一，一百多年過去，女主人公苔絲也早已樹立在世界文學畫廊之中，這不僅僅因為人們對傳統美德有所超越，更因為作品主人公所擁有的人性與靈魂深處的巨大魄力使之成為最動人的女性形象之一。哈代以小說女主人公苔絲的悲慘命運替西方悲劇作一個形象的闡釋：苔絲本是一位純潔美麗又非常勤勞的農村姑娘，她往人生的真和善，但又時時遭到偽和惡的打擊。苔絲的悲劇始於為全家人生計去遠親打工，卻因年幼無知而被亞雷騙去處女的貞操，成一個“墮落”的女人，受到社會輿論的非議，把她看成不貞潔的罪人；苔絲來與青年萊相愛，又因為新婚之夜坦誠有污點的過去而被丈夫遺棄，而與近在眼前的幸福失之交臂；出於高度的家庭責任感和自我犧牲精神，苔絲為換取人的生存而再次違淪為亞雷的情婦；最因為丈夫的心轉意使得絶望的苔絲憤而舉起復查仇的利刃，終於成一個殺人犯，最不得不付出生命的代價，導致“象遊絲一樣敏感，象雪一樣潔白”的苔絲最終被完全毀滅。這一切悲性遭遇全由於無情命運所精心謀和設計，安排世事的宇宙主宰通過命運的巨網毫無憐憫地將人倫道德意義上的好人、善良人籠罩於進退維𠔌的苦難陷阱。
《德伯的苔絲》的女主人公苔絲是被哈代理想化的現代女性。在哈代的理想世界中，苔絲是美的象徵和愛的化身，代着威塞斯人的一切優秀的方面：美麗、純潔、善良、質、仁愛和容忍。她敢於自我犧牲，勇於自我反抗和對生活抱有美好的願望。她所特有的感情就是對人的愛和信任，女性的溫柔和勇敢在她身上融成一。她有美麗的女人氣質，堅強的意志和熱烈的感情，同時也有威塞斯人的正直忠實和自然純。她沒有助婚姻來實現追求虛榮的願望，而是立足於自尊去追求自由。在她到冒牌本亞雷“德伯那兒尋求幫助的時候，她的目的是想通過自己的工作來解决家庭的難。她一現自己上當受騙，就堅决離開亞雷”德伯。苔絲的靈魂是純潔的，道德是高尚的，但是在資産階級的道德前，她卻被看成傷風敗俗的典型，奉為警戒淫蕩的榜樣，是侵犯清白領域的“罪惡化身”。哈代的觀點和社會偏見尖銳對立，他通過苔絲這個形象對當時虛偽的道德標嚴加抨擊。哈代堅持道德的純潔在於心靈的純潔，不在於一時的過錯，因此苔絲是“一個純潔的女人”。社會則堅持傳統的習俗，認為一時的過錯就是不可輓救的墮落，苔絲是一個犯姦淫罪的罪人。哈代認為世界上沒有完人。人的完美現在對人生的理解、對生活的熱愛、感情的豐富和忠實的愛情之中，衹有從這樣的完美中才能産生出純潔來。哈代嚴厲批評千克克勤克儉萊代的資産階級的倫理道德，指出它已經成為人們精神上的枷鎖。然而正是這民族風俗習慣結晶的倫理道德，它具有神聖的性質，是不成文的法律，被認作永遠正當的東西。苔絲就是這世俗謬見的犧牲品。哈代通過苔絲的悲慘遭遇無情結揭示出這倫理道德的偽善及其劣根性，把它的殘酷內容暴露出來。
評論稱哈代的小說為命運悲劇，悲劇在於把好的東西毀滅給人看，而苔絲的毀滅是命運的悲劇，更是一個男權社會壓迫的結果。哈代的小說給人的是一種印象，而不是一篇辯論，作者要現的真理就藴藏在那些活生生的細節和語言當中。作者沒有明確提出自己的主見，讀者可以讀出一千個苔絲來。哈代給我們描述的就是十九世紀末一個善良的女子如何被社會所毀滅的情景。莎士比亞說：“可憐你這受傷的名字！我的胸膛就是一張床，要給你將養。”苔絲，這個被毀滅的女子的名字，正是百年來女性悲慘命運的再一次響。可憐的苔絲，這個社會是如此無情，連愛人都將她拋棄！不，她沒有真正的愛人，她遇到的不是殘暴的惡棍，就是虛偽的君子。在惡棍前，她還能武裝自己去反抗；在偽君子前，她卻敞開胸膛，讓對方的利劍刺入心中最柔軟、最純潔的地方，逼得自己走上絶路。安吉爾，這似乎是天使的代名詞，實際上卻是一個劊子手，他一副道貌岸然的樣子，先把苔絲看作心中的“聖女”，也不檢討一下自己是否足夠純潔配得上“聖女”。他苔絲坦誠自己原來也找過情婦，苔絲原諒他，可是當苔絲承認自己失去貞潔時，他卻認為苔絲好像犯十惡不赦的大罪，配不上他所謂“純潔”的愛。就連莫哀喜劇《偽君子》中的達爾杜弗都比他高尚，至少他從不掩飾自己最為騙子的本性和目的，是手段比較低下，而像安吉爾這類人，本質也是一個偽君子，卻自以為是一個聖人。更悲慘的是，無論在文學作品中，還是在現實中，都偏偏是這類人獲得純潔女子的愛情，卻往往辜負這份愛情。
《德伯的苔絲》-作者簡介
《德伯的苔絲》托馬斯·哈代
托馬斯·哈代（ThomasHardy，1840年6月2日－1928年1月11日），英國作。生於農村沒落貴族家庭。1861年去倫敦學建築工程，從事文學、哲學和神學的研究。當過年建築師，導致一致以致所致大致不致而致興致招致可致之致盡致必致遂致致使致仕致敬致力致命致死致富致之致祭致意致病致谢致于致人致此致用力於文學創作。他的小說多以農村生活為背景，對資本主義社會的文明和道德作深刻的揭露和批判，但帶有悲觀情緒和宿命論色彩。晚年轉詩歌創作，但一般認為“詩人哈代”遠不如“小說哈代”。代作為兩部長篇小說： 《黛絲姑娘》和《無名的裘德》 。
16歲開始做建築學徒，為建築師助理，司教堂修。建築論文曾英國皇建築學會奬。有音樂、繪畫及語言才能，通古希臘文及拉丁文。在哲學、文學和自然科學方面有博學識。受當時科學重大現進化論影響，在宗教方面成為懷疑論者。25歲寫詩，1866年開始小說創作，第一部小說《窮人與貴婦》未出版。隨創作一部以愛情、陰謀、兇殺、偵破為內容的情節小說《計出無奈》，出版受到肯定性評價。1874年與愛瑪·拉文納結婚。在愛瑪的鼓勵下，連續創作《緑林蔭下》、《一雙湛藍的波》、《遠離塵囂》。《遠離塵囂》一書以清新自然的風格和鮮明生動的人物形象獲得極大成功，他從此放棄建築行業，走上專業創作道路。從1869年至19世紀末近30年間，共創作長篇小說14 部、中短篇小說近50篇。小說創作輟筆，將早年詩作集成册，繼續詩歌及詩劇創作，直至逝世。
《德伯的苔絲》-電影《德伯的苔絲》
導演：羅曼·波蘭斯基
主演：娜塔莎·金斯基 彼得·弗斯利·勞森
類型：愛情/劇情
上映日期：1979年10月25日
國/地區：法國/英國
片長：190min/Argentina:150min
劇情簡介：
五月下旬的一個傍晚，一位為編寫新郡志而正在考察這一帶居民譜的牧師告訴約翰•德伯:他是該地古老的武士世德伯氏的裔。這一突如其來的消息，使這個貧窮的鄉村小販樂得手舞足蹈，他異想天開地要17歲的大女兒苔絲到附近一個有錢的德伯老太那去認“本”，幻想此擺脫經濟上的境。實際上，德伯老太與這古老的武士世毫無淵源關係，她是靠放高利貸起的暴戶，從北方遷到這裏，這個姓也是從博物館找來的，苔絲到她皇后，德伯老大的兒子亞雷見這個姑娘長得漂亮，便裝出一片好心，讓苔絲在他養雞。三個月，亞雷姦污她。苔絲失身之，對亞雷極其鄙視和厭惡，她帶着心靈和肉的創傷到父母身邊，現自己已經懷孕。
她的受辱不僅沒有得到社會的同情，反而受到恥笑和指責。嬰兒生下不久就夭析，痛苦不堪的苔絲决心改換環境，到南部一牛奶做工。在牛奶，她認識26 歲的安璣•萊。他出身於富有的牧師家庭，卻不肯秉乘父兄旨意，繼承牧師的衣鉢，甘放棄上大學的機會，來這裏學習養牛的本領，以求自立。在勞動中，苔絲和安鞏互相産生愛慕之情。當安璣父母提議他與一個門當戶對的富小姐結婚時，他斷然拒絶。而苔絲的思想卻十分矛盾，她既對安璣正直的為人、自立的意志和對她的關懷有好感，又自哀失身於人，不配做他的妻子。但強烈的愛終於戰受不了對往事的悔恨，她和安璣結婚。新婚之夜，苔絲下定决心，要把自己的“罪過”原原本本地告訴安璣。但一當她講完自己與亞雷的往事之，貌似思想開通的安璣。
萊不僅沒有原諒她，反而翻臉無情，身遠涉重洋到巴西去，儘管他自己也曾和一個不相識的女人放蕩地生活過。被遺棄的苔絲心碎。她孤獨、悔恨、憤慨、絶望，但為全家的生活，她好忍受屈辱和苦難。同時，她還抱着一綫希望，盼着丈夫心轉意，到自己身邊。一天，在苔絲去安璣打聽消息來的途中，現毀掉她貞操的亞雷居然成牧師，滿口仁義道德地正在道。亞雷還糾纏苔絲，無恥地企圖與她同居。苔絲又氣又怕，隨即給丈夫寫一封長信，懇求萊迅速歸來保護自己，萊在巴西貧病交加，也盡弃盡力磨難。他悔當時遺棄苔絲的鹵莽行為，决定返英國與苔絲言歸於好。但這時苔絲又生變故：父親猝然去世，住屋被房主收，全家棲身無所，生活無着。在這難關頭，亞雷乘虛而入，用金錢誘逼苔絲和他同居。萊的歸來，猶如一把利刃，把苔絲從麻木渾噩的狀態中刺醒。在絶望中，她親手殺死亞雷，追上萊，他們在荒漠的原野度過茶几天逃亡的歡樂生活。最在一個靜謐的黎明，苔絲被捕，接着被處絞刑；萊遵照苔絲的遺，帶着懺悔的心情和苔絲的妹妹開始新的生活。
第一章
五月下旬的一個傍晚，一個中年男子正從沙斯頓靠近萊莫爾（也叫黑荒原）的馬洛特村的中走去。他走路的一雙腿搖搖晃晃的，走路的姿態不能保持一條直綫，老是朝左邊歪着。他偶爾還輕快地點一下頭，仿佛對某個意見示同意，其實他心一點兒也沒有想到什麽特的事。他的胳膊上挎着一隻裝雞蛋的空籃子，頭上戴的帽子的絨皺皺巴巴的，摘帽子時大拇指接觸帽沿的地方也被磨舊一大塊。不一會兒，一個騎着一匹灰色母馬一邊隨口哼着小調的老牧師迎面走來——
“您好。”挎着籃子的男子說。
“您好，約翰爵士。”牧師說。
步行的男子又嚮前走一兩步，站住，轉過身來。
“喂，對不起，先生；大約上個集市日的這個時候，我們在這條路上遇見，我說‘您好’，你也答說‘您好，約翰爵士’，就像剛纔說的一樣。”
“我是這樣說的。”牧師說。
“在那以前還有一次——大約一個月以前。”
“我也許說過。”
“我衹不過是一個普通的流動小販，名叫傑·德北菲爾德，那你反叫我‘約翰爵士’是什麽意思？”
牧師騎着馬他走近一兩步。
“那是我的一時興致，”他說；然又稍稍遲疑一會兒：“那是因為不久前我為編寫新的郡史在查考譜時的一個現。我是鹿腳路的考古學家特林漢姆牧師。德北菲爾德，你真的不知道你是德貝維爾這個古老騎士世的嫡傳子孫嗎？德貝維爾是從著名的騎士帕根·德貝維爾爵士傳下來的，紀功寺文檔①記載，他是跟隨服者威廉王從諾曼底來的。”
①紀功寺文檔（Battle Abbey Roll），記載跟隨威廉王戰英國的諾曼貴族的一份名單，現保存於紀功寺。 “過去我從沒聽說過，先生！”
“啊，不錯。你把下巴擡起來一點點，讓我好好看看你的臉的側。不錯，這正是德貝維爾族的鼻子和下巴——但有一點兒衰落。輔佐諾曼底的埃斯徹瑪維拉勳爵服格拉摩甘郡的騎士一共有十二個，你的祖先是他們中間的一個。在英格蘭這一帶地方，到處都有你們族分支的地；在斯蒂芬王時代，派普名册②記載着他們的名字。在約翰王時代，他們的分支中有一支很富有，曾給救護騎士贈送一份地；在愛德華二世時代，你的祖先鄰里里程恩也應召到威斯敏斯特參加過大議會。你們族在奧利弗·倫威爾時代就有點兒開始衰落，不過沒有到嚴重的程度，在查理斯二世時期，你們族又因為對王室忠心，被封為皇橡樹爵士。唉，你們族的約翰爵士已經有好代，如果騎士稱號也像從男爵一樣可以世襲的話，你現在就應該是約翰爵士，其實在過去的時代都是世襲的，騎士稱號由父親傳給兒子。”
②派普名册（Pipe Rolls），記錄皇每年收支情況的文件，始於1131年，止於1842年。 “可你沒有這樣說過呀！”
“簡而言之，”牧師態度堅决地用馬鞭抽一下自己的腿，下結論說，“在英格蘭，你們這樣的族簡直找不出第二。”
“真令我吃驚，在英格蘭找不出第二嗎？”德北菲爾德說，“可是我一直在這一帶四處漂泊，一年又一年的，糟糕透頂，好像我同這個教區的最普通的人沒有什麽兩樣……特林漢姆牧師，關於我們族的這件事，大知道得有多久？”牧師解釋說，他所知，這件事早讓人忘光，很難說有什麽人知道。他對唔系的調查，是從去年春天開始的。他一直在對德貝維爾族的盛衰史進行研究，在馬車上看見德北菲爾德的名字，因而引起他展開對德北菲爾德的父親和祖父的調查，最高才口才奴才蠢才天才人才之才英才多才賢才群才唯才幹才詩才降才五才乏才文才懷才奇才才能才路才力才高才伐才格才望才理才思才郎才哲才智才雄才英才情才分才略才貌才人才子才疏確定這件事。
“起初我决心不拿這毫無用處的消息打擾你，”他說，“可是，我們的衝動有時候太強烈，控不住我們的理智。我還一直以為你也許對這件事已經知道一些。”
“啊，是的，我也聽說過一兩次，說我這人在搬到黑荒原以前，也經過富裕的日子。可是我卻沒有在意，心想是說我們現在衹有一匹馬，而過去我們曾經有過兩匹馬。我鄰里里程還保存着一把古老的銀匙和一方刻有紋章的古印；可是，天啦，一把銀匙和一方古印算得什麽？……想想吧，我一直同這些高貴的德貝維爾血肉相連。聽別人說，我的曾祖父有些不肯告人的秘密，不肯談論他的來……噢，牧師，我想冒昧地問一句，現在我們族的炊煙又升起在哪兒呢？我是說，我們德貝維爾族住在哪兒？”
“哪兒也沒有你們族。作為一個郡的族，你們族是已經滅絶。”
“真是遺憾。”
“是的——那些虛假的譜所說的男滅絶，就是說衰敗，沒落。”
“那麽，我們的祖先又埋在哪兒呢？”
“埋在青山下的金斯比爾：一排一排地埋在你們族的地下墓室，在用佩比大理石做成的華蓋下面，還刻有你們祖先的雕像。”
“還有，我們族的宅第和房産在哪兒呢？”
“你們沒有宅第和房産。”
“啊？土地也沒有？”
“也沒有；雖然像我說的那樣，你們曾經擁有過大量的宅第和房産，因為你們的族是由衆多的支組成的。在這個郡，過去在金斯比爾有一處你們的房産，在希爾屯還有一處，在磨房池有一處，在拉爾斯德有一處，在井橋還有一處。”
“我們還會恢我們自己的族嗎？”
“噢——不行，不行；‘大英雄何竟死亡’，你除用這句話責罰你自己外，無它法。這件事對本地的歷史學家和譜學家還有些興趣，但沒有其它什麽。在本郡居住的農戶，有差不多同樣光榮歷史的還有好學家全家家庭家乡。再見。”
“可是，特林漢姆牧師，為這件事，你轉來和我去喝一誇脫啤酒好不好？在純酒酒店，正好開一桶上好的佳釀——雖然我敢說它還是不如羅利弗酒店的酒好。”
“不喝，謝謝你——德北菲爾德，今天晚上不喝。你已經喝得夠多。”牧師這樣把話說完以，就騎着馬走，心有些懷疑，該不該把這個多少有點奇怪的傳說告訴他。
牧師走，德北菲爾德陷入沉思，走茶几步路，就把籃子放在前，然在路邊的草坡上坐下來。不一會兒，遠方出現一個年輕人，正朝先前德北菲爾德走路的方向走着。德北菲爾德一看見他，就把手舉起來，小子緊走步，來到他的跟前。
“小子，把那個籃子拿起來！我要你為我走一趟。”
那個像條一樣瘦長的小子有點不高興：“你是什麽人，約翰·德北菲爾德，你竟要使喚我，叫我‘小子’？我們誰不認識誰呀！”
“你認識我，認識我？這是秘密——這是秘密！現在你就聽我的吩咐，把我讓你送的信送走……好吧，弗德，我不在乎把這個秘密告訴你，我是一貴族的裔，——我也是午，今天這個下午知道的。”德北菲爾德一邊宣佈這則消息，一邊從坐着的姿勢皇后倒下去，舒舒服服地仰臥在草坡上的雛菊中。
小子站在德北菲爾德的前，把他從頭到腳仔細地打量一番。
“約翰·德貝爾菲爾爵士——這是我的名字。”躺着的人接着說。“我是說，如果騎士是從男爵的話——它們本來就是一樣的呀。我的一切都記錄在歷史中。小子，你知道不知道青山下的金斯伯爾這個地方？”
“知道。我去過那兒的青山市場。”
“好，就在那個城市的教堂下面，埋着——”
“那兒哪是一個城市，我是說那兒是一塊地方；至少我去那兒的時候不是一個城市——那兒衹不過是像一隻眼睛般大小的討厭的地方。”
“你不必管那個地方，小子，那不是我們要說的事。在那個教區的下面，埋着我的祖先——有好百個——穿着鎧甲，滿身珠寶，睡的用鉛做成的大棺材就有好噸重。在南威塞斯這個郡，沒有誰有比我更顯赫更高貴的祖先。”
“是嗎？”
“好，你把籃子拿上，到馬洛特村去，走到純酒酒店的時候，告訴他們立刻給我叫一輛馬車，把我接學家全家家庭家乡去。馬車叫他們放上一小瓶甜酒，記在我的帳上。你把這件事辦完，就把籃子送到我鄰里里程去，告訴我老婆把正在洗的衣服放下來，用不着把衣服洗完，等着我學家全家家庭家乡，因為我有話要告訴她。”
小子半信半疑，站着沒有動身，德北菲爾德就把手伸進口袋，摸出來一個先令，長期以來，那是他口袋中少有的先令中的一個。
“辛苦你，小子，這個給你。”
有這個先令，小子對形勢的估計就有不同。
“好吧，約翰爵士。謝謝你。還有的事要我為你效勞嗎，約翰爵士？”
“告訴我鄰里里程人，晚飯我想吃——好吧，要是有羊雜碎，我就吃油煎羊雜碎；要是沒有羊雜碎，我就吃血腸；要是沒有血腸，好吧，我就將就着吃小腸吧。”
“是，約翰爵士。”
小子拿起籃子，就在他要動身離開的時候，聽見一陣銅管樂隊的音樂聲從村子的方向傳過來。
“什麽聲音？”德北菲爾德說。“不是為歡迎我吧？”
“那是婦女俱樂部正在，約翰爵士。唔，你女兒就是俱樂部的一個會員呀。”
“真是的——我想的都是大事情，把這件事全給忘。好吧，你去馬洛特村吧，給我把馬車叫來，說不定我要坐車轉一圈，好看看俱樂部的。”
小子走，德北菲爾德躺在草地的雛菊中，沐浴着午的夕照等候着。很久很久，那條路上沒有一個人走過，在緑色山巒的四周以內，能夠聽到的人類聲音衹有那隱約傳來的銅管樂隊的音樂聲。
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles or just Tess is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper, The Graphic. It is Hardy's penultimate novel, followed by Jude the Obscure. Though now considered a great classic of English literature, the book received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual mores of Hardy's day. The original manuscript is on display at the British Library showing the title had originally been "Daughter of the d'Urbervilles."
Summary of the novel
Phase the First: The Maiden (1–11)
The novel is set in impoverished rural Wessex during the Long Depression. Tess is the eldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated rural peasants. One day, Parson Tringham informs John that he has noble blood. Tringham, an amateur genealogist, has discovered that "Durbeyfield" is a corruption of "D'Urberville", the surname of a noble Norman family, now extinct. Although the parson means no harm, the news immediately goes to John's head.
That same day, Tess participates in the village May Dance, where she briefly meets Angel Clare, the youngest son of Reverend James Clare, who is on a walking tour with his two brothers. He stops to join the dance, and finds partners in several other girls. Though Angel takes note of Tess's beauty, he does not dance with her, leaving her feeling slighted.
Tess's father, overjoyed with learning of his noble lineage, gets too drunk to drive to market that night, so Tess undertakes the journey herself. However, she falls asleep at the reins, and the family's only horse wanders into the path of another vehicle and is killed. Tess feels so guilty over the horse's death that she agrees to visit Mrs. d'Urberville, a wealthy widow who lives in the nearby town of Trantridge, and "claim kin." She is unaware that in reality, Mrs. d'Urberville is not related to the Durbeyfields or to the ancient d'Urberville family. Instead, her husband, Simon Stoke, purchased the baronial title and adopted the new surname.
Tess does not succeed in meeting Mrs. d'Urberville, but her libertine son Alec takes a fancy to Tess and secures her a position as poultry keeper on the d'Urberville estate. He immediately begins making advances, but Tess, though somewhat flattered by the attention, resists. Late one night while walking home from town with some other Trantridge villagers, Tess inadvertently antagonises Car Darch, Alec's most recently discarded favourite, and finds herself about to come to blows. When Alec rides up and offers to "rescue" her from the situation, she accepts. He does not take her home, however, but rides at random through the fog until they reach an ancient grove called "The Chase". Here, Alec informs her that he is lost and leaves on foot to look for help as Tess falls asleep beneath the coat he lent her. After Alec returns, alone, it is left to the reader to decide whether he rapes or seduces her. This deliberate ambiguity makes Tess more than just a "poster girl for simple victimhood."
Phase the Second: Maiden No More (12–15)
After a few weeks of confused dalliance with Alec, Tess begins to despise him. Against his wishes, she goes home to her father's cottage, where she keeps almost entirely to her room. The next summer, she gives birth to a sickly boy, who lives only a week. On his last night alive, Tess baptises him herself, after her father locked the doors to keep the parson away. The child is given the name 'Sorrow'. Tess buries Sorrow in unconsecrated ground, makes a homemade cross and lays flowers on his grave in an empty marmalade jar.
Phase the Third: The Rally (16–24)
More than two years after the Trantridge debacle, Tess, now twenty, is ready to make a new start. She seeks employment outside the village, where her past is not known, and secures a job as a milkmaid at Talbothays Dairy, working for Mr. and Mrs. Crick. There, she befriends three of her fellow milkmaids, Izz, Retty, and Marian, and re-encounters Angel Clare, who is now an apprentice farmer and has come to Talbothays to learn dairy management. Although the other milkmaids are sick with love for him, Angel soon singles out Tess, and the two gradually fall in love.
Phase the Fourth: The Consequence (25–34)
"He jumped up from his seat...and went quickly toward the desire of his eyes." 1891 illustration by Joseph Syddall
Angel spends a few days away from the dairy visiting his family at Emminster. His brothers Felix and Cuthbert, who are both ordained ministers, note Angel's coarsened manners, while Angel considers his brothers staid and narrow-minded. Following evening prayers, Angel discusses his marriage prospects with his father. The Clares have long hoped that Angel will marry Mercy Chant, a pious schoolmistress, but Angel argues that a wife who understands farm life would be a more practical choice. He tells his parents about Tess, and they agree to meet her. His father, the Reverend James Clare, tells Angel about his efforts to convert the local populace, and mentions his failure to tame a young miscreant named Alec d'Urberville.
Angel returns to Talbothays Dairy and asks Tess to marry him. This puts Tess in a painful dilemma. Angel obviously thinks she is a virgin and, although she does not want to deceive him, she shrinks from confessing lest she lose his love and admiration. Such is her passion for him that she finally agrees to the marriage, explaining that she hesitated because she had heard he hated old families and thought he would not approve of her d'Urberville ancestry. However, he is pleased by this news, because he thinks it will make their match more suitable in the eyes of his family.
As the marriage approaches, Tess grows increasingly troubled. She writes to her mother for advice; Joan tells her to keep silent about her past. Her anxiety increases when a man from Trantridge, named Groby, recognises her while she is out shopping with Angel and crudely alludes to her sexual history. Angel overhears and flies into an uncharacteristic rage. Tess resolves to deceive Angel no more, and writes a letter describing her dealings with d'Urberville and slips it under his door. After Angel greets her with the usual affection the next morning, she discovers the letter under his carpet and realises that he has not seen it. She destroys it.
The wedding goes smoothly although a bad omen of a cock crowing in the afternoon is noticed by Tess. Tess and Angel spend their wedding night at an old d'Urberville family mansion, where Angel presents his bride with some beautiful diamonds that belonged to his godmother and confesses that he once had a brief affair with an older woman in London. When she hears this story, Tess feels sure that Angel will forgive her own indiscretion, and finally tells him about her relationship with Alec.
Phase the Fifth: The Woman Pays (35–44)
Angel, however, is appalled by Tess's confession, and he spends the wedding night sleeping on a sofa. Tess, although devastated, accepts the sudden estrangement as something she deserves. After a few awkward, awful days, she suggests that they separate, telling her husband that she will return to her parents. Angel gives her some money and promises to try to reconcile himself to her past, but warns her not to try to join him until he sends for her. After a quick visit to his parents, Angel takes ship for Brazil to start a new life. Before he leaves, he encounters Izz Huett on the road and impulsively asks her to come to Brazil with him, as his mistress. She accepts, but when he asks her how much she loves him, she admits "Nobody could love 'ee more than Tess did! She would have laid down her life for 'ee. I could do no more!" Hearing this, he abandons the whim, and Izz goes home weeping bitterly.
A very bleak period in Tess's life begins. She returns home for a time but, finding this unbearable, decides to join Marian and Izz at a starve-acre farm called Flintcombe-Ash. On the road, she is recognised and insulted by a farmer named Groby (the same man who slighted her in front of Angel); this man proves to be her new employer. At the farm, the three former milkmaids perform very hard physical labour.
One day, Tess attempts to visit Angel's family at the parsonage in Emminster. As she nears her destination, she encounters Angel's priggish older brothers and the woman his parents once hoped he would marry, Mercy Chant. They do not recognise her, but she overhears them discussing Angel's unwise marriage. Shamed, she turns back. On the way, she overhears a wandering preacher and is shocked to discover that he is Alec d'Urberville, who has been converted to Christianity under the Reverend James Clare's influence.
Phase the Sixth: The Convert (45–52)
Alec and Tess are each shaken by their encounter, and Alec begs Tess never to tempt him again as they stand beside an ill-omened stone monument called the Cross-in-Hand. However, Alec soon comes to Flintcomb-Ash to ask Tess to marry him. She tells him she is already married. He returns at Candlemas and again in early spring, when Tess is hard at work feeding a threshing machine. He tells her he is no longer a preacher and wants her to be with him. She slaps him when he insults Angel, drawing blood. Tess then learns from her sister, Liza-Lu, that her father, John, is ill and her mother dying. Tess rushes home to look after them. Her mother soon recovers, but her father unexpectedly dies.
The family is now evicted from their home, as Durbeyfield held only a life lease on their cottage. Alec tells Tess that her husband is never coming back and offers to house the Durbeyfields on his estate. Tess refuses his assistance. She had earlier written Angel a psalm-like letter, full of love, self-abasement, and pleas for mercy; now, however, she finally admits to herself that Angel has wronged her and scribbles a hasty note saying that she will do all she can to forget him, since he has treated her so unjustly.
The Durbeyfields plan to rent some rooms in the town of Kingsbere, ancestral home of the d'Urbervilles, but they arrive there to find that the rooms have already been rented to another family. All but destitute, they are forced to take shelter in the churchyard, under the D'Urberville window. Tess enters the church and in the d'Urberville Aisle, Alec reappears and importunes Tess again. In despair, she looks at the entrance to the d'Urberville vault and wonders aloud "Why am I on the wrong side of this door?"
In the meantime, Angel has been very ill in Brazil and, his farming venture having failed, he heads home to England. On the way, he confides his troubles to a stranger, who tells him that he was wrong to leave his wife; what she was in the past should matter less than what she might become. Angel begins to repent his treatment of Tess.
Phase the Seventh: Fulfilment (53–59)
Upon his return to his family home, Angel has two letters waiting for him: Tess's angry note and a few cryptic lines from "two well-wishers" (Izz and Marian), warning him to protect his wife from "an enemy in the shape of a friend." He sets out to find Tess and eventually locates Joan, now well-dressed and living in a pleasant cottage. After responding evasively to his inquiries, she finally tells him her daughter has gone to live in Sandbourne, a fashionable seaside resort. There, he finds Tess living in an expensive boarding house under the name "Mrs. d'Urberville." When he asks for her, she appears in startlingly elegant attire and stands aloof. He tenderly asks her forgiveness, but Tess, in anguish, tells him he has come too late: thinking he would never return, she yielded at last to Alec d'Urberville's persuasion and has become his mistress. She gently asks Angel to leave and never come back. He departs, and Tess returns to her bedroom, where she falls to her knees and begins a lamentation. She blames Alec for causing her to lose Angel's love a second time, accusing Alec of having lied when he said that Angel would never return to her.
The landlady, Mrs. Brooks, tries to listen in at the keyhole, but withdraws hastily when the argument becomes heated. She later sees Tess leave the house, then notices a spreading red spot—a bloodstain—on the ceiling. She summons help, and Alec is found stabbed to death in his bed.
Angel, totally disheartened, has left Sandbourne; Tess hurries after him and tells him that she has killed Alec, saying that she hopes she has won his forgiveness by murdering the man who spoiled both their lives. Angel doesn't believe her at first but grants his forgiveness—as she is in such a fevered state—and tells her that he loves her. Rather than head for the coast, they walk inland, vaguely planning to hide somewhere until the search for Tess is ended and they can escape abroad from a port. They find an empty mansion and stay there for five days in blissful happiness, until their presence is discovered one day by the cleaning woman.
They continue walking and, in the middle of the night, stumble upon Stonehenge giving the allusion of Tess as a sacrificial victim to a society that shunned her. Tess lies down to rest on an ancient altar. Before she falls asleep, she asks Angel to look after her younger sister, Liza-Lu, saying that she hopes Angel will marry her after she is dead although this, at the time, would have been illegal and seen as a form of incest. At dawn, Angel sees that they are surrounded by policemen. He finally realises that Tess really has committed murder and asks the men in a whisper to let her awaken naturally before they arrest her. When she opens her eyes and sees the police, she tells Angel she is "almost glad" because "now I shall not live for you to despise me". She is allowed a dignified death through the fact that Angel listens to her (he hasn't throughout the rest of the novel) and through her parting words of "I am ready".
Tess is escorted to Wintoncester (Winchester) prison. The novel closes with Angel and Liza-Lu watching from a nearby hill as the black flag signalling Tess's execution is raised over the prison. Angel and Liza-Lu then join hands and go on their way.
Characters
Major characters
* Tess Durbeyfield — The protagonist, eldest daughter in a poor rural working family; a fresh, well-developed country girl who looks markedly more mature than she is.
* Angel Clare — The third son of a clergyman; Tess's husband and true love. He considers himself a freethinker, but his notions of morality turn out to be fairly conventional: he rejects Tess on their wedding night when she confesses that she isn't a virgin, even though he, too, has engaged in premarital sex. He works at the Talbothay's dairy to gain practical experience because he hopes to buy a farm of his own.
* Alec Stoke-d'Urberville — The libertine son of Simon Stokes and Mrs. d'Urberville. He either rapes or seduces Tess when she is no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, and later pursues her relentlessly. He persuades her to see the reality in her relationship with Angel and convinces her to become his mistress.
* Jack Durbeyfield (Sir John d'Urberville) — Tess's father, a carter in Marlott (based on the Dorset village of Marnhull) who is a lazy alcoholic. When he learns that his family is descended from nobility, he works less and less and starts pretending that he is an aristocrat.
* Joan Durbeyfield — Tess's hardworking mother who has a practical outlook on life. This includes being prepared to use her daughter for her own gains.
Minor characters
* Mrs. Brooks — Landlady of The Herons, the seaside boarding house where Tess murders Alec.
* James Clare — A charitable and moral clergyman; Angel Clare's father.
* Mrs. Clare — Angel Clare's mother, a kindly woman. She wants Angel to marry a pure, virtuous, and true Christian woman.
* Felix Clare — Angel's brother, a priest's assistant.
* Cuthbert Clare — Angel's other brother, a classical scholar.
* Mercy Chant — The young lady that Angel's parents had thought to be the perfect wife for him. She later marries Cuthbert.
* Richard Crick — The owner of the Talbothay Farm for whom Angel and Tess work.
* Car Darch (Dark Car) — One of Alec's former mistresses, discarded in favour of Tess.
* Eliza Louisa (Liza-Lu) Durbeyfield — Tess's younger sister, who closely resembles her. Shortly before her arrest, Tess asks Angel to marry her. Tess says she has "all the best of me, and none o' the bad".
* Farmer Groby — Tess's employer at Flintcombe-Ash, a churlish man who knows about her relationship with Alec. Groby is knocked down by Angel in their sojourn before their wedding, Angel thinking Groby had offended Tess' honour. Groby says to his friend afterwards that he "didn't have the heart" to tell Angel the truth at the time. His recognition of Tess sparks her fears, and reintroduces the threat of her past into the tragedy.
* Jonathan Kail — A Talbothays dairyman who informs Angel and Tess in the D'Urberville mansion right after the marriage, that Retty Priddle tried to commit suicide, Marian got "dead drunk", and that Izz Huett is walking around depressed.
* Abraham, Hope & Modesty — The son and daughters of the Durbeyfields.
* Mrs. Stoke-D'Urberville — The wealthy mother of Alec, a blind widow.
* Izz Huett, Retty Priddle, and Marian — Dairy maids at the Talbothay Farm. Izz is sensible, Retty sensitive, and Marian stolid, but all are in love with Angel Clare and fare poorly after he marries Tess.
* Parson Tringham — An elderly parson from whom John learns about his noble ancestors.
* Sorrow — The illegitimate child of Tess and Alec who lives only a few weeks. Tess loves him, despite her painfully ambivalent feelings about the circumstances of his conception. She christens him herself on the night he dies.
Symbolism and themes
Hardy's writing often illustrates the "ache of modernism", and this theme is notable in Tess, which, as one critic noted, portrays "the energy of traditional ways and the strength of the forces that are destroying them". Hardy describes modern farm machinery with infernal imagery; also, at the dairy, he notes that the milk sent to the city must be watered down because the townspeople can not stomach whole milk. Angel's middle-class fastidiousness makes him reject Tess, a woman whom Hardy often portrays as a sort of Wessex Eve, in harmony with the natural world and so lovely and desirable that Hardy himself seems to be in love with her. When he parts from her and goes to Brazil, the handsome young man gets so sick that he is reduced to a "mere yellow skeleton." All these instances are typically interpreted as indications of the negative consequences of man's separation from nature, both in the creation of destructive machinery and in the inability to rejoice in pure nature.
Another important theme of the novel is the sexual double standard to which Tess falls victim—despite being, in Hardy's view, a truly good woman, she is despised by society after losing her virginity before marriage. Hardy plays the role of Tess's only true friend and advocate, pointedly subtitling the book "a pure woman faithfully presented" and prefacing it with Shakespeare's words "Poor wounded name! My bosom as a bed/ Shall lodge thee." However, although Hardy clearly means to criticise Victorian notions of female purity, the double standard also makes the heroine's tragedy possible, and thus serves as a mechanism of Tess's broader fate. Hardy variously hints that Tess must suffer either to atone for the misdeeds of her ancestors, or to provide temporary amusement for the gods, or because she possesses some small but lethal character flaw inherited from the ancient clan.
From numerous pagan and neo-Biblical references made about her, Tess can be viewed variously as an Earth goddess or as a sacrificial victim. Early in the novel, she participates in a festival for Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, and when she performs a baptism she chooses a passage from Genesis, the book of creation, over more traditional New Testament verses. At the end, when Tess and Angel come to Stonehenge, commonly believed in Hardy's time to be a pagan temple, she willingly lies down on an altar, thus fulfilling her destiny as a human sacrifice.
This symbolism may help explain Tess as a personification of nature—lovely, fecund, and exploitable—while animal imagery throughout the novel strengthens the association. Examples are numerous: Tess's misfortunes begin when she falls asleep while driving Prince to market, thus causing the horse's death; at Trantridge, she becomes a poultry-keeper; she and Angel fall in love amidst cows in the fertile Froom valley; and on the road to Flintcombe-Ashe, she compassionately kills some wounded pheasants to end their suffering. In any event, Tess emerges as such a vibrant, unforgettable character not because of this symbolism but because "Hardy's feelings for Tess were strong, perhaps stronger than for any of his other invented personages."
Tess in popular culture
* Art Garfunkel named his first post-Simon & Garfunkel solo album Angel Clare after the character of the same name.
* American writer Christopher Bram wrote a novel entitled In Memory of Angel Clare (1989).
* The British comedy troupe Monty Python mention Tess of the d'Urbervilles on their 1973 comedy record album Monty Python's Matching Tie and Handkerchief on the track "Novel Writing", in which Thomas Hardy writes Return of the Native before a live audience.
* Tess of the d'Urbervilles is mentioned towards the end of M.R.James' short ghost story 'The Mezzotint' (1904).
* Third Eye Blind's recent new song 'Summertown' refers to 'Nabokov, Miller, and Tess' as the favorite fiction of the song's protagonist.
* John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany mentions the narrator, John, teaching Tess of the d'Urbervilles to high school students.
* Tess of the d'Urbervilles is referred to in Margaret Atwood's short story entitled My Last Duchess, published in Moral Disorder (2006).
* The English songwriter and founding member of band, 'Half Man Half Biscuit', Nigel Blackwell, has placed a number of references to the novel in a number of his songs, including the song titled, 'Thy Damnation Slumbereth Not' from the album Cammell Laird Social Club. The E.P. 'Editor's Recommendation' also includes the lyrics "the serpent often hisses where the sweet birds do sing" and "my hands are stained with thistle milk" in the songs On Passing Lilac Urine and Lark Descending, respectively, the cover picturing a noose, perhaps a reference Tess's execution.
Adaptations
Theatre
The actress chosen by Hardy himself to play Tess, was Gertrude Bugler, a Dorchester girl from the original Hardy Players, for whom Hardy wrote the script in 1924 (Woodhall, 2006). The Hardy Players (now re-formed in 2005 by Gertrude's 104 year old younger sister Norrie) was an amateur group from Dorchester who re-enacted Hardy’s novels. Gertrude was stunning in the part and her acting was highly was acclaimed (Tomalin, 2006), but she was prevented from taking the London stage part by Hardy's wife, Florence Dougdale. Florence was jealous of Gertrude as Hardy had said that young Gertrude was the true incarnation of the Tess he had imagined. In truth Gertrude was newly married and expecting her first child and although she was fond of Hardy as a true friend, she was young enough to be his granddaughter and devoted to her husband (ibid.). The 'romance' was in Hardy's imagination, but he was in love with the character, not Gertrude. Years before writing the novel, Hardy had been inspired by the beauty of Gertrude's mother Augusta Way, then an eighteen year-old milkmaid, when he visited Augusta's father's farm in Bockhampton. It is suggested by her daughter Norrie, that Augusta was the true inspiration for Tess, and being so taken with Augusta's beauty, Hardy remembered her when writing the novel all those years later. When Hardy saw Gertrude (he rehearsed The Hardy Players at the hotel run by Gertrude's parents), he immediately recognised her as the young image of the now older Augusta (Woodhall, 2006).
The novel was otherwise successfully adapted for the stage twice.
* 1897: A production by Lorimer Stoddard proved a great Broadway triumph for actress Minnie Maddern Fiske, was revived in 1902, and subsequently made into a motion picture in 1913, of which no copies remain.
* 1946: An adaptation by playwright Ronald Gow became a triumph on the West End starring Wendy Hiller.
Opera
1906: An Italian operatic version written by Frederic d'Erlanger was first performed in Naples, but the run was cut short by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When the opera came to London three years later, Hardy himself attended the premier, at the age of 69.
Film
The story has also been filmed at least seven times, including three for general release through cinemas and four television productions.
* Cinema:
o 1913: The 'lost' silent version, mentioned above (in theatre), starring Minnie Maddern Fiske as Tess and Scots-born David Torrence as Alec.
o 1924: An extant silent version made with Blanche Sweet (Tess), Stuart Holmes (Alec), and Conrad Nagel (Angel).
o 1979: Roman Polanski's film Tess with Nastassja Kinski (Tess), Leigh Lawson (Alec), and Peter Firth (Angel).
* Television:
o 1952: BBC TV, directed by Michael Henderson, and starring Barbara Jefford (Tess), Michael Aldridge (Alec), and Donald Eccles (Angel).
o 1960: ITV, ITV Play of the Week, "Tess", directed by Michael Currer-Briggs, and starring Geraldine McEwan (Tess), Maurice Kaufmann (Alec), and Jeremy Brett (Angel).
o 1998: London Weekend Television's 3-hour mini-series Tess of the D'Urbervilles, directed by Ian Sharp, and starring Justine Waddell (Tess), Jason Flemyng (Alec), and Oliver Milburn (Angel), the latter himself Dorset-born.
o 2008: A 4-hour BBC adaptation, written by David Nicholls, aired in the United Kingdom in September and October 2008 (in four parts), and in the United States on PBS Masterpiece Classic in January 2009 (in two parts). The cast included Gemma Arterton (Tess), Hans Matheson (Alec), Eddie Redmayne (Angel), Ruth Jones (Joan), Anna Massey (Mrs. d'Urberville), and Kenneth Cranham (Reverend James Clare).
I
On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor. The pair of legs that carried him were rickety, and there was a bias in his gait which inclined him somewhat to the left of a straight line. He occasionally gave a smart nod, as if in confirmation of some opinion, though he was not thinking of anything in particular. An empty egg-basket was slung upon his arm, the nap of his hat was ruffled, a patch being quite worn away at its brim where his thumb came in taking it off. Presently he was met by an elderly parson astride on a gray mare, who, as he rode, hummed a wandering tune.
"Good night t'ee," said the man with the basket.
"Good night, Sir John," said the parson.
The pedestrian, after another pace or two, halted, and turned round.
"Now, sir, begging your pardon; we met last market-day on this road about this time, and I said "Good night," and you made reply 'GOOD NIGHT, SIR JOHN,' as now."
"I did," said the parson.
"And once before that--near a month ago."
"I may have."
"Then what might your meaning be in calling me 'Sir John' these different times, when I be plain Jack Durbeyfield, the haggler?"
The parson rode a step or two nearer.
"It was only my whim," he said; and, after a moment's hesitation: "It was on account of a discovery I made some little time ago, whilst I was hunting up pedigrees for the new county history. I am Parson Tringham, the antiquary, of Stagfoot Lane. Don't you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d'Urbervilles, who derive their descent from Sir Pagan d'Urberville, that renowned knight who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror, as appears by Battle Abbey Roll?"
"Never heard it before, sir!"
"Well it's true. Throw up your chin a moment, so that I may catch the profile of your face better. Yes, that's the d'Urberville nose and chin--a little debased. Your ancestor was one of the twelve knights who assisted the Lord of Estremavilla in Normandy in his conquest of Glamorganshire. Branches of your family held manors over all this part of England; their names appear in the Pipe Rolls in the time of King Stephen. In the reign of King John one of them was rich enough to give a manor to the Knights Hospitallers; and in Edward the Second's time your forefather Brian was summoned to Westminster to attend the great Council there. You declined a little in Oliver Cromwell's time, but to no serious extent, and in Charles the Second's reign you were made Knights of the Royal Oak for your loyalty. Aye, there have been generations of Sir Johns among you, and if knighthood were hereditary, like a baronetcy, as it practically was in old times, when men were knighted from father to son, you would be Sir John now."
"Ye don't say so!"
"In short," concluded the parson, decisively smacking his leg with his switch, "there's hardly such another family in England."
"Daze my eyes, and isn't there?" said Durbeyfield. "And here have I been knocking about, year after year, from pillar to post, as if I was no more than the commonest feller in the parish....And how long hev this news about me been knowed, Pa'son Tringham?"
The clergyman explained that, as far as he was aware, it had quite died out of knowledge, and could hardly be said to be known at all. His own investigations had begun on a day in the preceding spring when, having been engaged in tracing the vicissitudes of the d'Urberville family, he had observed Durbeyfield's name on his waggon, and had thereupon been led to make inquiries about his father and grandfather till he had no doubt on the subject.
"At first I resolved not to disturb you with such a useless piece of information," said he. "However, our impulses are too strong for our judgement sometimes. I thought you might perhaps know something of it all the while."
"Well, I have heard once or twice, 'tis true, that my family had seen better days afore they came to Blackmoor. But I took no notice o't, thinking it to mean that we had once kept two horses where we now keep only one. I've got a wold silver spoon, and a wold graven seal at home, too; but, Lord, what's a spoon and seal? ... And to think that I and these noble d'Urbervilles were one flesh all the time. 'Twas said that my gr't-granfer had secrets, and didn't care to talk of where he came from.... And where do we raise our smoke, now, parson, if I may make so bold; I mean, where do we d'Urbervilles live?"
"You don't live anywhere. You are extinct--as a county family."
"That's bad."
"Yes--what the mendacious family chronicles call extinct in the male line--that is, gone down--gone under."
"Then where do we lie?"
"At Kingsbere-sub-Greenhill: rows and rows of you in your vaults, with your effigies under Purbeck-marble canopies."
"And where be our family mansions and estates?"
"You haven't any."
"Oh? No lands neither?"
"None; though you once had 'em in abundance, as I said, for you family consisted of numerous branches. In this county there was a seat of yours at Kingsbere, and another at Sherton, and another in Millpond, and another at Lullstead, and another at Wellbridge."
"And shall we ever come into our own again?"
"Ah--that I can't tell!"
"And what had I better do about it, sir?" asked Durbeyfield, after a pause.
"Oh--nothing, nothing; except chasten yourself with the thought of 'how are the mighty fallen.' It is a fact of some interest to the local historian and genealogist, nothing more. There are several families among the cottagers of this county of almost equal lustre. Good night."
"But you'll turn back and have a quart of beer wi' me on the strength o't, Pa'son Tringham? There's a very pretty brew in tap at The Pure Drop--though, to be sure, not so good as at Rolliver's."
"No, thank you--not this evening, Durbeyfield. You've had enough already." Concluding thus the parson rode on his way, with doubts as to his discretion in retailing this curious bit of lore.
When he was gone Durbeyfield walked a few steps in a profound reverie, and then sat down upon the grassy bank by the roadside, depositing his basket before him. In a few minutes a youth appeared in the distance, walking in the same direction as that which had been pursued by Durbeyfield. The latter, on seeing him, held up his hand, and the lad quickened his pace and came near.
"Boy, take up that basket! I want 'ee to go on an errand for me."
The lath-like stripling frowned. "Who be you, then, John Durbeyfield, to order me about and call me 'boy?' You know my name as well as I know yours!"
"Do you, do you? That's the secret--that's the secret! Now obey my orders, and take the message I'm going to charge 'ee wi'.... Well, Fred, I don't mind telling you that the secret is that I'm one of a noble race--it has been just found out by me this present afternoon, P.M." And as he made the announcement, Durbeyfield, declining from his sitting position, luxuriously stretched himself out upon the bank among the daisies.
The lad stood before Durbeyfield, and contemplated his length from crown to toe.
"Sir John d'Urberville--that's who I am," continued the prostrate man. "That is if knights were baronets--which they be. "Tis recorded in history all about me. Dost know of such a place, lad, as Kingsbere-sub-Greenhill?"
"Ees, I've been there to Greenhill Fair."
"Well, under the church of that city there lie--"
"'Tisn't a city, the place I mean; leastwise 'twaddn' when I was there--'twas a little one-eyed, blinking sort o'place."
"Never you mind the place, boy, that's not the question before us. Under the church of that there parish lie my ancestors--hundreds of 'em--in coats of mail and jewels, in gr't lead coffins weighing tons and tons. There's not a man in the county o' South-Wessex that's got grander and nobler skillentons in his family than I."
"Oh?"
"Now take up that basket, and goo on to Marlott, and when you've come to The Pure Drop Inn, tell 'em to send a horse and carriage to me immed'ately, to carry me hwome. And in the bottom o' the carriage they be to put a noggin o' rum in a small bottle, and chalk it up to my account. And when you've done that goo on to my house with the basket, and tell my wife to put away that washing, because she needn't finish it, and wait till I come hwome, as I've news to tell her."
As the lad stood in a dubious attitude, Durbeyfield put his hand in his pocket, and produced a shilling, one of the chronically few that he possessed.
"Here's for your labour, lad."
This made a difference in the young man's estimate of the position.
"Yes, Sir John. Thank 'ee. Anything else I can do for 'ee, Sir John?"
"Tell 'em at hwome that I should like for supper,--well, lamb's fry if they can get it; and if they can't, black-pot; and if they can't get that, well chitterlings will do."
"Yes, Sir John."
The boy took up the basket, and as he set out the notes of a brass band were heard from the direction of the village.
"What's that?" said Durbeyfield. "Not on account o' I?"
"'Tis the women's club-walking, Sir John. Why, your da'ter is one o' the members."
"To be sure--I'd quite forgot it in my thoughts of greater things! Well, vamp on to Marlott, will ye, and order that carriage, and maybe I'll drive round and inspect the club."
The lad departed, and Durbeyfield lay waiting on the grass and daisies in the evening sun. Not a soul passed that way for a long while, and the faint notes of the band were the only human sounds audible within the rim of blue hills.
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