Tess of the D’ Urberviles

Hardy, Thomas, Tess of the D’ Urberviles, New York: Bantam Dell, 1987.

In Tess of the D’ Urberviles, Thomas Hardy uses events in Tess’ life to illustrate the evil in the world. Though Tess tries to run from the bad things in her life, she never can escape them by her own strength. Evil proves an inescapable presence in the world that shows itself in many forms throughout Tess’ life.

In the beginning of the novel, evil finds Tess through her parent’s neglect of her and Alec’s disregard of her purity. Tess spends most of her time taking care of her younger siblings and doing things around the house because her mother and father neglect the needs of their children. When Tess comes home and tells her mother that she has become pregnant, she asks her mother why she never warned her about men and left her vulnerable to their evil nature. Tess’ ignorance of men is not her fault, but the fault of her mother. Mrs. Derbyfield never shares her knowledge of men with her daughter, which causes harm that could be avoided. From the first moment that Alec lays eyes on Tess, he wants her. Satan finds a way to destroy a young girl’s innocence; he awakens the evilness in a man. The lust, selfishness, and disrespect Alec shows to Tess through his heinous acts ultimately lead to her capture and death.

In the middle, Satan brings evil into Tess’ life through her own thoughts and the thoughts of others. When talking with Angel, Tess says, “O, I sometimes wish I had never been born” (Hardy 187). Satan whispers the evil lie that she has no purpose into her ear. Sadly, Tess believes the lie. It appears that Tess only knows of a plaintive life and disappointment, so she no longer thinks of herself as highly as she should. When Angel finds out that Tess had relations with Alec, he invectively says “O Tess, forgiveness does not apply to the case! You were one person; now you are another. My God—how can forgiveness meet such a grotesque—prestidigitation as that?” (Hardy 224). To Tess, Angel exemplifies God, and when Angel does not forgive her, it confirms her false idea that God will not forgive her. Satan, again, puts the egregious lie in her head that she is worthless and unforgivable. Instead of planting the idea that she is unforgivable into Tess’ mind, Satan uses Angel to tell her the lie that she will remain forever incarcerated to her past sins. Angel fails to realize that if he can only forgive her, Alec’s evil action can finally be laid to rest. Angel also says, “Not deceitful, my wife; but not the same” (Hardy 227). Now that Angel sees that Tess’ past is not impeccable, he cannot accept her. His selfish