Tess of the D'urbervilles

Tess of the D'Urbervilles was first published in 1891 to mixed reviewas

. The book is about the character Tess and it is a haunting and tragic tale set in England in the Victorian times in around about the mid 1800's. The book was initially

turned down by publishers because the story included seduction and illegitimate birth. In the book Hardy uses a lot of symbolism, some of which foreshadowas

the events that occur later in the story. Tess's world is rural Wessex where agriculture was the most important industry. The story contains many rustic characters which are links back to Hardy's own life; the rustic characters are friendly and understanding and do not judge other people as much as the aristocratic chracters.

During the 1800's England was getting more industrialized which Hardy was upset by. I think his feelings are shown with the character Tess as she works on farms and manages machine all day, doing long hours for little money to pay for a large family when higher society were just getting richer and richer of the work done by people like her.

In the opening chapters the rustic women including Tess are described as wearing a lot of white which symbolises their virginity. He uses words like 'secluded', 'engirdled', 'beautiful', and 'fertile' to describe Marlott which is where Tess lives, the is also how you can describe Tess and this makes her decline even more shocking. Tess is secluded and lonely because her parents send her off to her rich relatives hoping for something good and ignoring how Tess feels about it even though she cares about her family. She is fertile meaning that she is 'untouched' and pure also Hardy regulary describes her beauty,'she was a fine and picturesque country gurl,and no more'.

There is another point in the book where Tess prays at what she thinks is some sort of holy relic but later finds out it was the grave of an evil man,'Tis a thing of ill-omen, Miss. It was

put up in wuld times by the relations of a malefactor who was tortured there by nailing his hands to a post and afterwards hung. the bones lie underneath. They say he sold his soul to the devil, and that he walks at times', this foreshadowas