Appendix for Undergraduate Thesis of School of Foreign Studies of Yangtze University

Victorian Age is a typical male一dominated period. Women were placed in inferior positions and considered as ―the weaker sex ‖or ―the accessory of men‖. The popular Victorian image of the ideal woman: pure, gentle, graceful and unselfish, who was expected to be devoted and subordinate to her husband and the family. So a Victorian woman had no self and no individuality.

However, Hardy depicts the heroine Tess beyond the popular Victorian stereotype. Tess' s longing for love and happiness, defending dignity and pursuit of equality of personality reflects her female consciousness. The pursuit of equality is the most valuable quality of her , which not only lightens her uneven life, but also drives the darkness on the road of human advancement out .

Tess' s quest for equality is a microcosm of the entire human pursuit. This rational pursuit is \\Equality includes equality of economic status , equal rights for survival , education and other aspects of equality between people, and its core is equality of personality. Tess' s loss and gain is actually a search for equality of personality .

Tess visits the co-called relative, which is her first time to set foot on the road of the pursuit of equality on economic status . The only gain of her trip is enriching her experience of life and living , and realizing her own socioeconomic status . For this harvest, she pays a heavy price.

Tess ‘s work at the dairy is her quest for the right of survival . Tess enjoys a temporary happy and content time at the diary,and there she not only makes friends with three of her fellow milkmaids：Izz, Retty, and Marian，but also meets the most important mall in her life—Angel Clare.Three girlfriends accompany her all the time, but her love fails to pass the test of time. So she starts to pursue equality and dignity of personality of behind the love.

In order to pursue independent and equal personality , she decides to leave Alec . And to pursue the love of equality and mutual trust , she leaves Angel later and takes the hardship and stress of life alone. When Angel finally abandons illusions, prejudices and discrimination, and comes back to Tess, she thinks they are equal then .

Nevertheless, when she has been abandoned by Clare, Tess still believes her husband is perfect in her deep heart. Hardy described her feeling towards Clare in Tess：“His influence over her had been so marked that she had caught his manner and habits，his speech and phrases，his likings and his aversions．”Even Alec satirizes her

18

Appendix for Undergraduate Thesis of School of Foreign Studies of Yangtze University

that “Your mind is enslaved to his．”Facing Alec‘s sarcasm，Tess answers him back with a triumphant simplicity of faith in Angel Clare. She admires him so much and she is so blind in love for Clare that she has lost herself, she says to him：“1 will obey you like your wretched slave，even if it is to lie down and die.”The relationship between lovers should be equal，while Tess is always bent to lower herself to raise Clare.

Finally, she decidedly goes to Angel at the expense of life . In her view, death is not the end of life , but a fulfillment of equality of personality. Tess struggles in confusion and embarrassment , but she is not swallowed by the turbulent life . Tess enriches her understanding and comprehension of life with pain, and uses insights to guide her pursuit of equality and rights.

19

Appendix for Undergraduate Thesis of School of Foreign Studies of Yangtze University

5 Conclusion

To conclude, Tess' s tragedy is not only is caused by her own character, but also the result of the society and her greedy family.

First, it can not be denied that Tess is a sacrifice of the society she lives in. The invading capitalist makes it impossible for peasants to get rid of poverty . Therefore, Tess could not support her family on her own and is forced to claim kinship . Later, she is seduced by Alec. And the unequal ethics gives her great pressure because people around judge her and she blames herself . The unequal legal system also brings undeserved suffering to Tess.

Besides, Tess' s family background and her status in the family also have some responsibility for her tragedy . The desperately poor but big family is a huge load for this innocent girl . And as the eldest daughter in her family, Tess bears the brunt whenever her family need someone to take the heavy burden of maintenance.

Of course, the tragic fate of Tess could not be parted from herself. Her purity is a good quality, however, it becomes a weakness of which people, such as Alec could take advantage. And her purity decides that she would not conceal her past to secure her love. When she is aware of the hidden danger of something, her irresolution let her make a false choice that would ruin her. Some conflicts of her character causes much trouble to her, so she could not fight against all evil forces without compromise or hesitation.

Nowadays, with the independence of women‘s economic status, women almost enjoy the same rights as men do. Women are not only the poor housewives any more, they leave their small homes, and take up nearly all kinds of jobs, such as teacher, nurse and scientist, playing indispensable roles in every field. Besides ,Women now enjoy equal legal status with men; they can do practically what men can do. If she is born in the 21st century, we can imagine that how happy Tess will be.

Whereas, Tess lives in the books, and from her story we can learn a lot . Modern young women should be financially independent, so that they will not have to do something against their will. Besides ,women with a sense of self-esteem are more respectable, so people, particularly men ,will at least respect them and keep a good distance from them. The spirit of resistance are necessary whenever there is something threatens women‘s happiness. Only by defending their own rights can

20

Appendix for Undergraduate Thesis of School of Foreign Studies of Yangtze University

women obtain what they should have enjoyed. Moreover,women should not think of themselves as the subsidiary of any man. In fact, they should pursue the equality personality to make sure that they can get everything they deserve.

With scholars keep delving into this book, the author believes that people will get more messages about the causes of Tess' s tragedy. Meanwhile , her story may well have more instructive meaning to modern people.

21