[Hardy-l] Tess' rage

[Rosemarie Morgan]

Yes- Kevin -- this certainly seems to me to be also part of the factor --:
  -----  although I'm not sure, according to genealogy theory and genome 
theory, whether one can attribute the tendency to physical or even 
intellectual dominance (including violence) to being "in the blood."

I have a very sure sense (myself) that "In the blood" is an age-old wisdom 
that genome theory is just beginning to discover.  But don't let us forget 
that Tess has also been acculturated to a lower-class passivity  -- the 
passivity of the dominated lower classes  --  (which some feminists have 
tried to claim to be a sexist slant on Hardy's part 
--  nowhere  validated  as classist or sexist I might add ) _

It would be interesting to know whether "nobility" did , over the decades, 
generate its own codes of morality and ethical practices  and power (or 
lack of of all of that) genetically. I believe there is still much dispute 
over this. I mean there is still dispute as to whether one generation can 
modify (genetically) the drives and instincts of the next. I somehow think 
there is a favorable view of genetic modification via practice and 
adaptation but I don't have the data.

Best

Rosemarie

>I would add that Tess' temper and violence come from her aristocratic 
>lineage and blood, even as her natural beauty and passivity come from her 
>plebeian background.
>
>
>Kevin