[Hardy-l] Tess

[Keith Wilson]

They don't have sex on their wedding night, but they presumably do during the idyllic period in the deserted mansion before Tess's arrest at Stonehenge.  By the sound of things (I haven't seen the television adaptation), they may not do so in the film but in the book they certainly sleep in the same bed, where the caretaker sees them with "Tess's lips being parted like a half-opened flower near his cheek". The caretaker is "struck with their innocent appearance, and with the elegance of Tess's gown hanging across a chair".
 
Keith Wilson
 
 
Joan Sheski wrote: >One of the most important things about Tess and Angel in the >mansion, on their wedding night, is that they do not have sex - Tess's confession of >her past (Alex's appropriation of her body) destroys Angel's image of Tess as a >virginal fresh flower of innocence; he cannot see past his own 'Angelic' standards. >This tragedy of misperception, while tearing the two of them apart, links everything in >the story together.  Best regards, Joan Sheski


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