[Hardy-l] Re: Thoughts on 'Tess'

[David B. Cornelius]

As one who has not seen the new version of ‘Tess’, I have followed with 
interest some of the comments made. While I have tended to look upon 
Alec as Hardy’s stereotyped Victorian melodramatic villain, Hardy does 
give Alec greater dimension in that having seduced her he genuinely 
wants to love and ‘possess’ her, giving him more character than the 
somewhat prissy Angel. Alec and his family also can be seen as part 
Hardy’s view of the industrial intrusion into the rural Wessex, that was 
to change drastically the way of life of the country people.

Someone also mentioned the effect of parents and the past upon the 
children. This is definitely seen in the story of Tess, whose tragedy is 
initially shaped by her indigent parents who set her off in the 
‘benighted’ universe, particularly the stupidly pretentious John 
Durbeyfield. However, there has been a tendency to overlook the more 
realistic Joan who, one might say, sends her beautiful daughter to 
‘claim kin’ with the distinct hope that Tess would be seduced. Had Tess 
been ‘typical’ no tragedy would have ensued. Unfortunately, for her, and 
fortunately, for us, Tess failed to display this displayed typicality.

Regards,
David Cornelius