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

[Rosemarie Morgan]

Agreed, Chuck,  about Alec !

But Tess and innocence?  Well I don't know. We all had biology classes 
(back in the 1950s) but not one of us in the girls' dorm was sure about 
conception. I'd seen stallions on my father's estate mating with 
mares.  Scary but not very informative    Could you get pregnant if he 
kissed you? Yes-- roosters too -- so aggressive in pecking the necks of the 
hens to pieces.  But what of bathing in the same water as a guy-- could his 
sperm somehow get into your body? Swimming pools were areas of great 
anxiety, as were public lavatories. We were terrified.  How did it all 
really work?

Now this is 1950.  Not 1890.

Think about it.

Cheers
Rosemarie



>The thing that has always perplexed me about the novel and its
>dramatizations is the innocence of Tess.  Farms girls (or just country
>girls) ignorant of the facts of life are extremely rare or possibly
>nonexistent, from my observations.