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

[Rosemarie Morgan]

Whatever we might want it to be, Hardy's contemporary readers would have 
understood the Chase event to be rape. Under the legislation of the time, 
to take sexual advantage of a sleeping woman was deemed to be rape.  The 
law is quite specific about this even if Hardy prefers not to be, possibly 
assuming that his educated reader knew the law.. However in the MS version 
the question is less obscure - if memory serves me Joan observes something 
to the effect that Alec could be prosecuted (but, this is a redundant 
solution given that the Durbeyfields had nothing like the money it required 
to take a case to law).
Cheers,
Rosemarie

t 09:38 AM 1/9/2009, you wrote:
>At the risk of going over ground recurrently tramped over in various 
>Hardyan forums, I
>Best,
>
>Keith Wilson
>
>
>Tony wrote
>  > The main point, as Joanna says, is that Alec raped her and thus ruined 
> her life. Did she consent? No.
>
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Rosemarie Morgan
Research Fellow, Yale University
President, The Thomas Hardy Association
Editor, The Hardy Review
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