? Tess's life is short and miserable. Some people think that Tess's tragedy is caused by her economic, political and class status; Some people commented that Tess's misfortune was caused by the distorted and decadent social ethics at that time; Some people say that Tess met the "devil" Alec, which led to her tragic fate. So the question is, what destroyed Tess, a pure young woman?
? Tess, a native peasant girl, is a direct descendant of the famous British warrior family D 'Urbervilles in the Middle Ages, according to Bo Gu's textual research. But the family has long since declined, and there are only a few relics left in the family monuments. Tess's father is a poor rural vendor, lazy and ignorant by nature; My mother used to be a milkmaid, simple-minded, vain, and a poor person who was destroyed by the wind and rain of the times. As the eldest daughter of such a family, Tess has been working in farms, dairy factories and farmland since she was 14 or 15 years old. Her thin shoulders bear the heavy responsibility of family life and support the family at the expense of herself. The devotion to her family can be regarded as the fuse of her miserable life.
Almost everyone who has read this novel hates Alec, thinking that he ruined innocent Tess's life and was the creator of Tess's short and tragic fate. People criticized this capitalist dude and even completely denied his feelings for Tess. In fact, the author thinks that Hardy does not completely deny this character, and some lines also reveal Alec's love for Tess. However, Alec is a typical representative of rich children in capitalist period. He believes that love is a material sacrifice, so that the other person can live as well as himself.
? In his view, food and clothing is the dream of all women, and he regards love as a natural transaction. However, Tess is not a vain person. She just wants to live a simple life by her own labor. She shows great disgust and disgust at the material feelings full of copper smell, but she can't get rid of the cruelty of reality. She was forced to accept Alec's material gifts several times and had contradictory feelings for him. Alec cast a pagoda of "material" love and tried to use it to imprison Tess. Tess can't overcome the realistic predicament, but she is thoughtful, independent and self-respecting, and doesn't want to be a victim of love transaction, so Tess tries to break free from the bondage of the pagoda, which eventually leads to the tragedy and tragic ending of both sides.
? The vain parents hoped to get material help through Tess's aristocratic status, which laid the first step of material transaction for the intersection of Alec and Tess later. Alec fell in love with Tess at first sight. So, he used the trick used by rich children to tie Tess to the property. When he learned about Tess's plight, he took the initiative to arrange a profitable job for Tess (managing a chicken farm in his house) and gave her a horse to solve her urgent need. He thought that Tess would please him and be at his mercy, but when he tried to be lenient with her, she strongly resisted and showed disgust and disgust, which Alec did not expect, and at the same time inspired him to have a strong desire for Tess.
? Alec changed his strategy. He helped Tess solve her difficulties at work, helped her cope with her eccentric mother, and said to Tess, "If you have any difficulties and need help, you can come to me directly." He often tells her some funny words, trying to make her familiar with himself. Through these details, it shows that Alec still has true feelings for Tess, but his deep material love and possessiveness have brought great harm to Tess.
? So, one weekend, when Tess was bullied by her peers, Alec rode away with her. He wanted to be near Tess for a while, so he deliberately went the wrong way and entered a forest. He could no longer control himself and defiled Tess here. After he made Tess lose her virginity, he felt deep remorse, but he still expressed his apology in a material way. In his idea, both body and soul can be traded with money, but he didn't understand that this was exactly what Tess, who was self-respecting and self-reliant, hated, so she left Alec regardless of secular moral concepts.
? When Alec and Tess met again, he found that Tess had been abandoned by her husband and was working hard on the farm. He wants Tess to come back to him and challenge her moral bottom line with material things. Obviously, Tess won't agree. However, reality is always cruel. Tess's misfortune left the whole family homeless and at the end of their tether. In this case, Alec once again threw an olive branch and temporarily imprisoned Tess in a material pagoda, but she could not imprison her heart and self-respecting soul, which could only lead to tragedy.
? Alec's material love for Tess can temporarily solve her life difficulties, but it can't meet her spiritual needs. True love should not completely become a commodity of interest, and material love in business transactions will certainly not last long. Tess's gratitude-disgust-resistance-acquiescence to Alec eventually destroyed herself.
? Perhaps many people feel sorry for the ending of Tess and Clay. It is generally believed that if Tess had not been raped, they would have lived a happy and beautiful life. So, is there true love between Tess and Clay? The author thinks that their relationship is just a fantasy of love, utopian love. This kind of love requires absolute perfection, purity and flawless. This mythical love will fall apart with a slight setback. In other words, the "Utopia" love between Tess and Clay is just a mirage, which can't cross the gap of reality and can only go to the cliff of decapitation.
We often say: "The ideal is full and the reality is skinny." Tess, a beautiful peasant girl, longs for true love, but it seems that fate played a joke on her and made her meet two wrong people in succession. Alec thinks that love is a natural material transaction, and Tess, who is self-respecting and self-loving, doesn't want to be a victim of love transaction, so such love can only end in tragedy. However, Clay's "utopian" love for Tess fell into the fantasy of perfect love. When the fantasy finally became a bubble, a heavy emotional blow undoubtedly pushed Tess to the brink of mental breakdown. Therefore, Tess's tragic life deserves our deep thought!