Thomas Hardy Tess of the d' Urbervilles

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Victorian Morals

 

Position of women in Victorian Times

*Poor women had to work

*Bad living conditions

* no rights to vote, husband was the boss

Difference between the classes:

*Rich women were supposed to be "the Angel of the House"

*Well-furnished houses & enough food, servants

* no rights to vote, husband decided on everything

Page 48

First an exercise to help you with the vocabulary

someone who argues about a price

a particular way of walking

a person's family history

in bad or weak condition 

Christian priest

rickety

gait

haggler

parson

pedigree

passing from a parent to a child as a right

not now existing

not telling the truth

sudden or unexpected change in circumstances, usually from good to bad.

traditional knowledge and stories about a subject

vicissitudes

extinct

hereditary

lore

mendacious

Page 48

Audio Exerpt 1

excerpt 1 (8 minutes)

1 Parson Tringham meet Tess's father, Jack Durbeyfiled. In what sort of state is Tess's father at this time? 

• intoxicated, half-drunk, tipsy
• The pair of legs ……… bias in his gait / You’ve had enough already

2a. What is the nature of Parson Tringham's announcement? 

• That Jack Durbeyfield is a direct descendant of the noble house of d’Urberville
  

2b. How did he discover this?

• He came across the family tree while researching the history of the area.
  

 

3. What does the Parson tell mr. Durbeyfield? 

• How important his ancestors were; 
• That his ancestors had played a highly significant role in the history of England for several centuries.

 4. How has Jack Durbeyfield lost interest in the matter of his ancestry? 

• The house of d’Urberville has wiped out.
•  The land, possessions and properties owned by the noble family have all gone up in smoke.

 

5. What advice does Parson Thringham give Jack Durbeyfield?

• To do nothing; let the matter lie. His announcement was only meant to make Jack aware of the historic interest of his family tree. After all, there are many families of noble origin who currently live simple lives.

 

Page 51

First an exercise to help you with the vocabulary

neteldoek (een witte stof)

bukte

taxusboom

onduidelijkheid / duister

neveligheid

Goddelijke voorzienigheid

obscurity

nebulousness

muslin

stooped

yews

providence

Page 51

Audio Exerpt 2

 (8 minutes)

Page 51

Answers to the assignments 

excerpt 2

 6. What sort of atmosphere does this brief excerpt cause? 

• Peaceful (harmonious) silence.

7. Which three words emphasise the misery in this excerpt?

•  obscurity (line 2), blackness (line 7) and darkness (line13)

8. What contrasts the misery in this excerpt? What does this symbolise? 

• line 5 the white muslin figure
• Tess’s white dress symbolises her innocence.

9. Who is blamed for what happens to Tess? 

• Her guardian angel, whose attention was apparently on matters other than looking after Tess

Page 52

First an exercise to help you with the vocabulary

onthulling

ontlastend

herhaling

liefkozingen

verwijzend naar het oor

verschrompeld

exculpatory

iteration

auricular

endearments

disclosure

withered

Page 52

AUDIO excerpt 3 (22 minutes)

10. What is the most important sentence of paragraph 1? 

• lines 11-12: the essence of things had changed = Things would never be the same again.

 

11. Which two comments in the first 79 lines also show this important sentence? 

• Line 53: you were one person; now you are another.
  
• Line 77: the woman I have been loving is not you.

12. In which three ways does Tess deal with her sorrows (lines 79-148)? 

• She almost faints (lines 87-88), weeps (line 98) and is servile, humble (124-125)
  

13. Angel makes a sarcastic comment but realises that is is pointless. Why?

• Because Tess is far too naïeve and innocent to even notice such an ironical remark, never mind understanding it. 

14. Lines 192-197 contain a quote. To whom does this quote relate? What is the basic mening of the quote? 

• To Tess (herself)
• Once you have been exposed (line 192-193),
• you will no longer be so pretty after your downfall (line 194).
• Your life will prove pointless (line 195) and filled with pain and sorrow (line 196).

15. What unpleasant argument does Angel use in lines 229-233? And how does he make things even worse a couple of lines later? 

• That Tess and he differ greatly in terms of social standing. She is just a peasant girl.
  
• That is what comes of being the descendant of a broken-down family (the d’Urbervilles). Not the fresh-faced product of nature, but the remnants of a died out line.

16. What is ironic about the account of a cottager from Wellbridge? Lines 257-275

• The cottager seeking a doctor that night mistook Tess and Angel for lovers.

17. Explain the remark 'The check was sufficient' lines 353

• On seeing the painting which portrayed two d’Urberville women of the past as threatening and sly, Angel immediately noticed Tess’s close resemblance to them. This gave him sufficient reason to sever the knot.

Page 57

AUDIO excerpt 4 (5 minutes)

18. What becomes immediately clear to Angel in the first paragraph? 

• That Tess’s beauty is further emphasised by her clothing and the way she wears her hair.

19. Angels suspects that his appearance has had a certain effect on Tess. What effect? 

• One of distaste as he has an unhealthy (yellow) complexion and is emaciated (skeleton).

20. Tess lists reasons why she now lives with Alec d'Urberville. What are they?

• 1. She waited a long time in vain for Angel;
• 2. She sent him countless letters, to which he never replied;
• 3. Alec d’Urberville convinced her that she was foolish to keep believing that Angel
• would return;
• 4. After her father’s death, Alec took care of her, her mother and the rest of the
  
• family.

Answers to the assignments 

entire book

21. Which two aspects of the story caused a public protest when the book was published in 1891? 

• The illegitimate child and the murder of Tess’s seducer, Alec.
  

22a How did Tess view her job at Talbothays? System? Effect on her? 

• close-knit rural community. Tess’s happiness (awakening love of Angel) and her beauty were restored there.

22b Flincomb-Ash? System? Effect on Tess? 

• slaves within an impersonal system. Tess suffered: rough countryside and the cruelty of rules forced by man. Her fate was both harsh and bitter.

22c symbolism? 

• Talbothays is symbolic of the old traditions and harmonious ways of rural England, while Flintcomb-Ash represents the steady advance of the mechanised world in all its severity

23. In what regard is Tess  a modern woman and therefore different to the traditional peasant girl?

• Tess could read and write.

24. main topic? 

• tragic love

subtopics? 

• certainty of fate and the contrast between traditional and the rapidly emerging industrialised societies.

25. Climax or the story: 

• The murder of Alec d’Urberville

background info on Victorian morals