Abstract

Thomas Hardy’ s masterpiece— Tess of the D’Urbervilles always attract  so much global audience’s attention. In the novel, the author vividly depicted a pure and innocent rural girl — Tess. She was insulted and accused of, but she wasn’t resigned to the management of the fate. She struggled and resisted in the bottom of the evil society, but she could not escape the tragic fate and eventually became a murderer. By carefully trying to figure out the details of the novel, readers can analyze the causes of the tragedy of Tess. Many critics believed that the fate is the root cause of Tess’ tragedy. In addition, there were other factors generated the tragedy directly or indirectly. Objectively speaking, social environment, traditional morality, religion and family directly led to her tragedy. Tess lived in a turbulent society. The ruthless capitalist society, unfair laws and hypocritical morals gave rise to the tragedy of Tess. She had to comply with her parents’ arrangement because of family burden. From the subjective point of view, her tragedy came from her characteristics. She dared to revolt against the traditional morality and to pursue  the happiness. But she couldn’t completely get rid of the shackles of fate, which also showed the weak side in her characteristics. To sum up, Tess’ tragedy was caused by many factors.

Key words : Tess; tragic fate; reason analysis

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1.Introduction. 1

2.Literature Review.2

3. Reasons for Tess’ Tragic Fate5

3.1 Social reasons.6

3.1.1. Religious tradition7  

3.1.2. Historical background8

3.2. Domestic reasons9

3.2.1. The poverty of the family9

3.2.2. The conscience and faith of the family10 

3.3. Personal reasons.11

3.3.1. The trammels of traditional morality.11

3.3.2. The cowardice of Tess.12

4. Conclusion13

References15