Abstract

Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of Hardy's famous works. People have different opinions upon the causes of Tess's tragedy, and the analysis of her character never ends. Tess is pure, hard-working and rebellious. She is willing to do everything she can do to protect her love. Tess is not perfect, she is too young and inexperienced, which makes her easily deceived by the hypocrisy of the bourgeois. Based on the previous researches, this thesis further analyzes the character of Tess from the perspective of Freud's theory of personality structure, which consists of three parts: ID, ego and superego. Tess has the id of pursuing happiness, but she also has the superego which has a strong recognition of social morality. These two parts fight against each other, and make Tess always in a state of painful psychological struggle. Her own id can’t be released and is always repressed by her ego and superego. The cruel reality and the strong sense of family responsibility make Tess have to give up her id and follow the arrangements of her ego. At the same time, her superego always reminds her of the past painful experience, which makes her surrounded by infinite pain and despair.

Keywords: Tess of the D'Urbervilles; Freud's theory of personality structure; character; ID; ego; superego

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1.-Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

3. Freud's Theory of Personality Structure-4

3.1 Id-5

3.2 Ego-6

3.3 Superego-7

4. An Analysis of Tess’s Character-7

4.1 The id of Tess's character-7

4.2 The ego of Tess's character-8

4.3 The superego of Tess's character-9

5. Conclusion-10

Works Cited-11