Abstract

Thomas Hardy, one of the prominent writers in the history of English literature, was known as the greatest master of tragedy and his masterpiece Tess of the D’urbervilles made a stir during the Victorian era. The body of the paper consists of three chapters. That is to say, the paper analyzes the causes of Tess’ s tragedy in three angles--social background, family background and personal factors.

    Firstly, women have no rights in the patriarchal society. Moreover, with the rapid development of industrialization and the penetration of capitalism, women in low status are supervised by hypocritical morality, religion and unjustified law all the time. Secondly, Tess’ s poverty and the thoughts of fatalism Hardy’ s family brings contribute to her tragedy to some extent. Finally, the essential reason lies in the personalities of Tess, Alec and Angel. In a short, the paper makes a thorough inquiry of causes of Tess’ s tragedy.

key words : Tess of the D’urbervilles; Hardy; causes of tragedy

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review2

3. Social Background3

3.1. Destructive impact of industrialization3

3.2. Patriarchal system and value4

3.3. Social morality, religion and law5

4. Family Background 6

4.1. Tess’ s status of economy and class 7

4.2. Hardy’s domestic environment: the thought of fatalism7

5. Personal Factors9

5.1. Tess 9

5.1.1. Ambivalent character9

5.1.2. Consciousness of feminism10

5.2. Alec’s sexual oppression 11

5.3. Angel’s spiritual oppression12

5.4. Hardy: effect of scholars and literature 13

6. Conclusion14

References 16