《苔丝》悲剧成因探析.doc

Introduction Tess of the D’Urbervilles, published in 1891, was Thomas Hardy’s last and most significant work. In this novel, Hardy reached the height of his achievement as a novelist. The novel can be regarded as one of the greatest tragedy in the history of English literature. This book became one of the greatest works in the late of Victorian era, because it boldly exposed hypocritical moral in the Capitalist society and condemned the Capitalism in the late 19th century that caused impoverishment and decay of small farmers in rural England. Tess was a poor peasant girl who wanted to rely on her hands to pursue individual happiness right, but the powerful social forces can’t let off a weak girl, in the end caused her tragedy. In this novel, we can see that Tess resisted her unjust fate again and again, suffered setbacks again and again, but she was destroyed at last. The purpose of the thesis: The cause of Tess’ tragedy has always been the concern of people, such a beautiful, noble and pure woman as Tess should suffer inevitable ruin. To research this novel, we know the view of morality in the hypocritical bourgeoisie in the Britains Victorian era; Tess’s tragedy is due to the moral root of society and the unequal legal system. In this paper, I try to make a detailed analysis on the novel, to show the various causes of heroine’s tragedy. Chapter 1 Thomas Hardy and his masterpiece A. Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840, in the village of Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, a market town in the county of Dorset. Hardy would spend much of his life in his native region, transforming its rural landscapes into his fictional Wesses. Hardys mother, Jemima, inspired him with a taste for literature; while his stonemason father, Thomas, shared with him a love of architecture and music (the two would later play the fiddle at local dances). As a boy Hardy read widely in the popular fiction of the day, including the novels of Scott, Dumas, Dickens, W. Harrison A