Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Text used in this guide

The text used in this guide is the standard text first published in 1912 by Macmillan, Hardy's main publisher. Hardy kept revising his texts every time there was a new edition, but this edition is usually taken as his last word.

You need to be aware that the Penguin Classics edition (NOT the same as the Penguin Modern Classics edition) uses the text of the 1891 version. There are significant differences compared to later editions, but the useful endnotes in the Penguin Classics explain these changes.

Due to copyright reasons, the text supplied on texts.crossref-it.info and alongside this text guide is the 1891 version. Do not use it as your main text.

About Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Tess of the d’Urbervilles is probably the best known of all of Hardy's novels. Hardy had a lot of trouble with it, partly because of its sub-title A Pure Woman. Victorian ideas of purity were very different from Hardy's, but despite much controversy, he refused to change it, even though he admitted it had been added at the very last moment. Tess was certainly his favourite heroine. He has even been accused of being in love with her.

These days, the novel is not controversial in that way. But it is still a challenging novel to read as it explores:

• The pathos of pure love in the face of human betrayal
• How much control anyone has over their destiny.

These questions have always been universal to the human condition. This is what makes Hardy's novel what is often called a ‘classic’.

About this study guide

The aim of this guide is to enhance and support your reading of the novel and any work you do on it. Especially it aims to:

• Increase enjoyment of the novel
• Extend knowledge and understanding of its context
• Extend knowledge and understanding of its literary qualities
• Help readers think about some of the wider issues raised.

How to use the guide

The guide can either be used during your first reading of the novel, or as you re-read it more slowly and carefully for the purpose of discussing it and writing about it.

The Context section will give you:

• A timeline charting the life and times of Hardy
• A brief biography of the author
• A geographical description of the area covered by the novels
• A brief historical account of agricultural and social conditions of the day
• An overview of some of the religious and philosophical ideas of the time
• An account of how the novel was first published and the literary world it entered.

It may help to use the Context section while reading through the chapters. There will be cross-references from the text section back to the context section, if you wish to make use of them.

The Text section, which is the main part of the guide, will give you, for each chapter

• A brief summary
• An explanation of difficult or dialect words and phrases
• An explanation of any references made to books, customs or historical details
• Some pointers for you to look out for which will tie up with other chapters, such as:
  • themes
  • images and symbols
  • character development
• Some questions for you to discuss or think about.

When you have read through the novel and feel you know it well enough, then you will want to move on to analyse the literary structures. In this guide they are arranged as:

• Plot structures
• Narration and narrative voice
• Characterisation
• Themes
• Imagery and symbolism.

Questions will be asked about each of these aspects, based on notes made during your reading of the individual chapters.

Various critical approaches to the novel by well-known scholars and critics are included, as is advice about approaching essays and exams. It will help to read this through before tackling critical essays. Supplementary web and text based study material will give helpful routes for further exploration.