Justine Waddell
Tess Durbeyfield
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Although now considered a major novel of the 19th century, Tess of the d'Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England. The novel is set in an impoverished rural England, Thomas Hardy's fictional Wessex.
Summary. After her impoverished family learns of its noble lineage, naive Tess Durbeyfield is sent by her slothful father and ignorant mother to make an appeal to a nearby wealthy family who bear the ancestral name d’Urberville, supposedly introduced to England by one of the Norman knights of William the Conqueror.
Tess is arrested and sent to jail. Angel and Liza-Lu watch as a black flag is raised over the prison, signaling Tess’s execution. A short summary of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
The best study guide to Tess of the d'Urbervilles on the planet, from the creators of SparkNotes. Get the summaries, analysis, and quotes you need.
Tess of the d’Urbervilles is a novel written by Thomas Hardy, first published in serialized form in 1891 and later as a complete work in 1892. The novel tells the tragic story of Tess Durbeyfield, a poor peasant girl in rural England, who discovers that she is a descendant of the once-noble d’Urberville family.
View all. Tess Durbeyfield lives in the rural village of Marlott in southwest England. She first appears performing the May-Day dance, where she exchanges a meaningful glance with a young man named Angel Clare. Tess's family is very poor, but her father learns that he is descended from the d'Urbervilles, one of the oldest, noblest families in ...
The plot primarily begins when Mr. Durbeyfield, Tess’s father, learns that his family is descended from the noble d’Urberville family of old. This revelation motivates Mr. Durbeyfield to concoct a plan to take advantage of this newfound prominence and marry Tess into wealth.
