How Does Hardy Shape Our Responses to Tess in Tess of the D’uerbevilles in Chapters one to Nine?

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Having said this, Tess is seen to own a willingness and want to please those she’s encountered with, stemmed from a mixture of guilt, morality and sensitivity causing the reader to view her as one with a kind heart, creating a likeliness to the character. We are first exposed to this vulnerability when Tess’ face had “colour upon her cheeks” and how “her eyes grew moist” , demonstrating her significant embarrassment of her father and the effect those making fun of him had on her. Yet, after acknowledging his “foolishness” she still defends him, commanding them not to speak anymore about the situation, this shows her loyalty, compassion and protectiveness over her family as well as her willingness to defend and do whatever she may need to protect them, This is further portrayed thorugh the way in which she agrees to go to live with the D’urbevilles, despite her want to stay home. She does so partially out of guilt from the death of Prince, which further enforces the idea of her being a particularly sensitive character. It could be argued that the death was brought about by fate, for she falls asleep at the carriage causing a crash, this was to an extent not her fault yet she puts an extreme amount of blame on herself. It is a complete accident, yet Hardy instils the event with a sense of determinism, as if it were part of the Durbeyfield fate. This is also what drives her to obey her mother wishes. This is exemplified by the way she states “ I killed the horse, and I suppose I ought to do something… but I don’t quite like Mr.d’Urbervile”, despite her severe dislike towards Alec, she puts her responsibility to help her family first. This creates the idea of Tess as a maternal figure, taking responsibility for her families duties and prioritising them over her feelings, acting as a woman of great kindness and maturity. This is also shown through the way in which she states “do what you like with me mother”, showing her lack of power and dominance as she lets others manipulate and control her, as if she was a doll, allowing her mother to treat her as one. Additionally, it is told that her “eyes were too full and her voice too chocked to utter the words that were in her”. This quote epitomises the way in which Tess swallows her feelings and represses them in order to not cause trouble, portraying her inner selflessness further. However, this willingness, sensitivity and sense of obligation is what leads her towards her negative fate, for its what drives her to the d’Urbervilles household. It is foreshadowed that her caring and loving nature and kindness towards her mother is actually the beginning of her downfall. By enforcing the idea that Tess is a moral and caring person, Hardy ensures that our repsonse to Tess is with great sympathy.

Altogether, throughout chapter 1-9 a readers response to Tess is shaped so that one feels bad for her. Be it her deteriorating innocence, objectification or selflessness, Tess is repeatedly not in control of the climatic events that unfold and that she is faced with, thereby sympathy is created as we see the extent of Tess not deserving such mistreatment.

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