Abstract：In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Hardy demonstrates his deep sense of moral sympathy for England’s lower classes, particularly for rural woman. Hardy views Tess as pure. Tess’s desire simply to be happy is the source of her great courage and moral strength. She tries to cope with the fate that life has dealt her. However, Tess is no more than a helpless victim under the unfair Victorian social forces. Firstly, it is the Victorian cult of aristocratic lineage that drives Tess to claim kin. Her inexperience and lack of wise parenting leave her extremely vulnerable. Secondly, it is the unfair class system that allows a rich nobleman to impregnate and abandon a lower-class girl without consequences. She becomes Alec’s victim. Lastly, it is also the Victorian myth of the pure virginal bride that unfairly keeps Angel from accepting Tess as his wife. Angel substitutes an idealized picture of Tess’s country purity for the real-life woman that he continually refuses to get to know. These social injustices bring undeserved suffering to Tess. Pure as she is, Tess loses her battle against fate under the unfavorable conditions of capitalism.
Key words: Tess of the d’Urbervilles; Thomas Hardy; Purity and Doom
中文摘要：在《德伯家的苔丝》中，哈代表现出了对英国底层人民、尤其是对农村妇女深深的同情。在哈代眼中，苔丝是纯洁的。她对幸福的追求是她惊人的勇气和品德的来源。她努力面对和处理命运给予她的一切。然而，苔丝只是不公正的维多利亚社会力量下的一名无助的受害者。首先，是维多利亚时期对贵族家系的膜拜使苔丝不得不去认亲。由于没有社会经验、缺乏明智的家庭教育，苔丝变得十分脆弱。其次，是不公正的社会制度使得富有的贵族可以拥有又抛弃底层的姑娘，而不必承担任何后果。苔丝沦为阿列克的牺牲品。再者，维多利亚时期对纯洁的新娘的要求又使得安吉尔无法接受苔丝作为自己的妻子。安吉尔将苔丝的质朴纯洁理想化了，拒绝了解和接受一个真正的苔丝。这些不公正给苔丝带来了本不应受的苦难。在各种力量的束缚下，尽管纯洁，苔丝个人与命运的抗争显得脆弱无力。
关键字：德伯家的苔丝，托马斯·哈代，纯洁与毁灭
Tess is passionate in her love for Angel and her hatred of Alec. She makes several attempts to rectify her “mistakes”: the vow to Angel to end their marriage; her offer to kill herself to free Angel from their marriage; and, her refusal to ask Angel’s parents for any additional money during Angel’s leave for Brazil. She is determined to be self-sufficient and willing to sacrifice her well-being for the good of others. This makes her selfless and on a morally higher ground than other characters in the novel. She strays from her marriage only when it appears that Angel may not return to her from South America and when there is no other way to help her destitute family. The martyr-like passion of Tess engenders readers’ sympathy. She becomes a character with no discernable negative qualities. She is “a pure woman” as Hardy calls her. But she is also a helpless victim under the unfair Victorian social forces. Pure Tess is doomed to death under the unfavorable conditions of capitalism. The chief message is the truthful portrayal of “the tragic lot of a poor country girl ruined by the bourgeois society, which is responsible for the miseries and sufferings of the small people whom Hardy described in his books.”(Liu 460)
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