造成苔丝悲剧的原因英文版.doc

The Reasons for Tess’s Tragic
Thomas Hardy was a famous critical realistic writer at the turn of the 19th century in England; Tess of the D’Urbervilles is the most influential one of all his works. This novel describes a tragic life about one beautiful and pure girl after disgrace. Tess’s tragic life is caused by that society and it’s the result of that time. Except this, it can’t be separated from her own weakness in character, because she obviously has the dual nature of the society character---resistance and compromise. As a common person, Tess fought with the society helplessly. In the end, she turned out to be the sacrificial victim of society like all other things which disobey the morality and ethic. The reasons we discussed are divided into two aspects, the inner reason and the outer reasons including the family reason, the social background and the hypocritical religion.
A: the outer reason
⑴.Family Reason
At the beginning of the novel, it depicts a scene that will change the fate of Tess in the future. The father of Tess was a lazy and foolish peddler. As a man, instead of bearing the burden of family, he was a drunkard and looked unfit. In the upheaval of society, in place of facing the reality bravely, he was engrossed in a fancy that he was the descendant of good blood. Tess’s mother was a milker at first. Later, she could only earn a little money by washing clothes for others. But she was in a state of unemployment in later time. She was vulgar, superficial and simpleminded. As the oldest child of the family, Tess had to help to support the family. After leaving school, Tess earned money by working. Tess’s father heard the news that they were the descendants of a knight family-- the D’urbervilles. He was too pleased to continue his work as usual. Instead, he drunk more. As a result, Tess had no choice but to go to the market on the behalf of her father. Unfortunately, on the way, there was an accident in which the horse --Prince died. Prince was the only means of production that they can rely on. The death of Prince worsened the family’s poverty. Thus, Tess accepted her mother’s suggestion that they should get contact with their relatives—the D’urbervilles. Before leaving, the mother dressed her up. Both the father and the mother knew what it meant for Tess. But Tess was only seventeen then , she couldn’t predict what would happen. Her parents wanted to change the poor condition of the family if Tess could marry with a rich man. Their foolishness deprived their daughter of her happiness. As the words in the novel＂…when Tess was hurt, no one could protect her, even the God had slept…″There was no doubt that the poor condition of the family was the direct and the most begging reason. If not for their poverty ,Tess would not go to the market in the night; if not for their poverty ,Tess’s parents would not compelled Tess to recognize relative relation with the D’urbervilles and she would not be raped by Alec; if not for their poverty, Tess would not had received so much humiliation before the returning to her husband-- Angel Clare.
In conclusion, the family’s heavy burden , the father’s laziness and addiction to the alcohol, the mother’s unemployment, vulgarity and simple-mindedness ,all these led to Tess’s tragic life.
⑵. Social Background
Family is the smallest unit of society. The upheaval of society unavoidably bring about changes to family. Tess lived in a changing time when England was shifting from agricultural economy to machine production. To some degree, Tess’s life of tragedy was historical inevitability. The death of Prince made the family lose their last base of economy. Tess’s family had to get involved in the proletarian. Out of willing, Tess had no choice but to get contact with the capitalist Alec D’urbervilles to work for them so as to tackle the poor condition of the family. This was Tess’s first step in becoming a proletarian. From this time on, her life became the life of a proletarian from pastoral life. And she became an agricultural worker earning money by selling her labor. During this time, Tess was ravished by Alec and gave birth to a child who died in infancy. The people in her countryside could not accept that kind of thing and scorn off Tess. They thought that Tess set a bad example for their children. The countrymen even exiled them after the death of Tess’s father. When Tess fed her child, she kept a far distance from other farmers in the field. When Tess asked a clergyman to baptize for her son, the clergyman didn’t agree because her son was illegal. All of those showed people’s hypocrisy. Alec was another example. His actions of helping Tess’s family, teaching Tess to learn whistle, etc, were based on the desire of the possession of Tess .All Alec’s pretending kindness was not out of true love, but out of Tess’s beauty and his sexual desire. Moreover, Alec was not ashamed of his badness even though he clearly knew the fact. It revealed the capitalists’ hypocrisy and pseudo(假的，不诚实的) morality. The society of that time was not just. It was a society of hegemony(领导权，霸权) father right. There was a thought that girls’ first time of sex was the privilege of her husband. On the wedding night , Tess confessed to Angel her seduction by Alec. Though Angel had done the same thing with a woman in France, on hearing her wife’s tale, his old fashioned prejudices overcame him and he abandoned Tess.
In conclusion, the break of agricultural economy, the deprivation of farmers’ land and means of production and the hegemony father right in men’s heart in such a changing age,all these caused Tess‘s tragic life. As the representative of the farmers , Tess’s tragic life was constructed in the development of society. All in all, Tess was the sacrificial victim of the society.
(3) hypocritical religion
Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a rebel to the hypocritical morality of Christianity. When she faced the extreme poverty, social discrimination after being ravished by Alec and the abandonment of her husband, she chose to endure and struggle. The series of accidental events and warnings still step by step drove her to the abyss of destruction. Tess is executed at the end of the novel. Just as what Aeschylean says “Justice” was done, and the President of the Immortals had ended his sport with Tess. The master of the gods in the novel refers to the god, which expressed the Hardy’s sarcasm and discontent to the unfair god. Some ideas of Tess's husband--Angel represents those of Hardy’s in some respects. His religious beliefs reflected the changes and progress of that time. However, he was not completely free from the restrictions of the Christian traditional thoughts. When Tess confessed her past experience to him on the night of their wedding, he refused to give his forgiveness and abandoned her mercilessly. He believed in what he was taught in his childhood and still a slave of traditional and outdated opinions. What full of his mind was rigid principles of Christian traditional ethics. Here Hardy pointed out the limitations of Angle’s thoughts and at the same time expressed his irony of old Christian morality.
B. the inner reason--Characters Analysis of Tess
In one novel, people’s character also takes a very important part. In this novel, though the writer used the environment to describe Tess’s tragic fate, the other reason which caused this result is her own character.
Tess was a daughter of a poor peasant. Her character concentrated on human nature’s brave benevolence. Tess’s beauty and temperament were harmony with the nature. She was “the nature’s daughter”, a little bird in a cage could make her cry. Tess’s own character decided that she had no ability to protect herself, and the efforts that required were in excess of her endurance. The tragedy of her fate set the tone early, and the tragedy’s happening was the problem of the time. Tess experienced major changes in human relationships. She obviously had the dual nature of the social character---- resistance and compromise. Treating with the bad young man –Alec, Tess revolted constantly. Although she became a disgraced woman, she always held an inviolable attitude to Alec. She silently endured the unfair in her life. Although life only gave her attack and disaster，she could tenaciously endure and undertake and never set the excessive request to the life. The second time when Tess met Alec, her lives were in the most difficult of her times. Facing every enticement of Alec, her basic remained unmoved. Tess was not willing to compromise. Then the disaster arrived, Tess’s father died and her family was expelled the village. Tess entrusted the body once again in Alec just because her mother and little brothers and sisters could then have a place to live，but anti-makes in light of this had not ended, submitting was only temporary. In the end, she killed Alec with a knife. This was an inevitable result of her innermost feeling revolt. Tess had the ending of violent resistance to evil.
The other side of Tess’s social character was resigned to bad conditions. Tess adopted completely another kind of manner to treat Clare. The relationship between lovers should be equal, but Tess constantly disparaged herself and raised Clare. “She loves him extremely, she looks him as the god.” In front of love, Tess had lost herself, lost the dignity. This kind of blind, unequal love made Tess lose the happy right as a wife and deepened her tragedy. Tess wrote a confession letter to Clare before their marriage, and then told her “crime” to him, but Clare was the defender of traditional moral principles, his “new mind” demanded that Tess give forgiveness and tolerance for his profligate behavior in the past and Tess did, but the tragic past of Tess, actually could not obtain Clare’s forgiveness. Tess did not revolt slightly when facing Clare’s heartless abandonment. Oppositely, she said:” I am certainly like a low pitiful slave of yours, absolutely obey you, if you ask me not to be able to fall to the ground, suicide killed, and I do not violate you.” Clare cruel-heartedly left her but Tess never reduced her love to Clare.
From what has been discussed above, we learned that the reasons for Tess’s tragic life are various. We can also know that one of the important reason of the novel’s success lies that it created a moving tragic character—Tess. Because of the subjective or objective facts , she made some kind of mistakes which led to the tragic results. She is a good person but not a perfect one. She has a pitiful and even admirable quality and personality, but she has the mortal unavoidable weaknesses and flaws. Her way of life, thoughts , feelings and tragic ending can reflect the reality of that times, which resonates us.