Tess of the D’Urbervilles
The most savage of Hardy's protests against Victorian sexual hypocrisy and the cruelty of the social order.
“Justice was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Aeschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess.”
Why It Matters
The most savage of Hardy's protests against Victorian sexual hypocrisy and the cruelty of the social order. The novel insists, through every chapter, that Tess is 'a pure woman' — the subtitle the publishers tried to remove — and indicts the world that destroys her. It marked the end of the Victorian novel and the beginning of something darker.
The 
Take
Personal reviewIncredibly depressing and definitely along the same lines of an aeschylean tragedy, but just incredibly well done Victorian version of one. The rural imagery and the cathartic coincidental suffering and pagan themes are very interesting. Bad things happen because of luck, pride, internalized social customs etc. all wrapped up in one idea of “fate”
Notable Quotes
“She had been made to break an accepted social law, but no law known to the environment in which she fancied herself such an anomaly.”
“A strong woman who recklessly throws away her strength, she is worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away.”