NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
followed her instincts, she would have saved herself from the cruel At the beginning of the chapter, Hardy foreshadows that fate will not be kind to Tess. He states that she was leaving Marlott, "the Green Valley" of her birth, and moving towards an unknown "grey On reaching her destination, Tess is shocked to discover that Mrs. D'Urberville is blind. She also finds the elderly woman to be cold and uncaring towards her. Tess learns from her that in addition to tending the Trantridge fowl, she is to whistle for the bullfinches every morning. Alec seizes this opportunity to teach Tess how to whistle and encourages her to practice.
He tries to find reasons to spend time with her. Tess tries to ignore him and settles into her The reader is introduced to the D'Urberville house, which Tess judges to be a bit unruly. She is shocked to find that Mrs. D'Urberville is blind and too naive to realize that the elderly woman knows nothing about who Tess is. She thinks that the woman's indifference to her is simply due to her wealth.
Alec has obviously not explained anything to his mother, but he delights in calling Tess "cousin" when they are alone. In spite of Alec's all too frequent presence, Tess settles into her new routine and is happy Chaseborough is a market town where the villagers go to shop, particularly on Saturdays. For a long time, Tess does not go to Chaseborough; however, she finds her first trip there so enjoyable that she begins to visit regularly. On one of her visits in September, she discovers that Chaseborough is having a fair.
She does her usual marketing and then searches for somebody with whom to walk back home. Her co-workers, however, are engaged in drinking, dancing, and merry making. While she waits for them, Alec comes by and offers to give her a ride. Since she does not really trust him, she refuses his offer. When her fellow workers finally leave the fair, some of them are drunk and begin to taunt Tess on the way back to Trantridge.
When Tess has had enough of them and is ready to walk on alone, Alec rides by on his horse and again offers her a ride. This time Tess feels she must accept his help. Tess has previously made several trips into Chaseborough to shop without any problems, but she has never been there in the midst of a fair. Her trip in September is not problem free. Her friends are caught up in the drinking and merry making at the fair, and Tess is forced to wait for them for a long time, not wanting to walk home alone for three miles.
Alec comes by and offers a ride, but Tess Once the group starts for home, it is obvious that Tess's friends have had too much to drink. An argument breaks out between Tess and two of the women, and Tess is ready to walk on alone when Alex rides past again. This time she accepts his offer of help, for she is uneasy with her drunken friends, the hour is late, and she is tired, hungry, and thirsty. Under normal circumstances, Tess would never have gone away with Alec, as seen earlier in the chapter when she refused his offer of a ride. Fate has begun its intervention in the life of this young, innocent girl. The chapter highlights Alec's wayward ways of life.
He is used to having his own way, which Hardy indicates is a usual tendency of the rich. The women in his past have obliged him, feeling honored to be noticed by a wealthy man. Alec expects Tess to react to him in a similar manner. He is surprised by her coolness towards him and irked by her constant refusals of his advances.
Tess's indifference to him just makes Alec want her more. Alec takes advantage of having Tess all alone. Instead of heading straight to Trantridge, he lets his horse wander off the road and into the woods. As they ride, he tells Tess he wants to be her lover; she says that she does not appreciate his advances.
As they have talked, Alec has not paid attention and is truly lost. He leaves Tess by the horse to go and search for a way out of the woods. While he is gone, Tess, who has had an exhausting day, falls asleep. When he returns, he looks at the sleeping beauty, and his passion is aroused. He approaches her with lust. She is shocked by his treacherous moves and starts weeping.
He plays on her emotions by narrating the good he has done for her family, which always makes Tess feel beholden to him. Alec then seduces Tess, and she is too tired to resist his advances. Hardy has carefully structured this chapter to show how fate is in control. Tess has agreed to ride with Alec, for she feels she has no other alternative. Her friends are drunk and fighting with her, she is tired and hungry, and she fears walking the next two miles back to Trantridge alone. She has never trusted Alec and often refused his offers of kindness.
Once on the horse with him this fateful night, Tess, who is usually observant and cautious, is too exhausted to notice that Alec has allowed the horse to veer off the road and into the woods. Once they are lost in the darkness and forced to dismount, Tess is helpless to fight off Alec's advances. Hardy creates the perfect setting for the seduction. The oldest woods of England stand as mute spectators to the crime. The darkness and the silence shield Alec's sinister desires from the innocent and exhausted Tess. Hardy also creates a perfect contrast between the two characters.
Tess's white muslin figure and moonlit face is a total contrast to Alec's darkness. Tess's innocence and naivet is a total contrast to Alec's selfish, evil nature. Tess is at the most vulnerable stage of her life, and unfortunately, as Hardy puts it, her guardian angel is not present to protect her. By the end of the chapter, Tess is a fallen woman, not by her own doing, but at In his journey to find Tess, Angel first visits Flintcomb-Ash, where he learns she is no longer working.
He continues to Marlott and learns where Joan has gone. He also finds out about John's death and sees his fancy tombstone that links him to the D'Urberville's. He rushes on to Kingsbere, where he locates Joan. She, however, is very reluctant to give him information about Tess. Finally, she tells In this chapter, Angel's determination is presented. He rushes from town to town searching for his wife.
As he visits Marlott, Angel, like Tess, remembers the May-Day dance and is saddened to think how different things might be if he had danced with her then. He is also saddened to see the family's pathetic attempts to ennoble John by placing a showy tombstone at his grave. Angel learns that the marker is unpaid and takes care of the bill. When Angel meets Joan for the first time, he is not surprised at her reticence with him. After all, he has deserted her daughter and hurt her greatly. But when Angel reveals his feelings for Tess and explains the pain he is going through, Joan finally tells him that Tess is living in Sanbourne.
She also warns Angel that her daughter is no longer expecting him to return. Angel still does not give up hope, but pushes on to Sanbourne to find Tess. At Sanbourne, Angel approaches a postman for Tess's address and is glad to find she is staying at the local lodge, a stylish place, and going by the name of Mrs. D'Urberville. It is the reader's first hint of the changes that have occurred with Tess.
Angel enters the Herons and, seeing its luxury, he thinks that either Tess has sold the jewels or is working here as a maid. When Tess appears, Angel is surprised to see her expensive clothes and is overcome by her beauty. He begs for forgiveness and holds out his arms to embrace her. Tess refuses to approach him and tells him, in a tone of voice that is filled with pathos, that it is too late. Angel begs her again, and Tess then tells him that she is living in sin with Alec and pleads that he should never attempt to see her again.
Broken and shattered, Angel walks out of the lodge. Joan has not told Angel of Tess's present living arrangement, so he assumes that Tess is working in the Herons Lodge as a maid. When he finds her there in expensive clothes, he is overcome with emotion and astounded at her beauty. The scene that follows is probably the most touching one in the book. Neither husband nor wife is prepared for this meeting, and the hurt that it causes them both is immeasurable. Angel is shocked that he has lost Tess to Alec D'Urberville, and Tess is even more shocked to learn that Angel has come back for her.
She does not know whether she should rejoice over seeing Angel or cry over her fate, which seems to eternally keep her from her husband. It is obvious that Tess has become a puppet in the hands of Alec. He convinced her that Angel would never return and that her family would starve to death without his help. Finally beaten beyond resistance, Tess has given in to this despicable man. Ironically, after months of denying Alec's many temptations, she succumbs to her tempter almost at the same time that Angel arrives Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: elderly woman, alec, long time, tess, angel
Research essay sample on Elderly Woman Long Time
