Tess, A Victim of Society?: The Imposition of Society on Wom

In Victorian Society, there were two types of women: Fallen women and Good women. Good women were women who were usually virgins upon marriage. They were married or going to be married, had very little education, were trained in domestic affairs (sewing, cooking, housekeeping, etc.) and they had little or no voice over what was asked of them to do. These women were looked upon as pure and innocent, like children. They would fall into the care of their husbands and would not try to do anything independently or not of their husbands’ will. Hardy defended Tess as one of the “good women”.

When Angel first takes Tess into his regard, he “recreates” her into a pure woman. In his first regard, he calls her a “fresh and virginal daughter of Nature”. He immediately chooses her above all the other milkmaids. He desires to be accepted by society and Tess is his beacon of acceptance. He sees in her the “visionary essence of woman” a woman who is perfect in every way. She will help him become accepted. When he learns of her true name, he only sees a way to further society’s acceptance of him. He renames her as “Mistress Teresa d’Urberville” so that she can be taken into society immediately. Her name will help others to recognize her strength and his connection to her will be an advantage for him. Even though Angel uses Tess to help him become socially accepted he still loves her essence as a good woman.

Alec thought nothing of it when he took advantage of Tess. This was because he was taught that women were frail and were able to be taken advantage of. Because of this type of thinking, Alec cannot be blamed for what happened any more that Tess could. He was just relying on what society had taught him. The same society which by today’s standards Tess was misled and made a victim.

Adultery, an act taken very seriously by Victorians, had a very serious punishment for women. However, if a man were to take part in the same act, he would receive a much lighter punishment. A woman who committed adultery on her husband could be divorced and labeled as fallen. She would be looked down upon, because she rejected the care of her husband. Society would not find a means of accepting her, so she would have trouble finding work and money and thus would become a victim to whomever she found to work for.

Hardy in all the writings he does regarding this book defends Tess. He claims that no matter what happens, she is pure until the end. He admits that her external purity is marred when she gives in to Alec for the second time, but still claims that her internal purity was still intact. “But I still maintain that her innate purity remained intact to the very last; though I frankly own that a certain outward purity left her on her last fall.” (Hardy) Hardy believes that was not stripped of her purity when Alec first raped her. In this situation, she was only a victim of circumstances beyond her control. In the time of Victorian England, Hardy’s defense of Tess was widely criticized. Many people saw Tess and the typical fallen woman and they were repulsed by Hardy’s defense of her. Even as they looked at the book and saw the ominous subtitle: “A Pure Woman” they could not bring themselves to realize the need for change.

Tess of the d’Urbervilles was written in a time when Tess could not be free. Alec, Angel, and most importantly society made Tess a victim. Because society had pr

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