131) " She did not look like Sissy now, but as a being large, towering and awful- a divine personage with whom they had nothing in common.".
However, it is Tess's acknowledgement of conventional Christian values that causes her to suffer. She recalls what she has been taught and sees herself as her townsfolk see her. Hardy depicts the Church as harsh, judgmental and unforgiving- in reality, not very Christian at all. There is a certain element of hypocrisy about the Church in Hardy's portrayal of their teachings. They preach to treat all beings equally but spurn Tess without a thought. He rebels against the typecasting of Christianity as virtuous, which was common in the 19th century, and instead casts it in the role of a villain. He sees the prejudice in particular Christian values and seeks to show his readers the injustice in traditional beliefs.
The scales of justice are set against Tess when Hardy introduces the concept of fate. When Tess is hung, there is irony with the words (pg. 449): " "Justice" was done, and the President of the Immortals had ended his sport with Tess." This quote addresses a number of points. Firstly, what does society consider justice? Tess has been created in order that a series of misfortunes lead her to her demise. She is unfairly punished and condemned in the eyes of Victorian society. Another issue is the suggestion that humanity is a mere fragment in the grand scheme of life. Tess is powerless to control her destiny and the passivity of her character adds to the futility of her story. The number of coincidences and series of bad luck becomes excessive but again, it displays Hardy's view on the role of an individual in the larger pattern of life and nature.
Tess of the d"Urbervilles was written in a period when the Industrial Revolution was booming yet Hardy chooses to set his novel in the countryside. His characters are in sync with nature, especially with Tess.
