Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Victim of Temporal, Class-Based, and Moral Judgment

Abstract

This review is to examine the concept of Victorian morality and its influential portrayal through the thematic brilliance of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. During Queen Victoria’s prosperous reign, English society adhered to a rigid moral code known as Victorian morality: an ideology marked by restraint, intolerance toward deviation from religious or social norms, and a deeply entrenched belief in male domination. This framework, devoid of equality, dictated a strict code of conduct that applied disproportionately to women, enforcing an idealized and often unattainable standard of womanhood. All through the novel, Hardy criticises this moral structure and the society that sustains it, exposing its hypocrisy and double standards. Tess, as a character, is initially perceived through the lens of this morality as impure or fallen. Yet Hardy, through his third person narrative voice and compassionate portrayal, repeatedly justifies her actions and reframes her as a victim of social conventions and male exploitation. This tension is encapsulated in the novel’s subtitle: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented. Tess is never truly immoral by any ethical standard; she is condemned not for her character, but for her circumstances.