Title: Lecture 3 Tess of the d
1Lecture 3 Tess of the dUrbervilles
- Why didnt you tell me there was danger in
men-folk?
2 Lecture Focus
- Chance and Coincidence
- Structure in relation to its Phases
- Setting and Season
- Symbolism 1 Pervasiveness of colour Red
- Symbolism 2 Symbolical significance of the Fog
- Critically significant instances of Irony in
Chapter 5 and Chapter 7
3Chance and Coincidence
- Chance and coincidence have become one of the
primary motions of the universe - (At the same time, Hardy could not help seeing
human life and Nature in more conventional ways) - Re- Choice, responsibility, and freedom
4Life at the Mercy of Chance
- Hardy manipulates the events in the lives of his
characters so that it will be plain - that human life is at the mercy of chance
- and the most arbitrary of circumstances
- He engages his characters in the most incredible
conjunctions of unfortunate incidents
5Structure of the novel and Phases
- Hardy uses the word phase to describe the
stages of Tesss life - Connotations of the word, Phase?
- Normally associated with the waxing and waning of
the moon - Phases of the moon from its first appearance as
a slender crescent to fullness and then to its
broken appearance as it comes to the end of its
cycle
6Phases / Cycles of the Moon and stages of
Womanhood
- Traditionally, these phases of the moon connote /
have been associated with the major stages of the
life of a woman - (1)Maiden, (2) Wife, (3) Old Woman
- The first two phases The Maiden and Maiden No
More symbolically represent the first stage of
Tesss life, as maiden.
7- The next three stages
- The Rally The Consequence and The Woman
Pays - represent the second, that of a wife
- The last two phases
- The Convert and Fulfillment
- represent her decline
8Philosophical Asides
- Along the way of the narrative in its structured
phases from 1 to 7 - We have, along side the narrative, Hardys
Philosophical Asides or philosophical
broodings, or brooding, bleak, ironic reflective,
philosophical commentaries - Part of his reaction as observer of the action
- Perception and reflection kept separate
9Setting and Season
- Tess and her family live in the village of
Marlott village in the Vale of Blackmore - Tess meets Angel Clare in Talbothays in the
Valley of the Great Dairies - Flintcomb Ash is where she spends the winter,
abandoned by Clare - Each setting supports the mood of the action
which takes place there
10Literary Purpose of Landscape
- These landscapes have a literary purpose
- Each provides the frame and background for the
phases / stages in Tesss life - Which take her farther and farther away from the
more safe and secure shelter of her home in
Marlott - Hardy thus uses setting / landscape, and season
in a symbolically suggestive way
11From Chapter 16 The Vale of Little Dairies and
Blackmoor Vale
- The Vale of Blackmoor is portrayed as static,
unchanging, luxuriantly beautiful. - There the water-flower was the lily, the
crowfoot here. - Referring to the clear, rapid waters of the river
Froom - The symbol of the Valley of Blackmoor is the
lily, symbolizing Tesss purity, and innocence
12Chapter 5 Chance, and Joans blissful ignorance
- We must take the ups wi the downs, Tess, said
she - and never could your high blood have been found
out at a more called-for moment.
13Different Parents points of view in Hardys TD
Lawrences WL
- I dont like my children going and making
themselves beholden to strange kin. Ch 5 - I dont quite like my children going away from
home, said the haggler. As the head of the
family, the rest ought to come to me. - But do let her go, Jacky,
- Hes struck wi heryou can see that. He called
her Coz! Hell marry her, most likely, and make a
lady of her, and then shell be what her
forefathers was. Chapter 6
- Will Brangwen (father of Ursula and Gudrun) to
Rupert Birkin in Chapter 19. Moony - But Id rather see my daughters dead to-morrow
than that they should be at the beck and call of
the first man that likes to come and whistle for
them. - They have got themselves to please, and if they
can help it theyll please nobody but themselves.
14The colour Red and its Symbolical Suggestiveness
- For an artist as visually sensitive as Hardy,
Colour is of great critical significance. - One colour in particular strikingly catches our
eyes throughout the entire novel - The colour, RED.
- Colour of blood
- Connotations?
- Associated with beauty, passion, sex, violence,
rage, destruction, and death
15- In one set of circumstances, blood and the
spilling of blood can mean
sexual passion and the creation of
life - In another, blood and spilling of blood can mean
murderous passion
and death. - After the death of Prince, Chapter 4 Tess is
constantly encountering the colour red. - When she approaches the dUrberville house, we
read -
16The colour Red and its Symbolical
Suggestiveness Chapter 5
- The crimson brick lodge came first in sight, up
to its eaves in dense evergreens - It was of recent erectionindeed almost newand
of the same rich, red colour that formed such a
contrast with the evergreens of the lodge.
17- Mysteriously, inevitably, this house will play a
part in Tesss destiny - For this red house contains her future rapist,
- And another red house later on contains her final
executioner, where she is hanged - Red is symbolically suggestive the red marks
the houses of sex and death
18Middle of Chapter 5
- He Alec had an almost swarthy complexion, with
full lips, badly moulded, though red and smooth - Despite the touches of barbarism in his contours
- Tesss sense of a certain ludicrousness in her
errand was now so strong - And her general discomfort at being here, her red
rosy lips curved towards a smile much to the
attraction of the swarthy Alexander
19Chapter 5
- Tess wished to abridge her visit as much as
possible but the young man was pressing, and she
consented to accompany him. He conducted her
about the lawns, and flower-beds, and
conservatories and thence to the fruit-garden
and green-houses, where he asked her if she liked
strawberries. - Yes, said Tess, when they come.
20From Chapter 5
- They are already here. DUrberville began
gathering specimens of the fruit for her, handing
them back to her as he stooped and, presently,
selecting a specially fine product of the
British Queen variety, he stood up and held it
by the stem to her mouth. - Nono! she said quickly, putting her fingers
between her hands and her lips. I would rather
take it in my own hand. - Nonsense! he insisted and in a slight distress
she parted her lips and took it in.
21Chapter 10 Saturday Night Disco
- A good laugh from behind Tesss back, in the
shade of the garden, united with the titter
within the room. She looked round, and saw the
red coal of a cigar Alec dUrberville
was standing there alone. He beckoned to her, and
she reluctantly retreated towards him. - Well, my Beauty,
- what are you doing here?
22Omniscient Narrators Voice and IRONY Chapter 5
- Parson Tringham had spoken truly when he said
that our shambling John Durbeyfield was the only
really lineal representative of the old
dUrberville family existing in the country, or
near it - he might have added, what he knew very well, that
the Stoke-dUrbervilles were no more
dUrbervilles of the true tree than he was
himself.
23Simon Stoke (merchant) and Stoke-dUrbervilles
Chapter 5
- Conning for an hour in the British Museum the
pages and works devoted to extinct, half-extinct,
obscured, and ruined families appertaining to the
quarter of England in which he proposed to
settle, he Simon considered that dUrberville
looked and sounded as well as of them and
dUrberville was annexed to his own name for
himself and his heirs eternally.
24Name, Fortune, and Nature Ch 5
- Of this work of the imagination poor Tess and
her parents were naturally in ignorancemuch to
their discomfiture - indeed, the very possibility of such annexations
was unknown to them - who supposed that, though to be well-favoured
might be the gift of fortune, a family name came
by nature.
25A little later in Chapter 5 we read
- Alec
- But, Tess, no nonsense about dUrbervilleDur
beyfield only, you knowquite another name. - Tess
- I wish for no better, sir, said she with
something of dignity.
26End of Chapter 7 Further Irony
- Joan Durbeyfield always managed to find
consolation somewhere - Well, as one of the genuine stock, she ought to
make her way with en, even if she plays her
trump card aright. And if he dont marry her
afore he will after. For that hes all afire wi
love for her any eye can see. - Whats her trump card? Her dUrberville blood,
you mean? - No stupid her faceas twas mine
27Additional Symbolism The Fog Chapter 11
- She was silent, and the horse ambled along for a
considerable distance, till a faint luminous fog,
which had hung in the hollows all the evening,
became general and enveloped them. It seemed to
hold the moonlight in suspension, rendering it
more pervasive than in clear air.
28- You cannot walk home darling, even if the air
were clear. We are miles away from Trantridge, if
I must tell you, and in this growing fog you
might wander for hours among these trees. - As to your getting to Trantridge without
assistance, it is quite impossible for, to tell
the truth, dear, owing to this fog, which so
disguises everything, I dont quite know where we
are myself.
29- He Alec touched her with his fingers, which
sank into her as into down. You have only
that puffy muslin dress onhows that? - by this time the moon had quite gone down, and
partly on account of the fog The Chase was
wrapped in thick darkness, although morning was
not far off.
30Narrators Philosophical Aside and Tone End of
Phase the First
- Darkness and silence ruled everywhere around.
Above them rose the primeval yews and oaks of The
Chase, - But, might some say, where was Tesss guardian
angel? Where was the providence of her simple
faith? Perhaps, like that other god of whom the
ironical Tishbite spoke, he was talking, or he
was pursuing, or he was in a journey, or he was
sleeping and not to be awaked.
Echoes a text
from Kings in the Bible
31Explanation of Biblical Allusion
- The narrator is referring to the Hebrew prophet
Elijah, who chides Ahabs people for worshipping
a false god (Baal) and mocks them when
their god fails to produce fire upon their
request - Cry aloud for he is a god either he is
talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a
journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be
awaked. (1 Kings 1827)
32Follow up Tutorial on TD
- Assignment matters
- Use of Symbolism
- Reading Dialogue and Subtext
33Assignment Questions based on the death of Prince
episode Ch 4
- Discuss the effects of the writing in this
passage, showing how far and in what ways the
novels characteristic methods and concerns are
evident here. - OR
- Discuss the effects of the writing in this
passage, considering the critical significance of
the episode described here in your reading of the
novel as a whole.
34Analysis of Question
- Discuss the intended effects of the writing
(diction, syntax, imagery, symbolism, narrative
method, use of dialogue etc) in this passage - Showing how far to what extent
- And also in what ways techniques used
- The novels characteristic methods
- And characteristic concerns
- Are evident here in this passage
35- Essay Introductory paragraph
- Must state thesis
- For a literature essay
- The central framework of ideas
36- Topic sentence (central idea)
- Selected quotation / illustration
- Analysis of quotation(s)
- Conclusion of paragraph
- NB Conclude with a statement showing the
relevance (how it is linked) to the controlling
idea(s) of your essay
37Abraham looking up at the stars
- He leant back against the hives, and with
upturned face made observations on the stars,
whose cold pulses were beating amid the black
hollows above, in serene dissociation from these
two wisps of human life. He asked how far away
those twinklers were, and whether God was on the
other side of them.
38Interpretative Analysis Stylistic Analysis
- Diction
- The renewed subject, which seemed to have
impregnated the whole family, filled Tess with
impatience. - The mute procession ltpast her shouldersgt of trees
and hedges became attached to fantastic scenes
ltoutside reality,gt and the occasional heave of
the wind became the sigh of some immense sad
soul, conterminous with the universe in space,
and with history in time.
39- Then, examining the mesh of events in her own
life, she seemed to see 1) the vanity in her
fathers pride, 2) the gentlemanly suitor
awaiting herself in her mothers fancy to see
him as a grimacing personage, laughing at her
poverty, and her shrouded knightly ancestry.
Everything grew more and more extravagant, and
she no longer knew how time passed.
40Reading Dialogue in the novel
- Reading and hearing voices in Dialogue?
(spoken language) - Like eavesdropping on a conversation taking place
among strangers - Is the conversation engaging?
- When we humans speak, we are not merely
communicating information, - but attempting to make an impression, and achieve
a goal.
41Dialogue and Subtext
- And sometimes we are hoping to prevent the
listener from noticing what we are not saying, - Which is often not merely distracting but,
- We fear, as audible (hearable) as what we
really are saying. - As a result, dialogue usually contains as much or
even more subtext than it does text. More is
going on under the surface
42Dialogue Hardys tender sensitivity to the human
voice
- Did you say the stars were worlds, Tess?
- Yes.
- All like ours?
- I dont know but I THINK so. They sometimes
SEEM to be like the apples on our stubbard-tree.
Most of them splendid and sounda few blighted. - Which do we live ona splendid one or a blighted
one?
43More Dialogue
- You was on the wrong side, he said. I am bound
to go on with the mail-bags, so that the best
thing for you to do is to bide here with your
load. Ill send somebody to help you as soon as I
can. It is getting daylight, and you have nothing
to fear. - Tis because we be on a blighted star, and not a
sound one, isnt it, Tess? murmured Abraham
through his tears.
44- Mesh a fine network of small holes and threads
- I find Hardys imagery to be very suitably and
effectively chosen. For example in the sentence,
Then examining the mesh of events in her own
life The word mesh is very apt in this
instance because it makes the reader see more
graphically and vividly and indeed appreciate the
extent to which Tess is entangled, caught up by
the criss-crossing of various, all-coming-to-the-
fore events that are affecting her life, and the
way these are presented to her consciousness in
those moments of reflection.
45Fog as symbol
- Fog standardly is suggestive of some sort of
confusion - Authors tend to use fog to symbolically suggest
- That a person / people cannot see clearly
- That matters under consideration are somehow
murky
46- Suggestive of sexual impropriety
- Haze suggestive of the passions of pagan nature
- The darkness that contributed to the loss of the
family horse - Symbolically suggestive of the darkness that
shrouds Alecs conquest of Tess
47- On the night of the rape episode at the dance,
everything is in a mist like illuminated
smoke - There is a floating, fusty debris of peat and
hay stirred up as the panting shapes spun
onwards. - Everything together seems to form a sort of
vegeto-human pollen.
48- The implication being that it becomes part of a
basic natural process - in which Tess is caught up simply by being alive,
fecund, and female. - DUrberville is that figure, that force, at the
heart of the haze, the mist, the smoke, - waiting to claim her when the dance catches her
up.
49- What happens to Tess is a continuation of this
blurred narcotic, foggy atmosphere - Hardy has the rape take place in a dense fog,
while Tess is in a deep sleep. - Her consciousness and perception are alike
engulfed, blinded, and obliterated in this veil
of confusion.