I finally finished Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I was almost done when I left my book at my friend Marie's house. I had to wait a whole week to finish the final chapters. When I turned the last page I think I said to myself (out loud, cause I do talk to myself) "Good job Mr. Hardy!" It was such a great read. I was told the basic plot before I began reading it. I knew it was about a girl who was raped, then fell in love, and when she told her new love about her past he left her. But there were still plenty of surprises. Parts that actually made me gasp, grunt, and laugh out loud. I only had about 15 pages left to read today, but those last 15 pages just totally shocked and thrilled me. I really think the story line is fabulous. And I can't help but wonder if it wasn't a little before it's time. It just seems like most Romantic/Victorian novels I've read in the past are nothing like this one. Yet the writing really puts it in its time. Easy to read, beautiful prose.
My favorite such prose is found on page 100 of Volume II, just after Angel St Clare finds out about her past. The narrator says, "With all his attempted independence of judgment this advanced and well-meaning young man, a sample product of the last five-and-twenty years, was yet the slave to custom and conventionality when surprised back into his early teachings. . . In considering what Tess was not, he overlooked what she was, and forgot that the defective can be more than the entire." It also goes on to say that no prophet had told him (or anyone for that matter) that Tess's rape was not her sin. It just kills me that during that time period rape really was considered the sin of an innocent woman. Just blows my mind. Especially because Angel confesses to having spent a night himself with another woman, this confession relieves Tess and so she tells him about the situation with her monstrous cousin, Alec D'Urberville, and Clare packs up and leaves her! It just flabbergasts me.
But the ending even flabbergasts me more than that. I love it. This one will definitely be on my list of the top 50. It may rank in the 40's, but it will be there. I wonder if Hardy has another classic I can read. I also wonder what his religious affiliations were. I would assume he was raised Christian, but deep down was rather atheist. Much like Angel Clare. I think it's really ironic that Tess runs into Alec years after the rape and he has become a devout Christian. Much to the thanks of Angel's father. When she meets him again I couldn't decide if I liked him or not. Forgiveness is a hard thing. When finishing this book, I tried to think of all the religious symbolism of this novel, but it wasn't until I looked up themes on Sparknotes.com (my professors would be ashamed) that I realized Justice is a huge underlying theme. And to think I over looked it, Justice has always been one of my favorite themes. It seems to appear in a lot of classic novels, Shakespeare, Dickens, they all used it. So why wouldn't Mr. Hardy. But the role Justice plays in his novel is quite different from other novels I've read. He seems to think Justice is a cruel joke the pagan gods seem to play on those that suffer. Christianity teaches that those who suffer will receive happiness in the life after this one, but Tess's family seems to have no happiness in sight, and for her punishments are large (even in the after life she will face a "Just" punishment). But I will say Alec gets what he deserves. And I love it! The D'Urbervilles really seem to have a family curse that follows them around.
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