Tess Durbeyfield, Guilty Or Not Guilty Essay, Research Paper

Grant Gardner- [email protected]

CP English IV

January 11, 1998

Tess Durbeyfield, Guilty or not Guilty

In the book Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, Tess Durbeyfield suffers a great deal of tribulation in her tragic life. Although her life is filled with misfortune, she is not responsible for these tragic events.

One of the first tragedies in Tess’ life, that seems to lead to all the others, is when she falls asleep as she is taking a load of bees to the market and accidentally kills the horse. This is not Tess’ fault. In the first place, it wasn’t her responsibility to take to bees to the market. It was the responsibility of her drunken father. If anyone is to blame for being irresponsible, it is Tess’ parents. Tess is always doing work her parents should be doing because her parents are too lazy and Tess feels responsible for supporting the family. The night before Tess leaves, her parents go off to a bar while Tess is left at home to take care of the family and the chores.

Another tragedy in the life of Tess Durbeyfield is her pregnancy by Alec. At first, one may think it is all her fault for getting pregnant, but if one takes a closer look at the situation Tess was really in, it is quite obvious that she was, once again, a victim of misfortune. Tess’ mother never educates her about some of the essential facts of life and Tess does not know what most men are like. In addition, Tess’ selfish mother wants her to marry Alec so that Durbeyfield family can be financially well off. She isn’t thinking about the best interests of Tess.

The death of Tess’ baby is a huge tragedy. There is no way Tess is at fault for this tragedy. She does everything that any loving mother would do for her baby and more. It is very tragic when Angel decides he doesn’t want to be with Tess any more. Angel, not Tess, is to blame for this catastrophe in the life of Tess. Tess forgives Angel for deliberately having an affair. However, Angel is unable to completely forgive Tess for being taken advantage of by Alec. If Angel, who is the greater sinner of the two, really loves Tess, he would not leave her.

Tess can not be blamed for going back to Alec. It is the logical decision to make because she, basically, has no choice and has not heard from Angel for a very long time.

When Tess kills Alec, it obviously is not by accident. Tess seems like the only person to blame for the murder because she is the one who stabs Alec. It is true that some blame should be placed on Tess for the murder, but this was not completely her fault. She is not a cold-blooded killer. She has lived a miserable life full of sorrow and tragedy. When she learns that Alec is not her cousin and that he was wrong for making Tess believe that Angel would never come, she takes out all her anger and frustration in an impulsive crime of passion. Tess is wrong for doing this, but she does not deserve to be hanged.

In conclusion, Tess Durbeyfield is indeed a pure woman who just happens to be extremely unlucky either by coincidence or by fate.