Tess Of The D?Urberville?S Essay, Research Paper

Tess of the D?urberville?s

The difference between destiny and fate is that with fate, it is up to the individual to make the decisions on the path of

life, whereas with destiny, a path has already been decided. Everybody has the opportunity to take the path of life in the

right direction, and make good decisions. When choices are not made with the heart, it can often lead to somebody?s

demise. In Thomas Hardy?s novel Tess of the D?urberville?s Tess decides her own fate, which leads to her downfall as

seen through her unwillingness to stand up to Alec, her telling Angel of her past, and by allowing Alec to remaster her.

After many hardships to the Durbeyfield family, and the death of their horse, Tess takes it upon herself to do well for her

striving family and make good relations with her thought to be long lost relatives. Once there, Tess quickly observes,

and witnesses the sexual and dominating nature of Alec and could have very easily terminated their relationship. But Tess

was very innocent at the time, and had the wellbeing of her family in the forefront of her mind. Tess? life begins its

downfall after meeting Alec, as she is constantly pursued, and taken advantage of in areas that made her uncomfortable.

“Tess, why do you always dislike my kissing you?” “I suppose-because I don?t love you.”?”I haven?t offended you often

by love-making?” “You have sometimes” Tess chose to remain an acquaintance of Alec?s even though his advances, and

attitude towards her were unwarranted, and disliked. Tess? inability to walk away from Alec when she knows she hates

him leads to the pain and anguish she suffers at the hands of Alec when she is raped, and impregnated, and then again

later on after she has been married to Angel.

After some time, Tess begins to put her life back together and manages to get a job away from home on a dairy farm. It

is here where Tess encounters Angel, the love of her life. Tess has the opportunity to leave her past behind her forever

and go onward in happiness with Angel, but in order for this to be possible, she must keep her past to herself. Tess

returns home from the farm for the fall and tells her mom of her dilemma, about whether or not Angel should learn of

her past. “But with respect to your question, Tess, J between ourselves, quite private but very strong, that on no account

do you say a word of you Bygone Trouble to him.”. Tess? mother clearly knows what is best for Tess, and pleads for her

to never tell Angel, but the choice was for Tess to make. “It cannot – O no, it cannot!” She jumped up joyfully at the

hope. “No, it cannot be more serious, certainly,” she cried, “because ?tis just the same! I will tell you now.” The

decision was made to tell Angel of her past, and Angel can not bear it. Tess made her second bad choice, and has now

fallen down another level. This fall has left Tess in a bad state, and because of this Alec is able to lure her back to him.

Alec becomes aware of Tess? unstable condition, and manages to exploit it even further through his power and wealth.

Alec offered his wealth to her family, and Tess, with no other direction to turn breaks down, and accepts his offer. This

decision proves to be dreadful, as Angel returns from Brazil to take Tess back only to find that he is to late. “Tess!” he

said huskily, “can you forgive me for going away? Can?t you – come to me? How do you get to be – like this?” “It is too

late, too late” ? “He has won me back to him.” It crushes Tess internally to speak this way to Angel, but she is

completely overwhelmed by the situation. Her spiral down hits bottom, as she goes back upstairs to confront Alec with

all the anger she has been hosting throughout their entire relationship. Tess then proceeds to find peace with herself and

kills Alec in order to try and rekindle her love with Angel. Her happiness was short lived, as she chose to let the

authorities take her away, where she was charged with murder and executed.

In Thomas Hardy?s novel Tess of the D?urberville?s Tess decides her own fate, which leads to her downfall as shown

through her inability to take a stand with Alec, her telling Angel of her past, and by allowing Alec to remaster her.

Although it may seem as if Tess was born cursed, her downfall was a direct result of the decisions that she made as her

life unfolded. Tess was in control of her fate every step of the way, and had t