10/10/24
Coach John reviews “Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman” a novel by Thomas Hardy, the English author.
Click HERE to download the Weekly English Practice as a PDF.
Useful Vocabulary
devoured – verb
Definition: to take in eagerly with the senses or intellect
plot – noun
Definition: the main story of a piece of writing, as a novel or movie
As old as the hills – idiom
Definition: Extremely old
kinship – noun
Definition: Family , also relationship because of similar nature, qualities, or characteristics; affinity
set – noun
Definition: to put (something or someone) in a particular place or posture, such a novel or film
richly layered – complicated
Definition: complicated and interesting because it has many different levels or features
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Coach John reviews at “Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman” a novel by Thomas Hardy, the English author.
The novel initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891, then in book form in three volumes in 1891, and as a single volume in 1892.
By the time I was studying English Literature at school the novel was part of the curriculum. As a teenager I devoured the book and fully appreciated its magnificence.
The plot is as old as the hills but the evocative writing is what sets the novel apart.
When Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor villager, learns that she might be a descendant of the ancient D’Urberville family, her family pressures her to claim kinship in order to seek a portion of the fortune. But when her meeting with young Alec D’Urberville does not go as planned, she returns home a ruined woman. A kinder man, Angel Clare, seems to offer Tess a more stable life—but she must choose whether to reveal her past to him and risk losing everything, or stay quiet and live a lie. Set in the rural town of Wessex, Tess of the D’Urbervilles examines the impact of Victorian hypocrisy and societal struggles on the rural classes.
Thomas Hardy (born June 2, 1840, Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, England—died January 11, 1928, Dorchester, Dorset) was an English novelist and poet who set much of his work in Wessex, his name for the counties of southwestern England.
The closing phase of Hardy’s career in fiction was marked by the publication of Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895), which are generally considered his finest novels. Tess is the most richly “poetic” of Hardy’s novels.
Polish director Roman Polanski made a screen version of Hardy’s novel in 1979 starring
Nastassja Kinski (See photo) The film does justice to the masterpiece and is an exquisite, richly layered adaptation. As in the novel, Tess is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalise on a rumor that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge, which Polanski unfolds with deliberation and finesse. With its earthy visual textures, achieved by two world-class cinematographers, Tess is a work of great pastoral beauty as well as vivid storytelling. An example of a movie being as good as the source material. Something which does not happen often enough.
Let’s chat about that!
- Give a summary of the text to your ECP coach and/or classmates
- 2. How did Tess of the d’Urbervilles first appear?
- 3. When and where did John first read the novel and what did he think about it?
- 4. When and where did John first read the novel and what did he think about it?
- 5. Give a brief biography of Thomas Hardy.
- 6. John states the movie is “an example of a movie being as good as the source material. Something which does not happen often enough.” Have you any more examples and vice versa?