Product Description

Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urberville. In her search for respectability her fortunes fluctuate wildly, and the story assumes the proprtions of a Greek Tragedy. It explores Tess's relationship with two very different men, her struggles against the social mores of the rural Victorian world which she inhabits and the hypocrisy of the age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10600 in Books
• Published on: 1992-06-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Richard Nemesvari, St. Francis Xavier University
"This edition of Hardy's most famous novel provides a forceful introduction and excellent supporting material."

From the Publisher
The Broadview Editions series is an effort to represent the ever-changing canon of literature in English by bringing together texts long regarded as classics with valuable, lesser-known literature. Newly type-set and produced on high-quality paper in trade paperback format, the Broadview Editions series is a delight to handle as well as to read.

Each volume includes a full introduction, chronology, bibliography, and explanatory notes along with a variety of documents from the period, giving readers a rich sense of the world from which the work emerged.

About the Author
Sarah E. Maier, of the Comparitave Literature Department, University of Alberta, has published in such journals as Victorian Review and European Journal for Semiotic Studies on the subject of gender and fiction.

Customer Reviews

Beauty, tragedy, innocence and an unforgiving society.
This is a novel so saturated with emotion it is almost too much just to read it. The plot revolves around the eponymous heroine, Tess Durbeyfield, a young and innocent girl who plunges headfirst into adulthood by giving birth to an illegitimate child. Tess is immediately condemned by a cruel society and her unavoidable fate is dragged out in heart wrenching detail by Hardy. What is most interesting about the novel is the author's obvious love for his character, and it is fascinating to imagine Hardy wishing for a happy ending just like the reader, yet at the same time knowing that he is unable to help Tess, his own creation. Everyone should read this novel, it has romance, murder, tragedy, injustice, intricate social commentary, and an intoxicating melancholia. The character of Tess is so well conceived by Hardy, she appears so realistic that the reader finds themselves weeping tears for her as if she were a loved one. Persevere with Hardy's somewhat lengthy descriptions of the surrounding landscape and you will find this novel to be as beautifully perfect as I did.

A touching story...
The second time I read this book I found it much more distressing. Throughout I could see the many small instances where if things had been only a little different then Tess's tragedies could have been avoided.

There is a lot of Thomas Hardy in this book - Angel's attitudes to religion, for example, closely mirror Hardys own struggles with his beliefs and rejection of Christianity. If you have an interest in Hardy's life and his beliefs then you may find this element of the book an added attraction.

This a very touching book. A little difficult in places, but well worth persisting with.

Tragic, moving tale of a woman battling against cruel fate.
This is my favourite book by any author. It tells of a woman who is crippled by her poverty - stricken background and feckless parents, vainly trying to live according to inate ideals of sincerity, passion, loyalty and truth in a corrupt, decaying rural landscape. Her attempts to do the right thing and live life in a full, honest way are everywhere thwarted by the cruel, mocking twists of fate and the inability of the male characters to rise beyond the narrow constraints of their physical desires and spiritual poverty. It makes me weep everytime.