Abstract：Tess of the D’Urbervilles is the most representative feminism work of Thomas Hardy. This paper analyses Tess’s character and its formation. It tells us a beautiful and pure woman who struggles for her happiness but finally heads for destruction. 

Through describing her character both from positive and negative sides, we find that the noble spirit is of great importance to women, such as resistance, bravery, kindness, purity and diligence. Living in a poisoned era, Tess can pursue her pure love, fight against the power of evil. It is incredible courage that she can hope for respect from others and seek for true love. The lofty character we find from Tess is contribution to feminism. Even in our society now, we still learn to become more brave and resistant against the discrimination between women and men. On the other hand, we also feel pity for Tess that such a kind and brave woman also has negative parts of her personalities. Her tragic life cannot be separated from her weak and compromising characters. However, all of her personalities, whether good or not, must be shaped by different reasons, living at the less advantaged in society, the control under the power of patriarchy, the poor condition of the whole family and the unfair treatment by acquaintances. All those aspects form a totally different Tess and open a door to her miserable destiny. 

So, what kind of society Tess lives in? What kind of character of Tess can lead her to the deep abyss? Through analyzing Tess’s character, we can learn about a more real Victorian era; we also can understand this pure but poor woman’s unfortunate suffering. After reading this paper, we should think about what is the right way for women to survive in current society and rethink the hurts and difficulties endured by women at that time.

Key Words: Tess’s character; Positive; Negative; Causes; Tragic life

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Introduction of the author-1

1.2 Social background of the work-1

1.3 The main content of Tess of d'Urbervilles-3

1.4 Purpose of the research-4

2. Character analysis of Tess in Tess of d'Urbervilles-4

2.1 Positive personalities of Tess-4

2.1.1 resistance and bravery -4

2.1.2 purity and innocence-5

2.1.3 diligence and kindness-6

2.2 Negative personalities of Tess-8

2.2.1 compromise and cowardliness-8

2.2.2 dependence and passiveness-9

    2.3 The causes of its formation-10

2.3.1 The Victorian Age-10

2.3.2 The family background-11 

2.3.3 The influence of the people around Tess-12

2.3.4 Hardy’s fatalism.14 

3. Conclusion15

References…17

Acknowledgement. 18