From the movie ,we can see :Tess of the
D'Urbervilles is about the tragedy of a peasant girl, who was born in a poor
family. she is persuaded by her mother to visit the D'Urbervilles at Trantridge
and claim kin. Tess works there and is seduced by Alec D'Urberville, the young
master of the family. Then Tess gives birth to a child who dies very soon. Upon
the child's death, Tess works at the dairy-farm at Talbothays, where she meets
and loves Angel Clare, the son of a clergyman. But on their wedding night,
Clare disappoints Tess and does not forgive her when she tells him her past
story with Alec. Clare leaves her for Brazil. With the great poverty of her
family, Tess has to work under the hardest condition at Flintcomb-Ash. To
support her family, Tess is driven to go back to Alec D'Urberville. Then Angel
Clare returns from Brazil, being chastened and repented of his cruel treatment
of Tess, but Tess's relationship with Alec stops her from living with Angel
happily. She hates Alec and kills him. After a short happy life with Angel,
Tess is arrested by the police.
Who kills Tess，then ?
In my opinion, fist of all,it is the social
environment makes Tess's tragedy inevitable.
The destruction of English peasantry
caused by capitalism is the root cause of Tess's tragedy。Tess lives in the late 19th century, in which the
cruel capitalist exploitation has ruined the English countryside severely,
Wessx is not immuned from the destruction. Capitalism brings a great harm to this
old, rural and agricultural life of the place. The self-supporting peasants are
displaced and impoverished. They are extremely poor and live a very miserable
life.
Secondly,The violence, wickedness of the
vicious men, and the unjust hypocritical law which protects them are the direct
causes of Tess's tragedy. Tess is innocent and has no experience, and her
living environment is so dark that no one comes to help and protect her. So
Alec takes advantages of Tess's helplessness and sets a trap to seduce her. No
law protects her. What she can do is to bury her miseries and insults in her
heart silently.Alec, the representative of capitalist power and violence dares
to do what he desires, not only because he has money and power, but also
because his evil behavīor is protected by the capitalist law and rules.
Thirdly,Tess's character helps to create
the tragedy。Tess's tragedy not only results from the
external causes, but also the internal ones. And only through the internal
causes, can the external causes become operative. The tragedy that results from
the conflict between man and himself is the tragedy of character.
Above all, it is obvious that the
poverty, Alec's wickedness, Angel's conventional ideas, Tess's character as
well as Hardy's fatalism are the direct causes of Tess's tragedy. But these
direct causes are deeply rooted in the cruel social environment: the
impoverished peasant, the unjust law and cruel convention. So we can draw a
conclusion that the social environment is the real and root cause of Tess's
tragedy.
