Classics and the Western Canon discussion

Three years after the Chase, a twenty-year old Tess leaves home to work at the dairy. Tess is energized in the natural surroundings. She is buoyant and hopeful. She starts milking cows as soon as she arrives at the dairy. She recognizes Angel Clare from the dance at Marlott as the young man who had not danced with her and is relieved that he does not recognize her.

We learn Angel’s background. He is the youngest son of a minister, but unlike his brothers, he does not want to be ordained. His father refuses to send him to university. Angel has been working as a farm apprentice with the intention of establishing his own farm in one of the colonies. Apparently, his past is not without blemish since he was carried off his head, and nearly entrapped by a woman much older than himself, though luckily he returned not greatly the worse for wear.

Tess and Angel draw closer together. The dairy maids are swooning over Angel, but he has eyes only for Tess. When Mr. Crick tells the story of Jack Dollop being chased after by the mother of a girl for ravaging her [daughter’s] trustful innocence, Tess feels faint and has to step outside. That night she overhears the milkmaids saying Angel loves Tess but will never marry her because of his station in life. Tess tries to avoid him and steer him toward one of the other dairymaids. Angel is not deterred and declares his love for her. Tess is conflicted and appears to rebuff his advances. She loves him but feels her past makes her unworthy of him.

Hardy gives us some beautiful descriptions of nature. The animals and landscape are lush with natural abundance. Situated in a natural environment, Tess’ spirits soar:

Her hopes mingled with the sunshine in an ideal photosphere which surrounded her as she bounded along against the soft south wind. She heard a pleasant voice in every breeze, and in every bird’s note seemed to lurk joy.

She is described moving as “stealthily as a cat” through weeds and dirt to hear Angel playing the harp. Angel describes her as a “genuine daughter of Nature . . .” She is able to drink raw milk, unlike Mr. Crick. In Chapter 20, Angel notes her features changing depending on the time of day. And later, we get this description of Tess milking a cow:

The absolute stillness of her head and features was remarkable; she might have been in a trance, her eyes open, yet unseeing. Nothing in the picture moved but Old Pretty’s tail and Tess’s pink hands, the latter so gently as to be a rhythmic pulsation only, as if they were obeying a reflex stimulus, like a beating heart.

Tess is attuned to nature on an instinctive level. Hardy goes to great lengths to show she is in her element when surrounded by nature. Why? What point is he making about Tess’ personality?

What do you think of Angel so far? Are we to conclude anything about him because his name is Angel and he plays a harp? Is he seeing Tess as a flesh and blood woman or as some sort of idealized, mythical figure?

Tamara wrote: "Hardy gives us some beautiful descriptions of nature. The animals and landscape are lush with natural abundance."

I couldn't agree more. Hardy's descriptive powers are amazing. More than once I gasped at the beauty of his language, at an arresting phrase, at the colors, sometimes subtle, sometimes lavish of earth and sky. He isn't using nature to reflect or amplify the moods of his characters; instead he describes nature for the sheer pleasure of it. Hardy is writing fiction here, but he has the soul of a poet. Indeed, I recall reading somewhere that Hardy set out to write poetical novels. (Novels paid better than poetry.)

Forgive the sidebar, but I think it's worth noting that by the time he turned 52, Hardy stopped writing novels and spent his remaining 36 years writing poetry.

Tamara wrote: "Are we to conclude anything about him because his name is Angel and he plays a harp?"

There's more than the name Angel at play here. Clare is a French feminine proper name, also used in Ireland, meaning "bright, clear." So we've got bright, clear, harp-playing angel which is sort of a bit much. Does the character live up to his name, or is the name a red herring? Without doubt in this week's reading he's an attractive character. Personally I am reserving judgement about him. I have a tough time imaging an angel in a Hardy novel.

Not only is he an Angel who plays the harp, but he lives upstairs. Hardy lays it on a bit thick, I think.

Roger wrote: "Not only is he an Angel who plays the harp, but he lives upstairs. Hardy lays it on a bit thick, I think."

Is Angel really as good as all that, or is it Tess who sees him that way? I agree that Hardy lays it on a bit thick, but he also plants a seed of doubt as to Angel’s worthiness.

There is a telling exchange between Mr. Crick and Tess in chapter 19. Tess asks Mr. Crick about Angel Clare. He tells her Angel hates “old families,” and he describes how Angel reacted to Retty Priddle when he learned she came from an old, land-owning family:

Well, Mr. Clare found this out, and spoke quite scornful to the poor girl for days. “Ah!” he says to her, “you’ll never make a good dairymaid! All your skill was used up ages ago in Palestine, and you must lie fallow for a thousand years to git strength for more deeds!”

That Mr. Crick characterizes Angel’s speech as scornful and persistent while Retty is seen as “the poor girl” suggests he sympathizes with her and is critical of Angel’s behavior.

Angel condemns Retty for something she has no control over—her ancestry. It strikes me as a cruel thing to say to an impressionable young girl, especially one who swoons all over him and hangs on his every word. I think Hardy shows us Angel can be harsh and lacking in sensitivity and compassion, all of which calls into question Tess’ assessment of him as some sort of angelic creature who walks on air.

Which leads me to this: Is Hardy going out of his way to establish that Tess misjudges people and situations and mistakenly blames herself for things beyond her control?

She blames herself for the death of Prince when it isn’t her fault. She alienates her co-workers when she says the wrong thing and ends up accepting Alec’s offer for a ride home, which leads to disastrous consequences. She behaves like damaged goods after leaving Alec as if she were responsible for his egregious behavior. She thinks herself unworthy of Angel.

In Chapt. 12, she asks the man painting words from scripture about damnation and adultery, “suppose your sin was not of your own seeking?” When the man dismisses her question, she walks away, saying, “Pooh—I don’t believe any of it.”

If she really believes she shouldn’t be held accountable for sins she didn’t solicit, why does she persist in thinking of herself as unworthy of Angel?

I think Tess has inherited an ancient moral code that is just as useless as her ancient name.

I don’t much want to find, and I don’t think Hardy is looking for, reasons to blame the victim. Tess was a teen when she was raped and even now she’s just in her late early twenties. Can she be faulted for misreading situations and other people? Even if she were older, she was the one without power, without supportive family or friends, and of a social class that was exploited in Victorian England. Let’s put the primary responsibility where it lies, namely with her “betters” and with society.

I don’t think Tamara’s comment above is about victim blaming, but is rather one possible perspective on Tess’ character. Tess, after all, is not completely passive; she does have some agency in the world; that’s in part why we like and admire her. But does Tess, as I think Tamara is suggesting, make bad situations worse by misjudging people? I’ll want to pay attention to that question as we read further.

Gary wrote: "Let’s put the primary responsibility where it lies, namely with her “betters” and with society..."

I agree with you entirely, Gary. And it certainly is not my intention to engage in victim blaming. As you said, Tess is powerless and without supportive family and friends. What I'm suggesting (and not doing it very well) is that Hardy is making the point society is stacked against individuals who are weak and powerless and gullible.

Tess has been denied the tools necessary to navigate successfully in society. So she misjudges people, misreads situations. On top of that, she has internalized society's message that a woman is to blame for a man's philandering. As much as I would like her to do so, I cannot expect her to advocate for herself when she has never been shown how.

I think Hardy lays the blame squarely on society's shoulders for Tess' victimization. Society denies women like Tess a support structure. It throws them out into the world when they are still children. It denies them the tools they need to succeed. It expects them to survive in a ruthless, patriarchal environment when everything is stacked against them. It exploits them, abuses them, and then blames them for the catastrophes that befall on them. It treats them with cruelty and injustice.

Yes, I think Tess makes bad situations worse by misjudging people. But what else can we expect from someone who is totally unprepared to fight back, who has had to parent her own parents, who suffers from low self-esteem, and who has been thrown out into a society that gobbles up weak and powerless women and flings them out like yesterday's garbage?

My heart goes out to Tess. I don’t blame her for being a victim. I blame society for its unjust treatment of the Tesses of this world.

I feel an interesting thing about this discussion is that we now have quite precise language to discuss what is happening to Tess, from victim blaming to patriarchy to low self esteem. I don’t believe much of this had currency in Harry’s day. That isn’t a criticism of this discussion at all, it’s just interesting to me to think of how this book might have been read at the time. My feeling is it’s full of universal truth, and that readers might have recognized themselves and their lives in it but not have had the tools to have this discussion in regular conversation. And likewise Tess had no vocabulary to reckon with what’s happened to her. I feel nowadays the precise same thing might befall a girl like Tess, but if she was lucky she’d go online after and read experiences and come to see that it had nothing to do with her; where the blame lay. Tess can’t do that. The most she has is some gossipy anecdotes. I’m not surprised she blames herself—even if “herself” is just her own comeliness for tempting Alex.

And I like Roger’s idea that she’s inherited an outdated moral code as well as a name!

Emily wrote: I feel an interesting thing about this discussion is that we now have quite precise language to discuss what is happening to Tess, from victim blaming to patriarchy to low self esteem.
She is also very INTELLIGENT. Her mentioning how one could travel to a star, evokes from the dairyman amazement that he had never thought of it. And it comes from her relationship with Nature which for Angel is remarkable.

I love this whole section as it is full of the lush descriptions of nature as people have already noted and so full of hope and optimism. A refreshing change from the darkness and sorrow of the previous chapters. As Tess descends to the Valley of the Daires, she sees the "River of Life" and "heard a pleasant voice in every breeze, and in every birds note seemed to lark with joy." She hopes for a new life (she's only twenty!) and as she moves into this more pastoral landscape and works within an agricultural setting, Hardy continues to to identify Tess with Nature.
As for Angel, yes he is too good to be true, but I am enjoying him for the moment. Where Tess is Nature, Angel appears to be Intellect as he grapples with his view of the world and where he fits into it. He sees Tess in a very idealistic way and that never bodes well for a relationship.
Was there any symbolism in the garden scene? Is Hardy setting up a Garden of Eden, but one full of weeds? Is it a foreshadowing to a Fall?

Sam's referral to the quote by Tess about her sort of out of body experience with the stars is a pretty amazing statement by Tess and does reflect her deeper thinking about the universe despite her limited life albeit sad experience thus far. She often expresses herself in Christian terms because that is what she knows but is more aligned with more pagan beliefs. Part of the ancient moral code Roger refers to.

BTW, the story of the man trapped in the churn is hilarious, although I know Tess could only see her own past unhappy situation in it.

Sam wrote: "She is also very INTELLIGENT. Her mentioning how one could travel to a star, evokes from the dairyman amazement that he had never thought of it. And it comes from her relationship with Nature which for Angel is remarkable.."

I think it also reflects she has the sensibility of a poet.

Chris wrote: "Was there any symbolism in the garden scene? Is Hardy setting up a Garden of Eden, but one full of weeds? Is it a foreshadowing to a Fall?."

That’s an interesting scene. Hardy describes Angel’s harp-playing in this way:

To speak absolutely, both instrument and execution were poor; but the relative is all, and as she listened Tess, like a fascinated bird, could not leave the spot.

I think this is another example of Tess idealizing Angel, seeing him larger than life. His harp-playing is poor, but she is completely mesmerized by it.

Hardy goes on to describe the garden weeds as “emitting offensive smells.” As Tess inches closer to Angel, she gathers “cuckoo-spittle on her skirts,” “staining her hands with thistle-milk and slug-slime.” “Sticky blights” rub on her naked arms, causing “blood-red stains on her skin.”

These are negative images, especially the “blood-red stains”—all of which probably foreshadow something negative will happen to Tess the closer she gets to Angel.

It's not just Tess who may be overestimating Angel's goodness. Like Chris, I am really enjoying him as a character, even though I know I should be careful around him. I think Hardy is trying to get the reader to fall a little bit in love with Angel, too, so we will be able to see whatever happens next through Tess's eyes.

Kathy wrote: "It's not just Tess who may be overestimating Angel's goodness. Like Chris, I am really enjoying him as a character, even though I know I should be careful around him. I think Hardy is trying to get..."

I agree. I totally fell for Angel myself. And I also think it's quite easy to fall in love with Tess. It's one reason this novel works so well; you really do care for the characters and don't want bad things to happen to them.

Agree! I find Tess very compelling and not at all passive as some others do. She takes action in nearly every way available to her. She picks herself up after her terrible experience and loss and fires up her optimism and heads out in search of a new and better situation.