Chapter 1
First chapters are always very important and need studying closely.
• What are your first impressions of the characters in chapter 1?
• What events might be anticipated?
• What does this chapter tell us about the English class system and nineteenth century class consciousness?
• How does the chapter lead us in to the story?
• Think in terms of plot, setting and character.
Chapter 2
• What are your first impressions of Tess?
• It would seem she is 16 or perhaps just 17 at this stage. Do you feel able to visualise her, or do you rather get an idea of her femininity?
• Are the narrative descriptions more sensuous, psychological, or moral in their emphasis?
• Are any parts of her body emphasised more than others?
• What is our first impression of Angel?
• What associations do you have with his name?
• Angel and Tess almost meet. What do we anticipate from this?
Chapter 3
Hardy focuses on the social dimensions of Tess's family:
• List some examples of the family responsibility and organisation Tess undertakes.
• What further do we learn about Tess in this chapter?
• How does it complement what we learned from the previous chapter?
Chapter 4
Examine the conversation Abraham and Tess have together:
• What does it show of Tess’s philosophy of life?
• What perspective does it introduce?
• Do you think Hardy putting his own views into Tess’s mouth?
• How else does Hardy show Tess’ spiritual side?
• Mark the phrases that show Tess’ sense of responsibility
• How might this sense of responsibility influence her decisions?
Chapter 5
What parts of Tess’s and Alec's bodies are described?
• What is the significance?
• How does Hardy make us aware that Alec is a threat to Tess?
• Look at Hardy's comments in the last few paragraphs:Hardy often does stop to comment on his story, nearly always at the end of a chapter. Consider:
• What the remarks say about Hardy's method of plot construction.
• How they help readers to anticipate how the plot will develop.
• How this anticipation helps create a sense of impending doom or tragedy.
Chapter 6
• What is it that makes Tess so indecisive?
• In what ways does Hardy continue to undermine the d’Urbervilles’ credibility?
Chapter 7
• What would you say are the ultimate failures of Tess’s parents towards her?
Chapter 8
• 'It was my fate':
• Is it really 'fate' or is it Alec's character?
• What does the whole chapter show us of Alec's character?
• How does Hardy create a sense of danger for Tess?
• What is the implication behind Tess agreeing to ride with Alec, then refusing to?
• Is there an inner conflict, and if so, what exactly is it?
• How does this situation anticipate future events?
Chapter 9
• List the different ways in which Hardy shows Tess's powerlessness?
• How would you characterise Tess and Alec's relationship?
Chapter 10
Examine Tess’s isolation:
• What causes it?
Chapter 11
• Gather up all the references to Tess's powerlessness.
• Are they balanced by anything that suggests she has any control?
• Look at Tess's behaviour towards Alec:
• Does Hardy suggest she is actively encouraging or discouraging him?
• Look at Hardy's comments at the end of the chapter:
• Collect words that have to do with higher powers.
• Do they suggest protection, enmity or indifference?
• To what extent is Hardy suggesting some external force is to blame and to what extent Alec himself?
• Does he ever suggest Tess must bear some blame?
'There lay the pity of it.'
• Do we know what is to be pitied?
Chapter 12
• How does Hardy describe Tess's behaviour and attitude when she meets Alec again?
• What are the biggest differences from her previous encounters?
• Look at the condemnation and blame Tess is given:
• How much is given by people and how much is self-condemnation?
• Which is worse for Tess?
• How does Tess defend herself from others' condemnation?
• Are we sympathetic to her reasons?
• What is the significance of her mother's final remark?
Chapter 13
• Explain the sentences beginning:
• 'She had no fear of the shadows...'
• 'A wet day was the expression....'
• Do we believe Hardy when he says Tess's feelings of guilt have come from social convention?
• If not, where else might they have come from?
Chapter 14
• In ch. 10, Tess is described as 'on the momentary threshold of womanhood'. She is now 18, an age when many girls did get married and have babies.
• Why do you think Hardy insists she is still a girl?
• What qualities does Tess display in the chapter?
Chapter 15
• What is Hardy's attitude about learning through experience?
• Does Hardy make it sound possible that Tess can recover from her bad experience?
• In the phrase 'but for the world's opinion', which world is Hardy talking about?
• Are you inclined to believe him?
Chapter 16
• Look at Hardy's comments about women. Discuss whether they are:
• Sympathetic?
• Patronising?
• Chauvinistic?
• Do you think Hardy’s attitudes are valid?
Chapter 17
• What is the first impression Tess makes on the others?
• How much of it is to do with her looks?
• What are the grounds for Tess's optimism?
• Do you think they are well-founded?
• Collect together the remarks about the past
• Does Hardy seem to view the past positively?
Chapter 18
• Look at Hardy's description of Angel:
• How does the physical description give insight into Angel's character?
• What changes in Angel's character does Hardy suggest he has undergone?
• What does Angel Clare's name suggest symbolically?
• What is it about Tess that first draws Angel's attention to her?
• What, by contrast, does Alec first notice about her?
Chapter 19
• What do Tess and Angel notice about each other physically?
• What attracts them to each other?
Chapter 20
• Pick out words and phrases to show how Angel sees Tess.
• How does Hardy produce tension for his readers regarding these perceptions of Angel?
Chapter 21
• How does Hardy distinguish the three dairymaids?
• In what ways are they all set apart from Tess?
• What does the phrase 'more woman than either' mean?
• What dilemma is Tess now faced with, having overheard the dairymaids' conversation?
Chapter 23
• Is Hardy's reference to 'cruel Nature's law' consistent with remarks at the end of chapter 13?
Chapter 24
o Angel and Tess have any control over their feelings or their behaviour at this stage? How does Hardy present the forces acting on them?
• Again, Hardy implicitly compares Angel's behaviour to Tess with Alec's:
• What are the differences?
• How serious is Angel about Tess?
• What evidence do we have one way or the other?
Chapter 25
• Explain 'feeling had smothered judgement that day'.
• What does Angel feel it best to do now he has declared his love?
• Does the reader get the sense that this will help the situation?
• Angel is shown as living between two worlds: that of the farm and that of his family:
• How do they contrast with each other?
• Do we sense there is anything in common between them at all?
• How does Angel's attitude to Tess differ from Alec's?
• What other thoughts and attitudes of Angel about Tess are given in the chapter?
• Look back at the previous references to Angel's family in chapter 2 and chapter 12:
• How much do these earlier references anticipate this chapter?
Chapter 26
• Look at the comments made about education and about women and class:
• To what extent are they Angel's views and to what extent Hardy's?
• How far do you think Angel is in danger of becoming Hardy's mouthpiece at times?
• List the references in the chapter by which Hardy reminds us of Tess's past.
• What effect do these references have on the reader?
Chapter 27
• Examine the sentence beginning 'It was a moment when a woman's soul....'
• What does it mean?
• Discuss whether you think there is a possibility of conflict between body and soul.
• What does the simile 'like a plant in too burning a sun' suggest of their relationship?
• What does the mention of Alec do to Tess?
• Why do you think that Hardy introduces this note into the chapter?
Chapter 28
• Reflect on Tess. She is experiencing a conflict between natural instincts, the desire for a man, and her conscience.
• Trace the progress of this conflict through the chapter, perhaps as a graph.
• How does she try to resolve it?
• Do we have any sense that she is in control of the outcome of the conflict?
• Are there any significant words or phrases that are clues to this?
• In what way could it be said that nature is Fate here?
• In what other ways is it suggested Tess is changing as a result of her relationship with Angel?
Chapter 29
• Compare Alec and Angel in terms of their behaviour towards Tess, when Tess is forced to be always near them through her employment.
• For all his sensitivities, is Angel being as predatory as Alec?
• How does Hardy handle the supposed ‘day of truth’ his readers were led to expect at the end of the previous chapter?
• Do we sense there will be a day of truth at all?
• Trace the sequence of Tess's acquiescence to Angel.
• To what extent is Tess trapped?
• By what?
• Does Hardy really allow Tess any power over her own life at this stage?
Chapter 30
• Examine the dialogue between Tess and Angel as she attempts to reveal her past:
• Can you trace the dynamics of it?
• Is there anything in these dynamics which prevents Tess from saying what she means to say?
• Look at how Hardy combines purity and passion in his heroine in this chapter:
• How does Hardy indicate to his readers that all will not be well for Tess?
Chapter 31
• By the end of the chapter, what has the reader been led to anticipate?
Chapter 32
• Gather words and phrases that describe Tess's state of mind in this chapter.
• What tensions or conflicts are evidenced?
• What particular state seems predominant?
• Does this correspond to her emotions?
• To what extent does Tess seem a free agent?
• What are her deepest fears?
• How are they expressed?
• Does Angel seem as ideal a lover to you as Tess thinks he is?
• How practical is Angel being?
• Angel seems to be making Tess an educational project. What does this say of his attitude to her?
• Explain the phrase: 'been made to miss his true destiny through the prejudices of his family'.
• Is Angel being fair here?
Chapter 34
• Collect together images and words Hardy uses to create atmosphere.
• What is their overall impression?
• Would you say Hardy is being rather too 'Gothic' or melodramatic here, or would you say the images mirror Tess's state of mind exactly?
• Why do you think Angel starts using learned words and quotations when he comes to confess?
• How differently does Hardy present Tess's confession?
• Looking at this section as a whole, how far does Hardy really show what 'the consequence' is?
Chapter 35
• Look closely at Angel's explanations for his rejection of Tess.
• Why does he have problems with her identity?
• Are they his problem or are they caused by Tess, do you think?
• What are the conflicts going on within him?
• Look at the words, his choice of vocabulary:
o Would Tess understand them?
o What do you think the words show about him?
• Explain 'initiated into the proportions of social things'
• What does the statement show about Angel?
• Look closely at the way Tess tries to defend herself:
• Could she have said or done more?
• Is she too passive?
• Why do you think she is unable to persuade Angel to change his attitude?
• Is Hardy pointing up a difference between men's love and women's love in general, or is this just a case of two individuals and their reaction to a crisis of trust?
Chapter 36
• How does Hardy seek to show that Tess is indeed 'a pure woman'?
• List the reasons Angel gives for discontinuing the marriage.
• Against which does Tess offer a defence?
• Do you think any of the reasons hold water?
• Give your reasons.
• Do any of the reasons prefigure what will happen in the novel?
• List phrases that suggest Tess's state of mind.
• Are they associated with images or symbols in any way?
• What aspects of Tess have you not seen before?
• What is Angel's problem with her presence?
• Look at the last sentence.
• What does it suggest might happen in the novel?
• Does it?
Chapter 37
• Look at Tess and Angel's farewell:
• What are the terms and conditions Angel lays down?
• Hardy seems to suggest that if Tess had tried harder, she may have been able to make Angel change his mind. Would you agree?
• Is Angel's behaviour here any different from Alec's in chapter 12?
Chapter 38
• How does Hardy continue to stress Tess's purity?
Chapter 39
• Tess's ancestry keeps coming up in Angel’s thoughts as well as in Hardy's comments.
• Connect ancestral references to themes of:
• The purity of Tess's character
• The past and the destiny of history
• Class consciousness
• For the first time, there is a full description of what Tess looks like physically:
• Why do you think Hardy has delayed so long in giving a complete picture of her, instead of just partial references to face or figure?
• Look at the last paragraph:
• Do Hardy's comments add anything to what we have already realised?
• Is Hardy being overanxious to establish Tess's purity, do you think?
Chapter 40
• Look at Angel's 'if only' ('If you had only told me sooner'):
• Does this stand up to close examination?
• In what ways is Angel trying to make himself a victim?
• Are you convinced by these efforts?
Chapter 41
• 'whatever it may be called': Hardy is not usually so lost for a precise meaning when it comes to describing Tess and her motives.
• What do you think it is that prevents Tess from contacting Angel's parents?
• Would you say this is a character defect?
Chapter 42
• Make sure you understand the symbolism of the landscape.
• What are the main features of the landscape, and how do they match up to Tess's inner state of being?
Chapter 43
• What qualities emerge in Tess?
Chapter 44
• How does the first paragraph establish Tess's independence?
• Why does she decide to visit Angel's parents?
• Does she herself think she will succeed?
• What does Hardy suggest are her chances of success?
• What does Hardy suggest would work in her favour?
• Does she realise this?
• Would you say Hardy is manipulating the plot too arbitrarily against Tess, or has he carefully prepared us to expect the outcomes?
• Do you feel Tess has still some control over her fate, or that whatever she does is bound to turn out badly?
• What gives you your impression?
• Do you get a sense of 'if only' in this chapter?
• If so, where exactly is this focused?
• Discuss whether you think Tess is a pilgrim or a victim?
• What plot elements does Hardy tie together in the last two paragraphs?
• In what ways is there a reversal of Alec and Angel?
Chapter 45
• Is the reader meant to trust Alec any more now than before?
• Does Tess?
• What are her reasons?
• What do words like 'her seducer' (end of chapter 44) and 'her old lover' tell us about their previous relationship?
• Why does he now say he is afraid of her?
• What are Tess's first feelings when she confronts Alec again?
• Do you notice any significant change in her behaviour or words when she talks to Alec compared to the early part of the novel?
• Is Tess's loyalty to Angel something to be commended in her?
• Is it part of her purity?
Chapter 46
• How is Alec's approach described?
• What effect does such a description achieve?
• In what ways does Alec's proposal of marriage seem incongruous?
• What is the nature of Tess's ‘faith’?
• Would you say the naivety of her belief in Angel is a strength or a weakness?
• How does Hardy present Tess as being pure at this stage?
• How much of her situation is down to her naivety?
• List the words and phrases by which Alec seeks to excuse his behaviour.
• In what ways could it be said that he is victimising Tess?
• Are you convinced by Hardy's explanation at the end of the chapter concerning the shallowness of Alec's conversion?
Chapter 47
• List Alec's arguments that he is indeed Tess’s first husband.
• How valid do you consider them?
• How do the arguments add to Tess's torment?
• Look closely at the way Tess is made to take the blame by Alec:
• What does this show about him?
• In general, how has Alec deteriorated from the previous chapters of this phase?
• In what ways does the chapter promote the view of Tess as a victim?
• Consider particularly Tess's vulnerability, her lack of protection, and her exposure.
• Collect images of Entrapment.
Chapter 48
• Investigate the interplay of power and powerlessness in this chapter and the previous one.
• To what extent is Tess trapped into the situation?
Look closely at Tess's letter:
• She often uses religious language. In what does she place her faith?
Chapter 49
• In what ways does Angel go through a purgatorial experience whilst in Brazil?
• Is his suffering and reeducation in any way comparable to Tess's?
• Does the reader at any time get the experience of this change being too late?
Chapter 50
• Collect references to Tess helping her family both earlier in the novel and here.
• What benefit has been derived from her help?
• What benefit will Tess's preparation of the ground for planting be to them?
• In what way are future efforts likely to be dangerous for Tess?
• Does Hardy set up any parallels in this chapter between Alec, his words and his actions, and Angel, his words and his actions?
• Were you expecting Alec to reappear?
• What is your reaction to his re-appearance and the form it takes?
• What does Hardy lead us to expect to happen at this juncture?
Chapter 51
• For what does Tess still blame herself?
• Is she justified?
• For what does she now refuse to take any further blame?
Chapter 53
• How does Hardy further demonstrate that Angel’s experiences have been a form of purgatory?
Chapter 54
• What do we know about Tess that Angel still has not discovered by the end of the chapter?
• What clues are we given that Alec has had his way and that Angel is too late?
• Find examples of how Hardy uses dramatic irony in the chapter.
Chapter 55
• Compare the physical descriptions of Tess and Angel at their meeting.
• In what ways do they contrast?
• In what ways are their roles reversed?
• How has Hardy prepared us for Tess's new appearance?
• Discuss whether it really is 'too late'?
• What makes Tess think it is?
Chapter 56
• Can you anticipate exactly why Tess has killed Alec?
• Why did she not just walk out on him?
• Do you feel horrified by the murder?
• How does Hardy lessen its immediate impact?
Chapter 57
• Discuss the use of coincidence in the chapter, and the forces working in Angel and Tess' favour.
• How is this chapter different from the last number of chapters?
• Do you feel this is the tide turning in Tess's favour, or is it only a temporary reprieve?
• What, in Hardy's writing, gives you the feeling?
Examine Hardy's references to purity in the chapter:
• How do they add to the ideas you have already gained from Hardy?
Chapter 58
• In what way does the mention of the stone coffin episode anticipate future events?
• What do you make of Tess's request for Angel to marry Liza-Lu?
• What is Tess's consolation in dying?
• And what is she denied?
• Do you think that the climax of the novel is marked more by a sense of fulfillment or by a sense of loss?
Chapter 59
• How does Liza-Lu differ from Tess, and in what ways is she the same?
• In the previous chapter, Tess claimed she had, 'All the best of me without the bad of me':
• What 'bad' qualities has she not got, do you think?
• What does Hardy not tell the reader about Tess and Angel?
• Why does Hardy put quotation marks round 'Justice'?
• Discuss whether you find the ending convincing and satisfactory
• In what sense is the Phase a 'Fulfillment'?