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Monday, 2 December 2024

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES BY THOMAS HARDY






We are in the last month of the year 2024, so was the end monthly activity of #TBRChallenge with the prompt “Holiday CLASSIC”

A holiday classic is a book that is popular over a long period and is considered to be exemplary or noteworthy. Some examples of holiday classics include: 

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: A story of redemption and forgiveness set in Victorian England. It's considered a masterpiece on generosity and empathy. 

The Grinch by Dr. Seuss: The Grinch plots to steal Christmas from Whoville, but discovers the simple joys of the festival. 

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: A story about the beginning of the popular character Santa Claus. 

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann: A story about bravery and dreams in a fantastical world. 

Google suggests the above list,  but for me, A sense of timelessness — or the fact that many people have enjoyed a work over time and continue to enjoy it many years later — contributes greatly to something being considered a classic. Classics also tend to become part of the cultural landscape.

I’m planning to bid adieu to the old copy of the book TESS OF THE D’UBERVILLES as it was almost worn out. Before that, I thought to re-read it one final time before it went out of my bookshelf.

So I treat this book as a holiday classic and share a few highlights of the novel - Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Tess of the D'urbervilles is an epic tale of Tess Durbeyfield's tragic life, her disasters in love, her tear-wrenching experiences with death, and her painstaking efforts to grow into a 'proper' woman. Tess Durbeyfield is the main character in the book and you see her grow as a person over several years.

Social hierarchy, modernity, history, free will and fate, gender, and injustice are all themes found in Tess of the d'Urbervilles. The novel's moral is that the cruelty of society and human beings can lead to tragic results.

The title of the novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles:

A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is both ironic and defends the morals and moral standing of its main character, Tess.

The novel generally follows the moral structure of the traditional English novel - that virtue is rewarded, immorality is punished and good people learn from their mistakes. Victorian society would have considered Tess a 'fallen woman', rather than a naive young woman assaulted or taken advantage of.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy is considered a modern novel because of its radical ideas and realism. Some say that the novel's themes are still relevant today, including: 

Empathy for women

The novel portrays Tess as a victim of Victorian society, mistreated by men and society. 

Nature vs. industrialization

The novel is set during a transition from agriculture to industry, with rural towns, farm women representing nature, and machines and upper-class men representing industrialization. 

Injustice of Social Law

The novel highlights the injustice of social law, the hypocrisy of social prejudice, and the inequality of male dominance. 

Tess is a courageous woman who stands up for herself, defies the Church, and connects with nature. Her leanings towards Paganism show her disconnection with Christianity, and Hardy's move away from traditionalist views. 

Tess's eventual death, one of the most famous in literature, is a direct result of human cruelty and as such represents one of the most moving indictments of the lives of 19th-century English women in all of literature.

Tess of the d’Urbervilles is a novel with perfect classic features that can be read at any time.

 

(This blog post was part of Blogchatter's #TBRChallenge monthly activity. More details here:https://www.theblogchatter.com/blogchatters-reading-challenge-tbr-challenge)

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