苔丝读书报告

第一篇：苔丝读书报告

book report of《tess of the d’urbervilles》 about the author: thomas hardy(1840—1928), is an english novelist who is famous for novels of character and environment.when he was young, he derived a love of music from his father and devotion to literature from his mother.he grew up in dorset shire, of which the environment there became the main backdrop of his writings.his writing often reflected the change after capitalism intruded the countries in england and the people’s hard life.the novel《tess of the d’urbervilles》was published in the year of 1891,which was his most famous novel.the brief introduction of content: of happiness together, before she was arrested.in the end, angel promised tess to live with her sister.my thought towards this book: after reading this book, i feel so sad because of its unhappy ending.how beautiful tess was!why a beautiful girl can’t get a good result.is it her beautiful appearance’s wrong? is her parents’ wrong? of course, it’s not her fault.it’s the society, the desire, and the discrimination to women.after raped her, alec became a clergymen, but tess’s life became horrible.she was looked down by others, and she can’t live like a normal girl.everyone thought she wasn’t pure, and was dirty.but she had no choice.that wasn’t what she wanted.she was a sufferer, not a criminal.why didn’t angel forgive her? he had done a bad thing with other woman too.tess loved him so deeply, but he didn’t value her.if he can forgive her at the beginning, maybe tess won’t die, and they can live in a happy tune.i think, these caused by the society.if the society didn’t discriminate the women, others won’t think tess wasn’t pure.and, of course, angel won’t abandon her.maybe, nowadays, more and more people think women are equal to men, but as women, we still need to be strong, and maintain our own interests.篇二：《德伯家的苔丝》读书报告

《德伯家的苔丝》读书报告

班级 汉语言081班 姓名 赵彤 学号200850515133 书名：《德伯家的苔丝》

出版社：外语教学与研究出版社、牛津大学出版社

作者：托马斯·哈代（1840—1928）是英国最伟大的小说家和诗人之一。他一生共创作了

15部长篇小说（出版十四部、4个短篇小说集、8卷诗、2部诗剧，是世界文学中最重要的经典作家之一。他的大部分作品，包括这部《德伯家的苔丝》，都是以他的故乡——英国南海岸的多尔赛特为背景的。

背景：《德伯家的苔丝》这部小说是哈代进入晚期小说创作的标志。小说反映的时代背景是

传统的威塞克斯农村社会已大体上被资产阶级社会所占领，社会秩序发生了根本性的变化，农民为了生存不得不去寻找一条同过去完全不同的生活道路，于是哈代将创作的重心放在了浓郁的人道主义色彩，在主题上更加广泛和深刻，表现了维多利亚时代资产阶级的伦理道德、宗教法律、婚姻爱情、教育制度、人际关系等重大社会主题，从对资产阶级社会的一般性描写转入整个社会的揭露、控诉和批判。

时间地点：第一阶段（处女——不再是处女）

马勒特村、纯瑞脊

第二阶段（新生活——一个悔过自新的人）

塔尔勃塞牛奶场、爱敏斯特、马勒特村、弗林特石灰谷

第三阶段（结局）

爱敏斯特、马勒特村、桑德伯恩

主要人物：马勒特村

纯瑞脊

塔尔勃塞牛奶场 理查德·克里克（场主）、安吉尔·克莱尔（牧师）——男主 角、伊茨（挤奶工）、玛丽安（挤奶工）、蕾蒂（挤奶工）

爱敏斯特（安吉尔家）老克莱尔、母亲、两个哥哥、默茜·钱特小姐

故事内容：《苔丝》这部小说讲述了在英国一个名叫马勒特村里面的德比家，一个没落的古

老“贵族”约翰·德比，他有七个孩子，最大的女儿名叫苔丝，是他们整个村庄

长得最美丽的姑娘。由于家庭生活条件太差，德比夫人便想着让苔丝去找他们“同

血统”的亲戚德伯家族寻求帮助。可是善良天真的苔丝被狡猾不正经的亚力克·德

伯诱奸，以至于怀了孩子。在遭遇了一次少女的不幸后，苔丝在一个牛奶场遇到

了自己的真爱——安吉尔·克莱尔，可是由于自己当年的“过错”让这对有情人

没能延续幸福，当他们都幡然悔悟时，却已是无可挽回。当苔丝杀死了无耻的亚

力克后，等待她的只有法律的制裁?? 小说情节摘要：“为什么她一定要遇上这个不适合却如此垂涎于她的男人？而她留给那个适

合于她的男人的，只不过是一个来自乡间黄昏舞会的已经模糊了的印象。在生活中，适合于爱的男人很少在适合于爱的时间出现。上天总是无视人们对

爱的呼唤，直至人们呼唤得精疲力竭。”

“她没有意识到，虽然她触犯了一条公认的社会戒律，但她却从没违反过自

然。她就像树林里熟睡的鸟儿或树篱下的田间小动物一样清白无辜。” “那种对幸福的渴望，那种存在于每一个有生命的物体中的渴望，终于重新

赢得了苔丝” “女人们通常要经历这种生活。对多数被生活玩弄过的女人们来说，‘哪儿

有生活，哪儿就有希望’仍是一条不变的真理。” “他领悟到他们跟他没有什么不同，他和他们一样都是风尘仆仆的赶路人，他们的最终归宿都是死亡。”

“现在，苔丝的生活只有两种：实实在在的快乐和实实在在的痛苦。” 读后感：苔丝这个女性角色，她不同于传统的柔弱的女子，美丽迷人是她的资质，可是她在更深层次上来说是一个想凭自己的双手劳动谋生、追求自己起码的幸福权利的淳朴

姑娘，可是社会的强权却没有给她这样的机会，在遭遇了诱奸、抛弃的重重打击与

伤害后，最终酿成了苔丝的命运悲剧。

苔丝女性悲剧的社会因素

小说中的苔丝代表着十九世纪晚期英国农业阶层的过渡时期的农民形象，苔丝是一

个有点文化基础的年轻人，所以她不希望和父辈一样生活，可是贫穷却阻碍了她追

求更高层次的生活的机会，就像小说中一个情节是苔丝和安吉尔一起送新鲜牛奶搬 运至火车，苔丝想到他们冒雨赶了这么远的路，就是为了让伦敦人能够及时喝到牛

奶，“苔丝看呆了”，因为对她来说，生活是多么的艰辛，家里的任何困难几乎都落

在了她的肩上，以至于搭上了自己的贞洁和幸福。女主角苔丝遭受的压力是多方面的，她为了生活，不得不遭受农业资本家的剥削，并受到富家子弟的玷污；此外，还有来自社会道德的审判，苔丝的不幸成了人们审视道德的样本，那些指指点点、异样的眼光无不啃噬着苔丝年轻的生命。就像在被亚力克奸污后，苔丝生下了那个

无辜的孩子，可是当这个幼小的生命走向终点的时候，却连灵魂的落脚处都没有，一向满口仁爱的牧师也不能给予他归宿，无助的苔丝只能自己给孩子进行洗礼，一

个来自母亲的特殊的洗礼。当然给苔丝最大的打击还是来自爱人安吉尔的抛弃，可

怜的苔丝承受着来自家庭、生活、社会的重重磨练都不曾跌倒，可是在自己心爱的人面前还是让心灵的最后一道屏障崩垮，即使这份爱曾经回来过，可也只能是覆水

难收。亚力克的种种丑陋代表了农民阶层的经济贫困、不公正的法律制度，而安吉

尔的背弃则表现出了伪善的宗教和资产阶级的虚伪道德观。亚力克的无耻和不敢承

担都表现出了这些资产阶级的假面孔，安吉尔的不负责任和心胸狭隘也同样表现出

了资产阶级的虚伪，然而这所有的罪责却全部落在了苔丝身上。小说中最具有讽刺

意味的便是那个“悔过自新的人”，当苔丝再次见到恶棍亚力克的时候，他竟然在对人众讲授《圣经》，充分表现了社会的黑暗和宗教的虚伪。

苔丝女性悲剧的性格因素

造成苔丝悲剧的性格方面的原因是大自然赋予她的纯朴与善良，这让她无法与人面

兽心的亚力克相处，也不能像安吉尔隐瞒自己人生的“污点”，因为她没有沾染多

少“文明”，所以也就缺乏功利的计谋，她的纯朴的本能超过了人人与生俱来的保

护自己的本能，这样就不可避免地造成她的命运悲剧。苔丝鄙视自己所谓的高贵的家族血统，认为自己应该靠诚实的劳动来获取人生的幸福，她看不惯父亲的洋洋得

意，看不惯母亲的沾沾自喜，这些都充分表明苔丝质朴、纯真、鄙视门第观念的高

贵品质。同时她愿意为了家庭而无私地牺牲自己，当家里面临嫉妒的困难时，她竟

会选择与无耻的亚力克同居，以换取这个恶棍的帮助，当然这也表明那个时代下一

个女子的无助和可悲，想要自食其力而不得的悲剧人生。小说中通过苔丝与安吉尔的爱情悲剧表现了苔丝在重重的宗教道德的冲击下作茧

自缚的性格悲剧。由于苔丝出身于一个农民家庭，身上或多或少残存这一些旧道德

和宿命观点，使她在反抗是又有了软弱的一面。比如，她在听到别人议论一个女子

和别的男人的风流故事的时候，就不由自主的联系到自己身上，不免是一种痛苦和

折磨，她在收到世俗舆论和道德迫害的同时，也在用其审视着自己，从而认为自己

是有罪的，“认为自己是罪恶的化身”，她其实比别人更加忘记不了自己的耻辱。苔

丝正是用自己织成的一张道德网将自己束缚起来，将自己推向罪恶的深渊。以至于

苔丝自己认为她在肉体上是亚力克的妻子，而在名义上才是安吉尔的太太，这正是

苔丝浓重保守性的体现。再有就是苔丝在安吉尔知道她的秘密以后，为了减轻自己的“罪恶”，她可以说是用自己的爱做了安吉尔的奴隶，愿意为他去死，只求安吉

尔能够原谅自己的“失身”，而反过来，苔丝却对安吉尔的“污点”无限包容了，这种反差也凸显了苔丝过于放大自己的过错，以至于自己无法摆脱心灵束缚的自我困境。正是这种思想、这种保守性加重了苔丝的悲剧。

忠诚与背弃重压下的柔弱身躯 苔丝的善良和诚实，让她在这个黑暗的社会中绽放异样的光彩，可是这个光圈让一

个女孩子有些受之不起，没有人理解，没有人同情，父亲的认不清现实、母亲的唯

利是图，一帮弟弟妹妹的生活负担，这些都落在了苔丝这个花季少女的双肩上。小 说中一个引子是苔丝家的一匹马出意外死掉了，这让苔丝内心充满了自责，于是苔

丝放弃了自己追求幸福的权利，遵从了母亲的要求，来到了亚力克的身边。正是出

自对家庭的一份忠诚，苔丝舍弃了太多，无独有偶，当她又要回到亚力克的身边时，同样是出自对家庭的一份责任。再来说说苔丝和安吉尔，其实苔丝如果向安吉尔撒 了谎，完全有可能和安吉尔获得人生的幸福，可是出于对爱情的忠诚，这个纯洁的女子选择向忠诚低头，可笑的是苔丝并非一个基督教徒，却拥有如此纯净的灵魂，她的字典里没有背叛和欺瞒，而那些道貌岸然的教徒们却处处显露出自己的虚伪和

冷血。

苔丝的短暂生命里收获的只是一种短暂的情愫，当安吉尔口口声声向苔丝表明心意

时，几近将这个美丽的女子的内心融化，可是当他知道苔丝的不幸时，却只有悔恨，责怪苔丝为什么早早的没有告诉他事情的真相，让他早有这个心理准备，恐怕，在 那个时候他也只会义无反顾的离开，就像他抛下新婚的妻子，独自踏上巴西之路一

样，在苔丝无数次呼唤他——一个曾经钟情无比的丈夫时，只有杳无声息的等待陪

伴她。

第二篇：《苔丝》读书报告

Book report of《Tess of the D’Urbervilles》

About the author:

Thomas Hardy(1840—1928), is an English novelist who is famous for novels of character and environment.When he was young, he derived a love of music from his father and devotion to literature from his mother.He grew up in Dorset shire, of which the environment there became the main backdrop of his writings.His writing often reflected the change after capitalism intruded the countries in England and the people’s hard life.The novel《Tess of the D’Urbervilles》was published in the year of 1891,which was his most famous novel.The brief introduction of content:

It tells a story about a tragedy of a pure girl.One day, a rural clergyman told D’Urbervilles, who is a pour farmer, that he was descended from the illustrious D’Urbervilles family.And then, the D’Urbervilles couples wanted their daughter Tess to work in a family named D’Urbervilles in order to improve their social status.So Tess obeyed her parents’ requires, and went to the rich D’Urbervilles’ family.She was asked to feed the chicken there.In the rich D’Urbervilles family, there is a man named Alec.Alec thought Tess was so beautiful.He was attracted by her beautiful appearance.Horrible thing to Tess was happened one day.Alec raped her.After she left him, Tess was pregnant.She went back home, and gave birth to the baby.Unluckily, the baby died soon.Tess was so sad.She didn’t want to stay at home, so she decided to work.In another village, she worked as a milkmaid in a farm.There she met a good man named Angel Clare, who was her true love.Later, they fell in love.Angel Clare didn’t know her past until their wedding night.At that night, Angel abandoned her, although he had committed a crime to a woman.Deserted by her husband, she suffered from painful life.And she met Alec again, and the poverty forced her to resume their relationship.Tess became Alec’s mistress again.And, Angel went to Brazil, finding that he was wrong to Tess.When he came back to look for Tess, she was Alec’s mistress.But when she saw Angel, she waked up and hatred filled her heart.Then she killed Alec, and run away with Angel.They spent one night

of happiness together, before she was arrested.In the end, Angel promised Tess to live with her sister.My thought towards this book:

After reading this book, I feel so sad because of its unhappy ending.How beautiful Tess was!Why a beautiful girl can’t get a good result.Is it her beautiful appearance’s wrong? Is her parents’ wrong? Of course, it’s not her fault.It’s the society, the desire, and the discrimination to women.After raped her, Alec became a clergymen, but Tess’s life became horrible.She was looked down by others, and she can’t live like a normal girl.Everyone thought she wasn’t pure, and was dirty.But she had no choice.That wasn’t what she wanted.She was a sufferer, not a criminal.Why didn’t Angel forgive her? He had done a bad thing with other woman too.Tess loved him so deeply, but he didn’t value her.If he can forgive her at the beginning, maybe Tess won’t die, and they can live in a happy tune.I think, these caused by the society.If the society didn’t discriminate the women, others won’t think Tess wasn’t pure.And, of course, Angel won’t abandon her.Maybe, nowadays, more and more people think women are equal to men, but as women, we still need to be strong, and maintain our own interests.

第三篇：苔丝 读书报告

TESS

100511Daisy(金陈洁)“Justice” was done, and President of the Immortals had ended his sport with Tess.This is a sentence coming from the book TESS, which was written by Thomas Hardy, a British poet and novelist.He has a lot of famous works, such as Far from the Madding Crowd, Desperate Remedies, A Pair of Blue Eyes and so on.Here he put the word “Justice” in quotes was to satirize the judge that was unjust and the society was faulty.From his book, we can see that after the Industrial Revolution, a lot of peasants in Britain went bankrupt and became poorer.What was more, most poor people at that time lead a bad life.By the way, the book TESS was one of the most typical works which could reflect that social background.Tess Durbeyfield, the leading character in the novel, was a beautiful, naive and kind-hearted girl.However, her fate was very unlucky.Under Alec’s lure approach, the poor girl was pregnant.Unfortunately, her child died and from now on these humiliating events made her be spurned by others.Furthermore, at the evening of her marriage, she was abandoned by her husband, Angel Clare, as a result of her shameful past.Hopelessly, she came back to Alec.Nevertheless, in order to have her own love and happiness, after her husband came back she killed Alec.Finally, although she had a short meeting with Angel Clare, she still was sentenced to death

for her fault.Tess is really a tragic figure in this book.She was always looking forward to true love and pure kindness;she was laborious and plain;she had a strong will and an enthusiastic heart.However, she till couldn’t escape from the so-called social morality and the social prejudice.Yes, she was worth sympathy.And apart from this, there were still someone should be mentioned.For example, Alec.Nominally，he was a nobleman.But as a matter of fact, his noble family name was just got by money.What’s more, in the help of his family’s money and power, he did many bad things.And Tess was one of the witnesses of his evils.Personally, I think, his result that he ended with death was an inevitable trend.Besides, here we can see one of the typical phenomena of Britain.This is his class structure which we can see from the influence of the family name of the figures.In addition, there is one person we cannot neglect.He was Angel Clare.To be honest, when I was reading this book, I felt angry with him for he misunderstood Tess and abandoned her at the evening of their marriage.Moreover, what he chose to do after he knew Tess’s past was just escape.When I read here, I just couldn’t control myself criticizing his heartless and sympathizing Tess’s tragic fate.However, when calming down, I viewed him again.I could not deny that when comparing with other rich people, Angel Clare was more polite and well-educated.Besides, he

loved rural life and wanted to find true love rather than wealth.Be that as it may, what he couldn’t get rid of was the traditional moral idea that was deep in his heart, which resulted in Tess’s being not forgiven and

abandoned.In other words, although he was a kind person in a way, he was still on behalf of the benefit of the capitalist class and kept some characteristics of the capitalist class.As a person, complex feeling may he or she had after reading.First and foremost, one may have a deep impression on the British society at that time, including the sympathy to the poor and the criticism to the high society.What’s more, the class structure, one of the British symbols, was also performed incisively and vividly in this book.For example, Tess went to ask the Durbeyfield for help was just because her father once heard that they were the distance relatives of the Durbeyfield.His father thought they were noblemen as well because they had the same blood as the Durbeyfield.Last but not least, the emotion between Tess and Clare tells us one truth: if we really love someone deeply, just believe your lover and stick to your love.No matter how much money he has or what mistakes he has made before, if he is willing to tell the truth and correct the mistake, that’s enough, isn’t it?

Nothing is perfect and justice cannot be seen from the surface.Just view our society from a clear and dialectical perspective.What’s more, learn to forgive and have a strong-minded will.Then do your best to

achieve it.

第四篇：苔丝 读书报告

Tess of the d’Urbervilles

-------a Pure Woman Faithfully Portrayed

Thomas Hardy(1840-1928), novelist and poet, is one of English critical realism at the turn of the 19th century.His principal works are the Wessex Novels, include Tess of the d‟Urbervillles, which is Hardy’s penultimate novel published in 1981 followed by his another masterpiece Jude of Obscue《无名的裘德》(1896)，these two books can be regarded as the summit of his realism.Except these, Under the Greenwood Tree《绿林荫下》(1872), The Return of the Native《还乡记》(1878)，The Mayor of Casterbridge 《卡斯特桥市长》（1886），are also his famous novels, describing the characters and environment of Hardy’s native countryside.In his works，he describe the poverty and decay of small farmers who became hired field hands.These farmers are treated badly and mercilessly by the rich landowners.This made the author crossly and painful, so there was a growing pessimistic vein runs in his novels.Tess of the d‟Urbervillles, a Pure Woman Faithfully Portrayed, Hardy’s most famous book, describes a tragically life story of a country girl---Tess.Tess is the daughter of a poor villager.When she was young, she was seduced by Alec d’Urbervilles, the son of a rich merchant.She gives birth to an illegitimate child, but under the great pressure of the rumors, she leaves home and works as a dairymaid.There she meets Angel Clare.They fall in love and are engaged to each other.On their wedding night, when they confessed to each other, Tess’s past memory couldn’t be accepted by Angel.They must have lived a happy and quiet life, but what happened in the past changed all this.Both Tess and Angel were miserable, they separated for a long time.Tess’s family live in starvation since her father died.At this time, Alec got the chance and lied to Tess thatAngel would not back, he asked Tess to be his lover.Tess agreed desperately, but at last she found Alec lied to her for Angel came back and found her.This annoyed Tess, she murdered him in a fit of despair.Then, Angel and Tess lived in a a short happy hiding time.Finally ,Tess was arrested and hanged.Such a poor girl, how innocent she is.But the dark society gives her an unfair fate.It is not fair and justice for the pure girl.As the author said “the gods had finished playing with Tess.Society had been „justice‟ done”.Tess, who is a kind、obedient、staunch and well-developed country girl, she has a pure heart and simple mind, always wants to do her best to give her family a better life, so she went to a rich noble d’Urbervilles whom his father said has relationship with his family, there she was tempted by young Alec d’Urbervilles.Thus, she began her tragically fate.Alec is an irresponsible man, who is selfish and reckless，his impulse behavior destroyed Tess’s whole life.But he only said” I‟m sorry to hurt you, but do not keep accusing me.I „m ready to pay for it.” He said this so easy, but how to pay, even though he gives Tess all his money, he can’t, because Tess doesn’t love him, and the virginity of a pure girl is priceless，the miser he gives her cannot be paid even use Alec’s life.After these sufferings, Angel appeared, this man made Tess think she met her true love, so her pure and simple mind let her tell Angel what happen to her, but this made the newly married separated.Angel is also selfish but conscientious, he thought he love Tess, but he can’t accept Tess was not a virgin even though he has engaged in premarital sex.He thought he was a free thinker, but his notions of morality turn out to be fairly conventional.But Angel finally realized his cruel and he came back to Tess, and gave him the last happy time.As the author said “it was not the two halves of a perfect whole who met.A missing half wandered somewhere else, arriving much later.This delay was to have tragic results.” Both of the two men said they love Tess, but it is not true love.What make Tess suffer such a terrible life, in my opinion, there are three reasons for Tess’s tragic fate which from her family, the society and her own character.We all know she was born in a poor downfallen noble family, her irresponsible parents is the symbol of her tragic fate.For her family’s unique prosperity “princess” died on the way to market when Tess want to go instead her drunken father.For there is no source of income, her parents wanted her to go rich d’Urbervilles and told them they have relationships and hoped Tess can marry the gentleman---Alec.So they would have a better life.Tess was unwilling to go, but she felt guilty, her kind heart made her promised to go, there she began her tragic fate.At that time, its very unfair to the female, Tess’s tragedy was due to social morals root.This just was explaining bourgeoisie politics system reactionary, indicated the unimportant persons in the lower level social class were impossible to obtain the fair treatment in the society.She is a pure girl, but people think what she has suffered was deserved for she can’t defend herself.Her behavior was treated as disloyal, unchaste and obscene.In Victoria times, man and woman can’t be equal in marriage.From the novel we can know Angel has engaged in premarital sex, but when he knew Tess was not virgin, he was nearly crazy and cannot bear it.He said he love Tess, he believed in free thought, but at that time his selfish、narrow-eyed and irresponsible exposed to us.For the unfair moral law in capitalist society, man has no influence when they are not faithful to their wife, but if woman does they think woman is guilty.In the novel, when Tess murdered Alec, the first time she wanted to defend herself, she was treated as a criminal and was hanged.The joke which fate wants to play with her ended at last.Tess’s character also leads to the tragic end.Because her pure and kind, she didn’t realize Alec’s trick, this gave Alec chance to approach her and lost her pure, though Alec hurt her, for Alec’s help, she felt appreciate rather than hate.But when she met Angel, she loves him too much that she cannot bear to cheat him.She told him about her past without thinking the results.Her frank character made her fall into miser another time.If she said nothing to Angel, she may live a happy life.She regrets that she didn’t keep her pure to Angel, so before she died, she asked Angel to marry her sister, she said “She has all the best of me without my bad side.” She lingered along the morality, her insisting struggle, compromise，and the last defense of herself can make us think that the most beautiful thing is relentless destroyed by the dark strength.What a poor girl Tess is!Hardy describes a feeling of dismal foreboding and doom.Fateful circumstances and tragic coincidences was vivid appearing in this novel.“These do not, however, eclipse the chief message of truthful portrayal of the tragic lot of a poor country girl ruined by the bourgeois society.”

From Tess can also reflect the poor fate the farmers had suffered at that time.Tess is the typical symbol of the poor farmer.Tess was a strong woman throughout the novel.She stood up for herself and refused to crumble under pressure.It is true Tess should deserve respect because of enduring a great deal of pain but she can also insist her own purity.Her unyielding spirit of revolt is deserved to learn and respect.Tess of the d’Urbervilles

-------a Pure Woman Faithfully Portrayed

班 级：外语0842 姓 名：孙美玲 学 号：13

第五篇：读书报告：苔丝

Book report of Tess of the D’Urbervilles I.Introduction Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Tess of the d'Urbervilles or just Tess, is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891，which proved to be successful.1.1 The Author Thomas Hardy(1840-1928), novelist and poet, is one of the representatives of English critical realism at the turn of the 19th century.He was born in Dorset, a southern county of England, which he called Wessex in his books.His father wanted him to become a builder as he was.At the age of 22, Hardy went to London, where he studied architecture for five years.But at the same time, he also becomes interested in literature and philosophy.On his return to his native countryside in 1867, Hardy worked as an architect for several years.His first attempt at literature proved successful.So he gave up architecture and made literature his profession.1.2 The author’s times Thomas Hardy lived in the Victorian Era.At that time, there was a very strict morality, particularly concerning the relationship between men and women.A woman was still the property of her husband or father.In the late nineteenth century, the British invaded the capitalist mode of production in agriculture in remote areas, which brought agricultural workers misfortune and bad luck.In that period, the British Empire was going through a few bad turns, it was maintained in the world of industrial monopoly position in the gradual loss of the capitalist world because the outbreak of severe economic crisis in the seventies.After two decades, Britain was almost constantly in a crisis and depression.In rural areas, a outbreak of a serious crisis happened.Based on this time background, Thomas Hardy wrote Tess of the D’Urbervilles，in which the peasants of Wessex are oppressed and squeezed by farmers, thus reflecting the changes of Victorian Era during the Industrial Revolution and women are subsidiary to men, which reveals the fact that morality at that time was strict.This book can be seen as reflection of Thomas Hardy‟s time..II.The Story 2.1 The background of the story

Tess of the D’Urbervilles presents complex picture of both the importance of social class in nineteenth-century England and the relationship between men and women.The D‟Urbervilles is really nobility and the Duebeyfields truly are authentic nobility.But Duebeyfields family has fallen down, which leads Tess to seek help from D‟Urbervilles and finally results to her tragedy.After Tess confesses to Clare, he leaves her.In the novel, we can see that women should keep virginity at that time in society, and she would be denounced by the people if she lost her virginity.It is unfair, but this is the fact.2.2 A Summary of the Book Tess of the D’Urbervilles, a Pure Woman Faithfully Portrayed, tells the tragic life of a beautiful country girl, Tess Durbeyfield.Tess is the daughter of poor villager who at the beginning of the novel, discovers that he is the descendent of the ancient family of the D‟Urbervilles.So Tess is encouraged by her parents to seek out the old noble family.Yet, she is seduced by Alec D‟Urberville, the son of a rich merchant who has bought his title into the class of gentry.Tess gives birth to an illegitimate child, thus scandalizing the narrow-minded people around her.The child dies soon after its birth, and she is considered a sinful woman.Trying to build a new life for herself, she leaves home and works at a distant farm as a dairymaid.There she meets Angel Clare, a clergyman‟s son.The young couple fall in love and are engaged to each other.On their wedding night, Tess confesses to Angel her affair with Alec.Angel, who has had some affair with a bad woman, casts her off.Soon he leaves for Brazil.Misfortune and hardship come upon poor Tess and her family.Her father die and the whole family members are threatened with starvation.Now Alec has become a preacher, still rich and still influential.Tess has made some pathetic appeals to Angel Clare to come back from abroad but in vain, and Alec tells her that Clare will never come back and presses his attentions upon her.She is driven to accept his protection and lives with him.Clare, returning from Brazil and feeling regretted for his harshness to Tess, finds her in such a bad situation.Maddened by this second wrong done her by Alec, she murders him in a fit of despair.After hiding with Clare in a forest for a short time, Tess falls into the claws of law.She is arrested, tried and hanged.At the end of the story, the author writes sarcastically: “„Justice‟ was done, and the Present of the Immortals(in Aeschylean phrase)had ended his sport with Tess.” III.My Views on the Book Tess of the d'Urbervilles is set in the town of “wessex”, which is an imaginary world covering a large area of the southern and western countries of England.In this area, people face the collapse caused by mechanization of agriculture in the late nineteenth century.It is a fierce attack on the hypocritical morality of the bourgeois society the capitalist invasion into the country and destruction of the English peasantry towards the end of the century.Thomas Hardy adopts the symbolism to polish the characters.Tess is the daughter of nature.When others see her, she will be nervous, just as domestic animals become upset when finding someone is seeing them.The author uses Tess to symbolize nature.Everything around Tess is quite calm and can live in harmony with her.She can ride the horse “prince” to deliver bees and catch chickens in farms.What‟s more, the author use Angel Clare and Alec to symbolize human beings while Tess to symbolize nature.By developing the plot of Tess is finally hanged because of what the two men, the author wants to tell us human beings tends to conquer and destroy nature, which is also the reflection of changes happened in the 19th century.Tess of the d'Urbervilles tells the tragic life of a beautiful, brave, hard-working country girl.By using the subtitle of “A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented”, the author tries to tell us that in his opinion, Tess is a pure woman although man criticism has been aroused.In my opinion, Tess is a pure woman.4 First, Tess is beautiful not only in her appearance but in her heart.She was “a fine and handsome girl”.When their horse “prince” died, she becomes so guilty that she is willing to find work to support her poor family, which results in her seduction by Alec and losing her virginity.Second, Tess is brave to pursue her own love.After she is seduced by Alec, she cannot stand being controlled by Alec, so she leaves.After that, she meets and falls in love with Angel Clare.On their wedding night, Tess tells Angel that she has lost her virginity because she doesn‟t want to cheat Angel.She has a strong desire to pursue true love, but Angel thinks Tess is no longer the one he loves, so he leaves Tess.In the beginning, if Tess is willing to be a mistress of Alec, she can go into upper class.But she doesn‟t.From this, we can say that Tess is a pure woman.Third, when Tess is arrested, she doesn‟t protest.She obeys the law and is calm.In conclusion, Tess is a pure woman.Although she is not pure in body, she is pure in spirit.By creating the character of Tess, Thomas Hardy wants to show the good qualities of wessex people.The book reflects the spirit of human kind-hearted, hard-working, self-sacrifice, and the thirst for freedom.In a word, Tess is the artistic character who destroys herself in order to defend human dignity, values and virtues.It grabs all our compassion and sympathy As to the novel‟s relevance to the present time, there are some prejudice against women and lower class people.It not only shows the problems of industrial revolution, but also reflects the social reality today.Nowadays, there still many people live in lower class.Their fate is predetermined tragic, driven by a combined force of “nature”, both inside and outside.Mankind is subjected to the rule of some hostile and mysterious fate, which brings misfortune to human life.As to the humanity, we can see some good qualities from Tess.She is kind, brave and hardworking.Even though the fate and reality are unfair, she struggles and wants to find true love.Women nowadays should learn her good qualities.They should learn to be independent in economy, thus making them have a position in society.After reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles, I have not only something form Thomas Hardy, such as his writing skills and ideas, but I have also learn some good qualities from Tess.She is a pure woman, who is brave, hardworking and kind.Her spirit will last forever in the literature world.