Tess of the D'Urbervilles

“I take thee to be my lawful wedded [husband], to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto me, until death do us part.” Traditional wedding vows are held sacred not only to the ones who pronounce them but vows are also kept sacred in many religions. There are many contrasting views of this sacred sacrament that Christians call Marriage. In the religion of Catholics, marriage is a sacred bonding of the mind, body and soul. "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:29) In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Tess, the focal point of the novel, remained faithful at heart to her marriage despite all of her hardships. As marriage completely changes people’s lives “for better or for worse” every day, Tess’s ceremony affected her actions and her ability to progress as a young woman.

The book is divided into seven phases, each of which tells a concise and particular story within the larger story of Tess's life and each accomplishes specific goals in moving Tess from her simple, youthful life in the country to her tragic early death. To an extent, this makes the characters in Tess se

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” (Hardy 187) This seems to be more devastating to Tess than the rape itself. Alec later insinuates that Tess's home setting was not good enough for his child and that it was the cause of the little one's illness. “The first principal of recovery is the empowerment of the survivor: she must be the only author of her own recovery. For the reader, Hardy created predictable characters to produce suspense of not being able to guess how they will turn out by the end.

"Marriage may be compared to a cage: the birds outside despair to get in and those

within despair to get out. His guilt drives him to aid Tess’s family; something he recognizes is important to Tess, but his money does not aid Tess’s heart. But soon Tess becomes poverty-stricken, “For richer or poorer,” becomes ill, “in sickness and in health,” and knows that she must marry Alec to avoid any more damage set fourth by Angel. (Anderson 311)

As Alec's want for Tess increases in intensity, so too does the string of misfortunes which plague Tess and her family. During Tess’s poverty-stricken journeys, Alec meets and proposes to her when he learns of his dead child. With several life lessons learned from her tragic encounter with Alec, Tess is reluctant to fall truly give of herself to Angel, but she realizes to give herself up, is to receive love. Tess's trails inevitably are lost and she will be ruined.

A common phrase, “Love can make you do crazy things,” is perfectly exemplified in Thomas Harding’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Marriages should be based on total trust and "togetherness," and without this, marriage cannot last. After Angel left in despair, Tess, “till death do us part,” murders Alec in their home, and went to search for Angel so they could once again be happily married.

Approximate Word count = 1633
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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