ife takes. Tess's future seems locked up from the beginning of the novel. As the story opens, we first meet her father and learn of Tess's ancestry: "Durbeyfield...are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d'Urbervilles...that renowned knight who came from Normandy...if knighthood were hereditary, like a baronetcy...[John] would be Sir John" (4). Somehow the reader knows almost immediately that this knowledge isn't necessarily going to save the poor clan, especially once we learn of the Fate of Tess's ancestors: "Where do we d'Urbervilles live?" asks "Sir" John to the parson who responds, "You don't live anywhere. You are extinct" (5). If one believes in the concept of natural selection, they probably realize rather quickly that this isn't the best family from which to descend.
             Tess seems to sense her doomed state. This is evidenced in her identification with the d'Urberville clan. Examples of this are her ability to see or hear the d'Urberville Coach and her realization of her resemblance to the d'Urberville woman of the farmhouse at Wellbridge: "[Tess's] fine features were unquestionably traceable in these exaggerated forms" (277). These eerie events suggest that the fated d'Urberville blood undoubtedly flows through her veins.
             Another example of Tess's awareness of being ill fated is wh
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