than we would have done if the central character was male. And he was right, not only did Tess capture the reader's hearts but also, she became an icon known as the "Pure Woman". I must however stress that this was mainly the case for modern readers, the novel provoked a very different reaction from the readers in Hardy's time.
             In fact the novel caused social outrage in its original form after Hardy had tried, and failed, to get the work published through serialisation. After his first submission was rejected "Tess" was returned to Hardy with the suggestion that he should re-draft the work whilst cutting the rude parts out. Hardy scoffed at this idea and, still determined it was destined for publication as it was, he offered it to another magazine. Yet again it was refused on the same grounds as before and this time Hardy took note and began 'cutting' what he felt was his finest piece of literature yet. Although much opposed to the idea, whilst feeling somewhat like 'Jack the Ripper', whom just five years earlier had extracted the private parts from his victims; Hardy censored "Tess" with the notion that once he had generated enough money from the serialised version, that he would restore the book to it's former controversial self. After the third submission with yet another magazine it was finally accepted and serialised for publication and Hardy had managed to earn enough money to publish the complete version of "Tess of t
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