How does Hardy present death in Tess of the D'Urbervilles? -- A grade - page 3
Keywords: Thomas Hardy Tess of the D'Urnbervilles death pheasants sorrow jack durbeyfield
By georgie1 on 31/12/2009
Level: A Level (Year 12) / AS Level
Page Number: 3 of 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
of “rich plumage”, showing that she is more desirable and ‘richer’ than others. To make the death faster and to put the fowl out of their misery rather than suffering for longer, Tess begins to hastily break the neck of the animals to induce a more immediate death: “she killed the birds tenderly.” The adverb “tenderly” implies an idea of affection, and gentility between to two suffering beings: Tess and the pheasants. She states that regardless of her own misfortune and melancholy, there are also creatures that face worse things, such as death: “in the presence of such misery as this.” Effectively, this then links to the idea of the pheasants representing Tess and her emotional stance on the situation. She claims that she is doing the correct and moral thing to do: “put the still-living birds out of their torture.” This presents a contrast to murder being immoral, allowing Hardy to show exceptions to guidelines and his more interpretations of traditions and expectations of society. “Still-living” shows that although they are present, they are only living physically, and not on any other levels, such as emotionally or engaging with people. One would assume that Tess wants to put herself out of her torture, but instead of actually attempting suicide, she introduces Freud’s theory of Thanatos: the urge towards death and passivity: “I wish I had never been born”. By describing her desires from a different perspective, and not declaring that she wants to die, she says that she has no passion for life. This shows that she defies the normality of most people; having an urge towards life as well as an urge toward death, and that she lacks an interest in life. Similar situations where the Tess has an unconscious death instinct and desire towards death is when she is laid on the floor of the wood, at when she falls asleep at Stonehenge.
The image of death we are left with is very strongly influenced by Hardy’s presentation of fatality. Although the inevitability of death dominates its justification, we are left contemplating the extent of our own free will if time on Earth is predetermined. However, the incorporation of moral decisions and their results indicate that Hardy wants us to realise that life is as long as it is moral. The bereavement of both Tess’s child and her father leave her emotionally unstable. As a result, we
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