This has always been and will always be. In fact, it is an essential law of Nature. The tragic element unfolds when this law expresses itself in human terms. Here, life consumes life in a desperate bid to perpetuate itself. In this novel, the character of Tess depicts one aspect of this strange tragedy.

The manner of her first appearance in the novel is noteworthy. It serves to emphasise the fact that she is really the fairest flower on the bough. Moreover, the writer makes a conscious effort to convey the timelessness of the tragedy that is to unfold before us. For this, he describes the club-walk at Marlott. This surviving custom from an ancient pagan ritual serves to begin the story on a metaphysical note. The gathering of women, both young and old, forms the background for the portrait of Tess who is the fairest of them all.

She is depicted as being a fine and handsome girl : “…her mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes added eloquence to colour and shape.”

A red ribbon in her hair is another distinguishing feature of her physical appearance. The writer is subtle enough to keep this first description in a low key. And, his artistic use of symbolism and suggestion makes it clear that something more than just a girl is being described.

Gradually and skilfully, the writer fills in the concrete elements of her portrait. For example, he tells us that she has an oval face, deep dark eyes and long heavy clinging tresses. In fact, the description becomes very detailed : “The teeth more regular, the red lips thinner than is usual in a country-bred girl.” Her innocent beauty is summed up very aptly thus : “ It was a luxuriance of aspect, a fulness of growth, which made her appear more of a woman than she really was.”

And, there is a lot more to her than just physical charm. She has a very tender and caring disposition which indicates an extremely sensitive nature. This is evident in her deep concern for her family. In fact, one marvels at her love for her uncouth mother and her good for nothing father. And, her attitude towards Liza-Lu is a sublime combination of sisterly and motherly love.

Significantly, these very qualities make her vulnerable to disaster. Her beauty attracts Alec’s predatory passion while familial her devotion puts her completely at his mercy. Tess also has a well-defined sense of right and wrong. This too adds to her misery by ravaging her with guilt after her seduction.

But, this unfortunate girl has great inner strength. At no time do we see her head bowed in defeat. Even her pleadings with Angel do not convey a sense of weakness. Rather, they show a woman fighting desperately for her rightful place in life. This is why she remains dignified when he leaves her. This dignity is evident in all phases of her life. Dairyman Crick and her other co-workers have the highest regard for her. Even Alec cannot dismiss her as just another sexual conquest. His urge to marry her points in this direction.

Tess suffers the worst inner conflict in her attitude to marriage. Having lost her virginity to Alec, she finds herself in love with Angel and becomes his wife. Then, he abandons her and she is again pursued by the man who ravished her. And, she submits to him again with bitter resignation : “Once victim, always victim—that’s the law!” From this point on, she is no longer just a person. She becomes a personification of the cruelty that life inflicts on itself. Her murder of Alec is her last desperate attempt to right the wrong that Nature has inflicted on her. But, this time, even the repentant Angel cannot save her from the retribution which follows.

Tess is hanged as a convicted murderess. But, her death has a poetic poignancy to it. She once broke the necks of some wounded pheasants to put them out of their misery. Perhaps, this was the only kindness that was ever repaid to her. In crafting her character, Hardy has exhibited something more than just mastery over craft. He brings to Tess a burning passion and a wistful sadness plumbed from the depths of his soul. Tess does not belong to one place of time. And, her tragedy is not confined to any one aspect of life. She is more an idea than a person. And, her pain stretches to encompass all of humanity.

There is a measure of defiance in his gesture of using the sub-title “A Pure Woman”. This leaves no doubt as to his stand on the matter. Moreover, he evinces a clear emotional commitment by following the sub-title with a quotation from Shakespeare :

“…Poor wounded name!

My bosom as a bed shall lodge thee.”

Tess is first shown participating in an ancient pagan ritual at Marlott. The writer describes her in a manner calculated to set her apart from the others :

“She wore a red ribbon in her hair, and was the only one of the white company who could boast of such pronounced adornment.”

This flash of red colour is quite out of place in the pallor of the white dresses, white flowers and peeled willow wands. It distinctly suggests the presence of flesh and blood against an otherwise sterile background. The colour is mentioned again when Alec crosses her path as :

“one who stood fair to be the blood-red ray in the spectrum of her young life.”

This device makes it clear that the writer wants to show Tess as being both a physical and a spiritual entity. By doing so, he establishes the pure innocence of her soul and the vulnerability of her body to defilement. Nature's role in this precarious balance is shown thus :

“It was a luxuriance of aspect, a fulness of growth, which made her appear more of a woman than she really was.”

This reckless extravagance of Nature on the one hand and a poverty of means on the other place Tess in the dangerous proximity of Alec D'Urberville. He, on his part, is impelled by the same forces which make the strawberries luscious, the roses sweet-scented and Tess a woman much before her time. Still, she remains quite above his ardent advance. Significantly, this has nothing to do with any studied modesty on her part. Rather, it is an angelic purity of mind which lets her get no inkling of his thoughts.

This innocence combines with fatigue to lull her to sleep in the forest on the way back from Chaseborough. And, Alec comes to her groping through the tangled thickets of desire grown wild. This is the point from where onwards Tess is regarded as being guilty of “ritual uncleanness”. We may grant that she was a partner in-if not a party to-her own violation. We may even agree with those who see much more in Tess' staying on at The Slopes after this. But, when she does leave, her exchange with Alec tilts the balance the other way. Her self-evaluation is amazingly clear and candid when she tells him :

“My eyes were dazed by you for a little, and that was all.”

Alec dismisses her explanation with an extremely cynical retort. But, Tess' rejoinder is both passionate and eloquent :

“Did it ever strike your mind that what every woman says some women may feel.”

This remark is enough to show that physical violation has not destroyed her inner purity. But, tragically, this very inner purity ravages her with guilt at her condition. One wonders who is the purer-she who mortifies herself again and again or her mother who closes the chapter with a thick-skinned acceptance of the bitter fact.

Tess' large heartedness is quite unexpected in one so immature. Throughout the ordeal of the birth and death of her child, she manages to confine her pain within herself. Even her solitary complaint has the sweetness of a prayer about it :

“But perhaps I don't quite know the Lord as yet.”

Such patience can only be regarded as saintly. And, this is only the beginning of her tribulation. She is destined to be abandoned by the only man she ever loves and then to be yet again at the mercy of her seducer. Her torturous soul-searching about which of the two must be her husband is heartrending.

It is true that her act of murdering Alec is gruesome and shocking. In fact, it appears to be motivated purely by a desire for revenge. But, at this stage in the novel, Alec has come to symbolise the cruelty of all human desires. And, Tess symbolises the human yearning to rise above the dust and ashes of this sad state of affairs. Her death by hanging shows that purity can only be attained by killing at least half of all that is human in us.