Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Classics)
A heartbreaking portrayal of a woman faced by an impossible choice in the pursuit of happiness
When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, subtitled "A Pure Woman," is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.
Based on the three-volume first edition that shocked readers when first published in 1891, this edition includes as appendices: Hardy's Prefaces, the Landscapes of Tess, episodes originally censored from the Graphic periodical version, and a selection of the Graphic illustrations.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Community Reviews
Re-read for first time since undergrad (2004).
Really tragic tale. I didn't enjoy it as much this time around, but not because of the tragic aspects. I got a little fixated on the improbable coincidences this time around - I realize they are supposed to indicate something about Tess' powerlessness at the hands of Fate. But I also spent a fair amount of time being frustrated by her poor decision making - specifically not telling people things that would probably solve her problems, or at least have a chance of doing so. I think the Fate/Doom angle works better when people make good decisions but get trapped any way. Instead, she tends to spend several pages bemoaning or in some cases going back and forth about painful situations and decisions, then makes a wrong choice and bad luck ends up knocking her down.
And as always with Victorian novels, they just spend too long on things. There is a lot of melodrama and cooing about love or lamenting hardship and I just have read too much Hemingway, McCarthy, and just regular contemporary fiction to find that stuff entertaining. It is more bearable when it is in dialogue, when characters are acting in some way, because you still get the feeling of things moving along, but when it's just pages of description of a character's extreme emotions that really just amount to saying the same thing over and over - it's just a slog.
It's also strange as a reader in a contemporary setting reading a criticism of Victorian morality. I found this more interesting in my 20s because I was learning as much about the historical context as I was about the story itself. But now that I know all that context, I don't get the same value re-reading those parts. Having double standards around sexual promiscuity is infuriating - I and 90% of my fellow Western readers have already concluded that. So reading an example - I should say the 50th example or 100th - and expository condemnation and opining by Hardy as narrator just isn't as interesting now that you already have all those facts and ideas under your belt.
But if you just ignore all the Victorian stylistic trappings and try to focus on the drama of the situation and the tragedy of the character, there's a great story and a great character. And Hardy does have some moments of great prose - even a few that I find reminiscent of McCarthy or Faulkner - and nice phrases. There's also some light symbolism to appreciate.
Really tragic tale. I didn't enjoy it as much this time around, but not because of the tragic aspects. I got a little fixated on the improbable coincidences this time around - I realize they are supposed to indicate something about Tess' powerlessness at the hands of Fate. But I also spent a fair amount of time being frustrated by her poor decision making - specifically not telling people things that would probably solve her problems, or at least have a chance of doing so. I think the Fate/Doom angle works better when people make good decisions but get trapped any way. Instead, she tends to spend several pages bemoaning or in some cases going back and forth about painful situations and decisions, then makes a wrong choice and bad luck ends up knocking her down.
And as always with Victorian novels, they just spend too long on things. There is a lot of melodrama and cooing about love or lamenting hardship and I just have read too much Hemingway, McCarthy, and just regular contemporary fiction to find that stuff entertaining. It is more bearable when it is in dialogue, when characters are acting in some way, because you still get the feeling of things moving along, but when it's just pages of description of a character's extreme emotions that really just amount to saying the same thing over and over - it's just a slog.
It's also strange as a reader in a contemporary setting reading a criticism of Victorian morality. I found this more interesting in my 20s because I was learning as much about the historical context as I was about the story itself. But now that I know all that context, I don't get the same value re-reading those parts. Having double standards around sexual promiscuity is infuriating - I and 90% of my fellow Western readers have already concluded that. So reading an example - I should say the 50th example or 100th - and expository condemnation and opining by Hardy as narrator just isn't as interesting now that you already have all those facts and ideas under your belt.
But if you just ignore all the Victorian stylistic trappings and try to focus on the drama of the situation and the tragedy of the character, there's a great story and a great character. And Hardy does have some moments of great prose - even a few that I find reminiscent of McCarthy or Faulkner - and nice phrases. There's also some light symbolism to appreciate.
I found Hardy's societal critique to be very poignant in the day and age we live in as women continue to be suppressed, used and treated as inferior to men. The presentation of double standards in society and the effects of class still carry a great weight today and I believe it to be a great eye-opener to the societal injustice that is still prevelant.
A tragic masterpiece of Victorian literature, of poetic cruelty.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy is a novel of heartbreaking beauty and profound despair. Hardy sculpts the character of Tess Durbeyfield with such empathy and psychological precision as to make her one of the most memorable and suffering heroines in literature. The prose is lyrical, especially in the descriptions of the English countryside (Wessex), which becomes a mirror for the protagonist's inner turmoil. The book is a critical fury against the social hypocrisy, sexual double standards, and blind fatalism of the Victorian era. Tess is a victim of men, of circumstances, and of a fate that seems to conspire against her from the very first page. Her tragedy is rendered with a realism that leaves no escape. It is a necessary, magnificently written, but emotionally devastating read.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy is a novel of heartbreaking beauty and profound despair. Hardy sculpts the character of Tess Durbeyfield with such empathy and psychological precision as to make her one of the most memorable and suffering heroines in literature. The prose is lyrical, especially in the descriptions of the English countryside (Wessex), which becomes a mirror for the protagonist's inner turmoil. The book is a critical fury against the social hypocrisy, sexual double standards, and blind fatalism of the Victorian era. Tess is a victim of men, of circumstances, and of a fate that seems to conspire against her from the very first page. Her tragedy is rendered with a realism that leaves no escape. It is a necessary, magnificently written, but emotionally devastating read.
One of the defining books of that time along with dollhouse and the awakening among other things this is the book that Ivory read a few times since being asked to read it in high school. I went to an old girls school and it was nice to have books focused on on women Weight Tessa’s story was. However, now in 2025 I don’t know if it’s because I’m older now or if it’s because the times of finally changed thank God. It was how much harder to read this time. I love this book in high school but now it’s like the hypocrisy which is why is such an important book is just a little bit too much to deal with now after the me two culture and the double standard and just being fed up with a double standard we went today even though we have got a long way to go sure a lot better off than the women of 130 years agoI used talk to text for this review.
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