Tess Flashcards
How does Hardy construct Tess?
A ‘pure woman faithfully depicted’
- she is a virtuous character evident from the beginning of the text
Why should Tess be deserving of happiness?
Her constant depiction as being ‘pure’ and ‘white’
- Hardy’s absolute woman
- perceived lack of fault
How does Hardy convey Tess’ downfall?
As the fault of others
- Tess’s family’s attempts to advance their social standing by sending Tess to claim kin with Alec
- results in sorrow
What is sorrow arguably?!
A physical manifestation of Tess’ pain and a barrier to her moving on from her experience with Alec as she can never relive her guilty
Bronte about Catherine not being able to achieve happiness
Burden of expectation as the barrier between her and solace
Quote about Cathy being in love with Heathcliff
‘The eternal rocks beneath’
‘I am Heathcliff’
‘More myself than I’ and that ‘I am Heathcliff’
Bronte places clear focus on Cathy’s identity with the use of anaphoric of the first-person personal pronoun ‘I’ signifying Cathy is dependent on the men around her to express identity
Achknowledgement that
‘It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff’ - expression which highlights the distinctions of Victorian social class which divide the two and prevent them from achieving happiness
What dictates Cathy
Patriarchal ideology
- woman of the gentry encouraged to marry Edgar
- integrate into civilised society
Why is Cathy’s happiness doomed?
She lives Heathcliff as the ‘eternal rocks’
- unable to move
- social restrictions
