Ch18

Question 1

Quote showing Angel’s outlook on Christianity

Answer 1

I love the church as one loves a parent

Question 2

Significance of “I love the church as one loves a parent”

Answer 2

-Reflects Hardy’s own view on organised religion
-Suggests Angel’s familial loyalty to the church,not unwavering obedience
-Feels separated from rigid strict doctrines yet rejects Tess on strict moral expectations

Question 3

Quote showing an idealisation of Tess

Answer 3

What a fresh and virginal daughter of nature that milkmaid is

Question 4

Significance of “what a fresh and virginial daughter of nature that milkmaid is”

Answer 4

-Angel’s idealisation of Tess romanticising her as a pure innocent untouched woman and a symbol of purity
-Daughter of nature represents her deep alignment with nature emphasising her natural innocence and goodness contrasting with the corrupt society
-Virginial shows how important sexual purity was in Victorian society setting up tragic irony as his love is based on a false assumption

Question 5

Quote showing Tess viewed as a simple girl by Angel

Answer 5

“Daughter of the soil”

Question 6

Analysis of “daughter of the soil”

Answer 6

-Natural innocence,Shows how her identity is rooted in the rhythms of nature,she is tied to farming,seasons,fertility and survival
-Victim of forces beyond her control,Linking her so closely to the earth he shows how she is subject to natural forces
-Critique of society,Uses her earthy connotations to criticise the norms that punish women as the changing society cannot accommodate her natural instinctive goodness
-She also represents a vanishing rural England