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Thomas Ryan

Ms. Winter

British Literature, Period 1

10 May 2017

Woman Throughout the Victorian Era

The role of women throughout time has always been a controversial topic, whether it be

the 1920s, the 2000s, or the Victorian era. A novel that encompasses the idea of the role of

woman would be Tess of the DUrbervilles by Thomas Hardy published in 1891. Tess of the

DUrbervilles is about a girl named Tess who is trying to find her way and rightful place within

society. She goes through a lot of traumatizing events that start when she is young and continue

throughout her entire life, some of these events include her getting raped, her husband leaving

her, the killing of a man, and in the end her death. All of these events for the Victorian time

period were seen as very revolutionary for a woman to be doing, women were supposed to be

people of the house, and were seen as the property of men, not seen as being individual human

beings. The challenging of the role of woman has always been a revolutionary topic throughout

time. In the novel, Tess of the DUrbervilles Tess embodies and brings up change for the future

of the roles of women. Tess challenges the role of women as seen in this period by not letting a

man dictate her life, by dressing and physically changing her appearance, and by not letting

herself be an object to a man.

Tess is seen as a very strong and independent woman throughout the novel, and this helps to

portray her as a very outgoing, yet smart woman who does not let men control her output on life.

Tess showcases a lot of her traits throughout the story especially when times are tough within the
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novel. A critic of the novel says, As a woman, she becomes a physical boundary marker set at

the margins of sexual maturity, of respectability, and of death (Higonnet). Tess pushes the

physical boundary marker for the time period because she is in a sense acting more like a man

than most men. This challenges that everyday model of a woman because back in the Victorian

time period they were seen as objects or more or less a sense of social status for men. Although

Tess does push the boundaries of the role of a woman for this time period, she also lays back a

little so that men don't find her overpowering, instead she lets the men take control, she does

speak up, men try to silence her. Despite his sympathy for her, the young Vicar exclaims, "Don't

talk so rashly" (14.124). At other moments, men silence her by rejecting her words or

interpreting them through stereotypical codes (Higonnet). Tess not being so upfront and harsh

to men gives off a subtle yet very intuitive idea of how she should be treated. Tess does not let

those who discourage free thought because they "may have causes to advance, privileges to

guard, traditions to keep going (Franke). Tess is strong and independent and she just wants to be

treated better than the average peasant women. Tess does not let any man run her life, throughout

the story she would always do what was best for her, even when Alec told her that her entire

family could move on to his farm and he could send her brothers to school, she decided against it

because she did not believe it was the right thing to do. Tess wanted to do what was best for her

family and take them to, Kingsbere. [where they] have taken rooms there and be able to work

and live (Hardy). Here the reader can see that although Alec offered her everything and

everything that her family could ask for she did not want to take handouts from a man. Thomas

Hardy's portrayal of the way that Tess is treated, shows the difference in eras, nowadays if

anybody were ever to be in trouble they would just call the cops, but back then they didn't have
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that they would just have to deal with it or try and find a way around it but as a woman that was

nearly impossible. Women were not believed in during this time, people would trust a man's

word over what women had to say, even if she is right. Tess truly embodies the idea of not

letting a man dictate her life, and throughout the story she really shows and portrays this, making

her a very strong and individualistic woman, who has a lot of power and subtly uses it.

Tess throughout the novel also makes the decisions that she sees as best fit for her and some of

these decisions revolve around her feminine appeal towards men. Throughout the story Tess

always dresses differently for the different occasion, sometimes the way that she dresses reflects

what she wants, or what is about to happen in the story. When Tess has agreed to marry Angel,

Angel decides, it is a necessity to provide her with a wardrobe that will be appropriate for her

new life as a gentleman farmer's wife; Tess does not think beyond the wedding, wondering if her

best white muslin frock will do for that or if she ought to buy a new one (Gatrell). The reader

can see that both Angel and Tess think it is appropriate to dress well for their wedding, some

may think that this is because they're trying to please each other, and look well for the day.

However, Tess is not changed by the clothing Angel decides to get her she actually invests

angels gift with the personality of the donor--as, for instance, when, at the extremity of her

need, she decides to walk from Flintcomb Ash to Emminster, to make herself known to Angel's

parents. It is characteristic of her that she lets Marian and Izz shape her appearance (Gatrell).

The wearing of different garments showcases Tesss use of strategy in getting what she wants.

Tess uses her femininity to persuade others even though sometimes she does not want to, she

knows it's a lot easier to get her way when she does. Tess displays the Victorian time period

really thoroughly in the way she dresses and appears in each of the scenes. When Tess wants
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something she dresses very pronounced in the top of the line so that when either Angel or Alec

sees her they end up falling for her more easily. Woman in this time period really had to think

out what they wanted to do very thoroughly, before the woman writer can journey through the

looking glass toward a literary autonomy...she must come to terms with the images on the

surface of the glass with that is the Mythic masks male artist have fastened over her human face

(Gilbert). This statement is very powerful for the time period, and it really shows that to be a

woman, one either had to go with the flow or one had to find a way out but the way out had to be

subtle otherwise it wouldnt work, as men would not tolerate it. Tess really does this well and

subtly but yet efficiently contrasts the views of being a peasant woman in the normal Victorian

time period.

Lastly, Tess does not let herself ever just be a bystander, she is always in the action and makes

sure that she gets her way, she does not just let herself be an object to men of the Victorian era.

Throughout the novel, Tess, an essentially good and natural character is destroyed by the

combined powers of society and circumstance. That the primitivistic, anthropological ambiance

of Tess is more concentrated on the protagonist and is made more a matter of analogy than

allusion (Carpenter). Tess ends up being killed at the end of the novel but, this is seen as a

positive ending for test her whole life was filled with these horrible events. It started off with her

horse dying, then her getting raped, then her son dying, and then her father dying. Death seem to

be the only option for Tess, it is the best outcome for her, she had completed her so-called

mission which was to help improve the role of women, or to at least make a difference for the

future of women. The ideas about women were also displayed throughout the time period very
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shyly but yet they stilled played a very prominent role in society in paintings, and throughout

poetry.

(Honor-Victorin)

This is a Victorian Image that shows the comedy of knights and chivalry, this painting pokes fun

at the male leader role, it shows that man aren't always meant to be in charge, as this painting is

identified as charging at a flock of sheep. This is comical because in the picture those are both

two knights who are someone that people look up to, however, they are running at a flock of

sheep, showing that the ones someone may idle are not always what and who they are seen as.

Throughout the Victorian time period, the role of women was also seen in poetry. In the lady of

shallot, The lady is above Camelot, four gray walls and four a great towers/ overlook and space

of flowers/ and the silent isle imbowers/ the lady of shallot (Arnold). In this poem the lady of

shallot is above the entire city and she can't look down at the city or he will die, but she can see

through the reflection of a mirror. Showcasing the ideology towards women and how they were

seen as an object, and not as another human being, one that is equal to men. The lady of Shallot

has a lot of relation to Tess, because in the story Alec sees Tess as an object on a wall and Angel

sees her as this beautiful girl who wants to marry but yet still treats her so she is an object when

he finds out about her past. This mentality portrays the overall feeling in negativity towards
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women at this time period, as they were seen very secondary to men, and did not nearly have as

many rights as men had.

Overall, throughout the novel Tess of the DUrbervilles, The role of being a woman is really

challenged and put to the test for this Victorian time period. Tess displays the way that she

challenges the woman ideas of this time period by not always following the male role model in

her life, to making the best decisions for her future and not anyone else's besides the people that

she loves, and through the way she dresses to help push the men in her life to get what she really

wants, which is just a better control over the situation, and a better control over her future

whether it be by herself or with a man. This Victorian novel helps to better society then as it does

now, and showcases how humans can sometimes put down others just to raise themselves up

when in reality everyone should be raising each other up so that everyone is more productive and

happier all around.

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Works Cited

Arnold, Matthew. Dover Beach. Class poetry worksheet. El Dorado High School. Placerville,

CA. 6 April 2017. Print.

Carpenter, Richard. "Tess of the d'Urbervilles." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, edited by

Janet Witalec, vol. 143, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center,

go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH142005

5749&it=r&asid=82126258b4c6cc0509e1b502d2dc6571. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

Originally published in Thomas Hardy, Twayne Publishers, 1964, pp. 124-138.

Franke, Damon. "Hardy's Ur-Priestess and the Phases of a Novel." Twentieth-Century Literary

Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 229, Gale,

2010. Literature Resource Center,

go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH142009

6929&it=r&asid=104bb24446c94c30ce732e11cdf924f4. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

Originally published in Studies in the Novel, vol. 39, no. 2, Summer 2007, pp. 161-176.

Gatrell, Simon. "Dress, Body, and Psyche in 'The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid,' Tess of

the d'Urbervilles, and The Mayor of Casterbridge." Short Story Criticism, edited by

Jelena Krstovic, vol. 113, Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center,

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4091&it=r&asid=97975f1f6d2e7e54525cf0bc10e2b62d. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

Originally published in Thomas Hardy Journal, vol. 22, Autumn 2006, pp. 143-158.
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Gilbert, Sandra, and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic. Literary Theory: An

Anthology, 2nd ed., Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Malden, MA, 1998, pp. 597611.

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Penguin Group, 1980. Print.

Higonnet, Margaret R. "A Woman's Story: Tess and the Problem of Voice." Twentieth-Century

Literary Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 229,

Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center,

go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=eldorado&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH142009

6922&it=r&asid=d430551fdb111262e9e5dd80bbae4605. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

Originally published in The Sense of Sex: Feminist Perspectives on Hardy, edited by

Margaret R. Higonnet, University of Illinois Press, 1993, pp. 14-31.

Honor-Victorin Daumier. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. 1808. The National Gallery,

Trafalgar Square, London

<https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/honore-victorin-daumier-don-quixote-and-

sancho-panza>. Accessed 27 April 2017.