Thomas Hardy's Goddess: A Mythological Reading of "Tess of the d'Urbervilles"

Abstract

This essay strives to make a re-definition of Thomas Hardy's classic heroine Tess, from "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", an archetypal example of a fallen woman. The fallen woman was a phenomenon of Victorian culture, a puritan way of keeping young girls from losing their morals, but Hardy's Tess is more than a warning example, she is a strong woman who is more reminiscent of the female divinities of Greek mythology. It is with this perspective that I have analyzed the novel and its protagonist in my essay, attempting to shed a new light on this mastrerpiece of late 19th century literature.