Essay on Male Dominance in Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Tess of the d'Urbervilles is majorly recognized as one of Hardy's major works. Globally, critics have attempted to assimilate the complexities portrayed by the novel into a much critical system or have put into consideration the complications as flaws. As a result, there has developed a sense of simplicity in reading the novel. The author of this book expresses a wide array of themes ranging from fate, religion, gender inequality, society, love, superstition, death, and rural life versus industrialization. Looking at the novel's overview, Tess Durbeyfield lives in the rural village of Marlott, located in Southwest England. Tess is also from a poor background, but the father realizes that he is descended from the d'Ubervilles, one of the oldest, noblest families in England. For there to be a better understanding on the novel at hand, it is necessary to define a real split between the primary plot expressed by the author, and look into attributes motives and comments on the underlying novel. Since Hardy's conscious purpose is confused, it is essential for us to put focus an on a much first response to the story itself. As long as the novel itself stands out in the foreground and becomes the primary focus of the audience attention, the genuine and personal societal issues explored by the author are not mainly negated or lowered by the author's statement. Through this essay, I will mostly focus on the theme of love as expressed by the author. My thesis aims at locating and addressing the textual problems which have led to such responses and at a more comprehensive reading of Tess through positioning a plat between the narrator and the novel. My thesis is chiefly based on the following questions; how do the conditions at hand affect Tess as a woman? What are some of the emotional effects of alienated labor and societal change? And how dominant is the cultural ideology expressed and transmitted through the male characters and as emphasized by the author? As we'll later see, although he tries to defend Tess against the oppression from Victorian, Hardy himself fails to dos o as he is afraid to become a radical critic of his culture. The resultant tension between the novel and the narrator brings out the idea that the ideological biases are arising from anxieties from the Victorian perspectives. Therefore, it becomes a crucial factor in the understanding of a practical approach to literature as the culture. In Hardy's poems, Tess represents the regular miss who is hugely affected by the insincerity of the societal bias and the resultant inequalities of the male gender dominance. Similarly, she is a symbol of an ordinary female in a rural setting and is cruelly salvaged from in the male-dominated society. The depiction of Tess by the author brings out a worrying picture that evokes sympathy in her journey that is filled with calamities and hold-ups. This issue of male dominance over females raises eyebrows as it affects the lives of many at even global scales. The reader can understand the typical difficulties of Tess's information, but this does not stop Hardy from seeing her as an individual and thus defuse the much explosive proposal that any woman is conscious, sophisticated, and sensory. This statement is evident, mainly in the way he describes her as religious, chaste, natural, voluptuous, lovely, loving, intelligent and of global mythic stature.

Based on Hardy's poetry, it depicts him as being brave enough to write about a farm woman as if she were of great importance. Similarly, his needs to strongly justify this focus to himself as a poet results to him shying away from the real and retreat into the ideological world. A simple woman working in the field becomes the center of attraction, as depicted by the author. A young woman who is worried about the judgment of her young husband becomes a sinister Norman adulteress. The audience can understand the everyday complexities of Tess's experiences, but this does not stop Hardy from seeing her as an individual human and thus defuse the much dangerous proposition that any woman is conscious, sophisticated, and sexual. This statement is evident, mainly through the way he defines her as religious, chaste, natural, voluptuous, beautiful, loving, intelligent and of global mythic stature. These characteristics are however contradictory, unrealistic, or irrelevant. Also, they make her more acceptable and a critical victim who turns out to be worth writing about. Therefore, while the poet wants Tess to be a conscious and feeling woman with an actual existence, his labeling of her does not, in fact, allow her to be so. Like Angel, when Hardy catches a glimmer of understanding of Tess, he tends to separate himself from the situation in horror. Tess's consciousness tends to be irrelevant not only to Hardy but also Angel. This aspect, in particular, makes the novel an important and interesting one to explore. The much unconscious levels of the narrator are both a help and a hindrance when dealing with the contemporary issues of the novel. It is clear that Tess is not entirely limited by the conception that Hardy holds about her. The central message passed by the author is that Tess's actions and motives need to be distilled into some form of acceptable formula to ensure the achievement of a higher tragic status (Michie, 2007).

A woman's life is of great significance, as per the novel. The book allows the reader to have a first-hand experience on the dilemmas of the Victorian age. Likewise, the author pictures Tess as never continuous with her destiny, neither her sexual one. In this novel, it is clear how Thomas Hardy deals with the contemporary issue concerning personal and societal injustices through his use of poetic imagery and language. He further characterizes Tess as the poor girl from the upcountry and how she ends up being a victim due to the Victorian social law. Tess as a character in this novel represents the average girl who is immensely affected by the hypocrisy of the societal prejudice and the resultant inequalities of male dominance. Tess is also a symbol of an ordinary woman in a rural setting and is ruthlessly salvaged from in the male-dominated world. The depiction of Tess by the author brings out a disturbing picture that evokes sympathy in her journey that is filled with mishaps and setbacks. This issue of male dominance over females raises eyebrows as it affects the lives of many at even global scales. The listeners can understand the ordinary complexities of Tess's knowledge, but this does not stop Hardy from seeing her as a singular individual and thus defuse the much explosive proposal that any woman is aware, sophisticated, and sensual. This statement is evident, mainly in the way he describes her as religious, chaste, natural, voluptuous, lovely, loving, intelligent and of global mythic stature. These characteristics are however contradictory, unrealistic, or irrelevant. Also, they make her more acceptable and a vital victim who turns out to be worth writing about.

Over the years, the theme of male dominance and their contemporary view on women has been an issue worth discussion. The poet similarly tries to put across this item by taking the reader through the journey of the life of a young lady by the name Tess. It is essential for us to explore this issue mainly because it is an issue we experience in the society today. In this novel, Tess is portrayed as a victim of the community she currently lives in. As a woman, Tess is at a disadvantage chiefly due to her gender, and also due to the environment of patriarchal society present at the moment. More specifically, the aspect of male dominance and its subsequent female oppression takes the reader's attention through this book. In one of Hardy's poems, he straightforwardly applies the choice of diction mainly to imply Tess' sexual passiveness. According to the author, Tess is not sexually ready' and is specifically not ready for Alec's progressions. The strawberry, in this case, is a metaphorical expression of the sexuality of Tess. Likewise, Hardy makes it quite clear that Tess, his female protagonist, is not adverse in expressing her desire. Based on this context, we can conclude that in the Victorian female society, sexuality was suppressed and pictured to be vulgar and dirty. The general picture painted of Tess and the community she lives intends to ruin her self-conscious (Hooti, 2011).

As earlier mentioned in the introduction, this essay tends to explain the situation of the role of women I the patriarchal society that was ruled and dominated by men. Presently, the community we live in is no much difference as that portrayed by Hardy in his poetic works. The Victorian woman sacrifices herself on a daily basis for her family. The notion created by the author is that the average woman's role was centered on the house. The average woman is expected to preserve a higher value of self-morals and to guide her family's actions. The Hardy's character has a vast bulk of loving and understanding the nature of human beings. In the case of Alec, she discovers that physical aspect of beauty can be a heft and not a blessing gave by God. She is expressed as a beautiful object' that Alec wants to add to his collection. He is not in love with the poor girl, he is involved by her appearance and is the object of his influential sexually wishes. The wicked inhabitant of the d'Urbervilles hall, the enduringly smoking Alec, offers her the beautiful roses and the fresh strawberries. He does this, actually, in a unique way; he puts the strawberries directly into Tess's mouth and presses the roses onto her breasts (Carroll, 2001). The reader identifies that Alec is haunting Tess bodily as well as mentally, he acts as her oppressor, who is gifted by the highest power of plummeting her not only into tears but, more prominently, into a state of consciousness.' Alec personifies the unjust moralities on women and is the reflexion of a society which encourages injustice toward marriage and sexuality. Even though she was oppressed morally and assaulted, the protagonist is the only guilty and has to pay for her faults. Tess finds it difficult to survive in a patriarchal culture which only accepts man's mistakes and condemns women to have a pure conduct and a sacrificial victim life.

In the society we live in, some individuals are born to suffer, the world has strange strategies for them. They can fight in contradiction of the destiny, but that is a short while, with no victory. Hardy uses a fatalistic expression to state the way purpose functions: It was to be!' but he rejects the idea that progenies are punished for the mistakes of their descendants is scorned by average human nature.' When Tess's mother presents her daughter the idea of getting Alec to marry her, the heroine is affronted: She had dreaded him, winced before him, yielded to skilful advantages he took of her helplessness; then, temporarily blinded by his ardent manners, had been stirred to confused surrender awhile, had abruptly despised and disliked him, and had run away. That was all.' The Victorian society is cruel to the girl who can't do anything to alter her fate and has to encounter the social denunciation. She is seen now as a depraved woman and an offender who must be disciplined.

In conclusion, women were seen through men's eyes. They were the most significant characters in the domestic spectrum, the life surrounding family being more than sufficient for their achievement of emotional suitability. The home-based was realized as a heaven, a refuge from the messy world of business and government operations, a place similar to the haven, in which men found love from their wives and broods. The representation of Tess by the author brings out a worrying picture that evokes understanding in her jo...