Book Anatomy · Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: Theme and motif
12 lenses on theme and motif for Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6 J7 J8 J9 J10 J11 J12
J1. Where is the theme first stated, and by whom? AI
Theme of worthiness despite past stated implicitly from chapter 12 onward through Tess's self-condemnation. Explicitly addressed in chapter 34 when Angel cannot forgive her past. The book asks: can a person be redeemed by character alone?
Chapters: Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 34
THY, DAMNATION, SLUMBERETH, NOT. 2 Pet. ii. 3. (Ch 12, para 51)
But so far was she from being, in the words of Robert South, “in love with her own ruin,” that the illusion was transient as lightning (Ch 13, para 6)
She had been made to break an accepted social law, but no law known to the environment in which she fancied herself such an anomaly. (Ch 13, para 15)
J2. The theme question, and how each subplot answers it. AI
Main question: Is Tess worthy of love and happiness despite her past? Alec's subplot says no, using her past to control her. Angel's subplot says yes, then no, then yes again too late. Tess herself says no throughout.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 34, Ch 40, Ch 57
But the essence of things had changed. (Ch 35, para 2)
She is spotless!” he replied; and felt that if it had sent him to eternal hell there and then he would have told that lie. (Ch 39, para 47)
What arrested him now as of value in life was less its beauty than its pathos. Having long discredited the old systems of mysticism, he now began to discredit the old appraisements of morality (Ch 49, para 9)
J3. Motif tracker: recurring images by chapter. Both
Fallen nobility and false kinship, Tess's beauty and its danger, Concealment and confession. See the full lens on the book page.
J4. Symbols, and how their meaning shifts. AI
The d'Urberville name shifts from source of hope (chapter 1) to irrelevant (chapter 15) to dangerous (chapter 30). Stonehenge shifts from ancient monument to place of peace to place of arrest. The carving knife shifts from kitchen tool to instrument of justice.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 15, Ch 30, Ch 58
Don’t you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d’Urbervilles (Ch 1, para 11)
I—I—am not a Durbeyfield, but a d’Urberville—a descendant of the same family as those that owned the old house we passed. And—we are all gone to nothing! (Ch 30, para 41)
It is Stonehenge!” said Clare. (Ch 58, para 28)
J5. Theme words and their frequency over the book. Count
Theme words and how often they come in each tenth of the book.
| Word | Total | By tenth |
|---|---|---|
| love | 207 | 5 22 4 21 47 34 21 19 17 17 |
| past | 71 | 8 5 10 9 8 8 8 7 6 2 |
| nature | 67 | 3 6 10 9 14 9 8 4 3 1 |
| fallen | 15 | 3 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 1 3 |
| ruin | 11 | 2 2 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 2 |
| shame | 10 | 1 1 2 0 1 2 1 1 1 0 |
| worthy | 8 | 0 0 1 1 3 1 1 1 0 0 |
| fate | 7 | 2 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 |
| innocence | 5 | 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 |
| justice | 5 | 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 |
J6. The moral argument: who stands for which side? AI
Tess stands for innocence and natural goodness. Angel stands for idealism that cannot forgive human weakness. Alec stands for predatory power. Society stands against all three, condemning Tess for circumstances beyond her control.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 34, Ch 46, Ch 59
What a fresh and virginal daughter of Nature that milkmaid is!” he said to himself (Ch 18, para 49)
But the essence of things had changed. (Ch 35, para 2)
Remember, my lady, I was your master once! I will be your master again. If you are any man’s wife you are mine! (Ch 47, para 54)
J7. The title: its meaning and echoes in the text. Both
How often the key words of the title appear in the text.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| Tess | 897 |
| d'Urbervilles | 0 |
Title names Tess and her ancestry. 'D'Urbervilles' is false claim that haunts her. The book argues that noble birth means nothing; character is all. Yet Tess is executed despite her character, suggesting the title is ironic.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 30, Ch 59
Don’t you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d’Urbervilles (Ch 1, para 11)
You don’t live anywhere. You are extinct—as a county family. (Ch 1, para 20)
I—I—am not a Durbeyfield, but a d’Urberville—a descendant of the same family as those that owned the old house we passed. And—we are all gone to nothing! (Ch 30, para 41)
J8. Epigraphs, allusions and borrowed texts. Both
Books and writers named in the text: Gospel (3), Bible (3), Scripture (3), Milton (1). (rough estimate from word lists)
Biblical allusions frequent: Adam and Eve (chapter 20), virtuous woman (chapter 39), damnation texts (chapter 12). Street preacher's condemnation echoes Puritan judgment. Final line references Aeschylus on fate. No formal epigraphs.
Chapters: Ch 12, Ch 20, Ch 26, Ch 39
THY, DAMNATION, SLUMBERETH, NOT. 2 Pet. ii. 3. (Ch 12, para 51)
I should prefer not to take Orders. I fear I could not conscientiously do so. I love the Church as one loves a parent (Ch 18, para 19)
The spectral, half-compounded, aqueous light which pervaded the open mead impressed them with a feeling of isolation, as if they were Adam and Eve (Ch 20, para 8)
J9. Opening image against final image. AI
Opening: Durbeyfield learns he is descended from knights but owns nothing. Final: Tess is executed; Angel and Liza-Lu watch the black flag rise. Both images show that ancestry and social position mean nothing against fate and law.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 59
Don’t you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d’Urbervilles (Ch 1, para 11)
You don’t live anywhere. You are extinct—as a county family. (Ch 1, para 20)
A few minutes after the hour had struck something moved slowly up the staff, and extended itself upon the breeze. It was a black flag. (Ch 59, para 7)
J10. Pairs and contrasts, such as light and dark. Both
Counts of each side of the main contrasts.
| Pair | First word | Second word |
|---|---|---|
| innocence / shame | 5 | 9 |
| love / rejection | 125 | 0 |
| hope / despair | 42 | 7 |
| light / darkness | 89 | 16 |
Light and dark recur: dawn mist at Talbothays (hope), darkness in The Chase (violation), night walks in shame (isolation), Stonehenge at dawn (peace), black flag at execution (death). Purity and stain: Tess's whiteness contrasts with her shame.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 13, Ch 20, Ch 58, Ch 59
She was a fine and handsome girl—not handsomer than some others, possibly—but her mobile peony mouth and large innocent eyes added eloquence to colour and shape. (Ch 2, para 14)
She knew how to hit to a hair’s-breadth that moment of evening when the light and the darkness are so evenly balanced that the constraint of day and the suspense of night neutralize each other, leaving absolute mental liberty. (Ch 13, para 13)
Minute diamonds of moisture from the mist hung, too, upon Tess’s eyelashes, and drops upon her hair, like seed pearls (Ch 20, para 15)
J11. Core values at stake: life, love, justice, truth. AI
Life: Tess's execution ends the book. Love: Angel and Tess's love cannot survive truth. Justice: Tess is hanged for murder while Alec's seduction goes unpunished. Truth: Tess's confession destroys her marriage. All values are tested and found wanting.
Chapters: Ch 34, Ch 56, Ch 57, Ch 59
But the essence of things had changed. (Ch 35, para 2)
She is spotless!” he replied; and felt that if it had sent him to eternal hell there and then he would have told that lie. (Ch 39, para 47)
What arrested him now as of value in life was less its beauty than its pathos. Having long discredited the old systems of mysticism, he now began to discredit the old appraisements of morality (Ch 49, para 9)
J12. What the book leaves open on purpose. AI
Book leaves open whether Tess's execution is just. Whether Angel truly forgives her before her death. Whether her child's death was mercy or cruelty. Whether society's judgment of her was fair. The ending offers no moral resolution.
Chapters: Ch 59
A few minutes after the hour had struck something moved slowly up the staff, and extended itself upon the breeze. It was a black flag. (Ch 59, para 7)
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