Tess of the d'Urbervilles

13 Pages 3297 Words

them would have escaped their eventual tragic end.
In fact, almost every chance that Tess takes and every coincidence she encounters brings her sorrow in the long run. For example, she took a chance to aid her parents by going to the market for them, but she ended up killing the family’s horse. Her desire to atone for her mishap sends her to her fatal position at the d’Urbervilles. In her desire to escape from a group of vulgar women, she is thrown coincidentally into the clutches of Alec d’Urberville. Subsequently, she is raped, becomes pregnant, and her baby dies of cold and hunger, because she, for the sake of honor, refuses to take another ‘chance’ with Alec, by refusing the aid he offers. Later, her marriage with Angel Clare is wrecked because by her code of honor she must take a ‘chance’ and tell him of her affair or seduction with Alec. What a different story this would have been if Angel had not caught sight of the d’Urberville lady outside Tess’s chamber. If Tess had not overheard the conversation of Angel’...