3. Is There Life After Sixteen?

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the presentation of Tess in the years after her encounter with Alec, and how Hardy refuses simply to write her off as a ‘fallen woman’, as may have been demanded by Victorian society of the late nineteenth century. In particular, we think about Hardy’s presentation of Tess’s happiness in the Froom Valley, her oneness with nature, and her first meeting with her future husband, Angel Clare.

Course

In this course, Ms Karen Hewitt (University of Oxford) explores Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. As we move through the course, we think about the social context of the novel—particularly Victorian ideas about female sexuality—and the ways in which Hardy approached, evaded and dealt with these problems in his early portrayal of Tess. After that, we think about Hardy’s poetic imagery, the way he sees the world, his attitudes to nature and man’s impact on the world around him, before ending with religion and the meaning of life—particularly the response of Tess and those around her of what Tess calls “the ache of modernism”.

Lecturer

A tutor in Literature at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. Karen Hewitt MA, MBE (Oxon) teaches regularly at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, and also in Russian universities. She has written books and edited anthologies on English Literature including Understanding English Literature.