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English Literature   >   Hardy: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Victorians, Hardy and Fallen Women

 
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Hardy: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

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”.

Victorians, Hardy and Fallen Women

In this module, we think about an aspect of later nineteenth-century society that would have impacted how the original audience would have reacted to Tess of the D’Urbervilles—female sexuality.

Cite this Lecture

APA style

Hewitt, K. (2018, August 15). Hardy: Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Victorians, Hardy and Fallen Women [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/hardy-tess-of-the-d-urbervilles/victorians-hardy-and-fallen-women

MLA style

Hewitt, K. "Hardy: Tess of the D'Urbervilles – Victorians, Hardy and Fallen Women." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 15 Aug 2018, https://massolit.io/courses/hardy-tess-of-the-d-urbervilles/victorians-hardy-and-fallen-women

Lecturer

Mrs Karen Hewitt

Mrs Karen Hewitt

University of Oxford