In your test on phases one through four, you were asked to answer the following question:
"Hardy’s mostly unmentioned subtitle, “A Pure Woman,” raises the question of Victorian ethics. Critic, and teacher, Andrew H. Miller believes nineteenth-century literature was a “response to a crisis of human purpose” and that the Victorian age was one "destitute of faith, but terrified by skepticism." (Victorian Studes, 5). Hardy could be seen as challenging the Victorian quest for faith of purpose and adding his own sense of skepticism. Therefore, his audience would have questioned his use of the word “pure” to describe Tess. What is your view? Is Tess a “pure” woman?"
Comment here on your ideas from that essay. Share your ideas and comment on each other's views in a polite and professional manner.
Purity is goodness, Tess is pure because she tries to be good. She first tries to be good when she baptizes her baby. She tried to save Benjamin's soul. Tess then tries to be good when she refuses Angel. She tries to save him from an association with her and therefore her sin.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Tess is not a pure woman, she is only pure in her intensions and not her actions. For example when Tess falls in love with Angel she is not pure in the relationship. Being pure means being true and Tess is not truthful with him about her past. "I am so anxious to talk to you. I want to confess all my faults and blunders" (page 166) She wants to, and intends to yet every time she stops, or runs away. She allows Angel to discourage her from telling him even though she knows it is wrong. This dishonesty is the impurity that leads to the failure of her marriage. She also isn't pure because she is no longer a virgin. Tess never intended to have sex with Alec, she was tired and distraught. Yet, even though she didn't intend to Alec took her purity and she didn't put up a fight to hold on to it. Though Tess always has the "right" intensions she is too meek and is overcome with temptation and selfishness. These qualities make full of impurities.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Tess is a pure woman. I think this because her intentions are pure and good. She did not ask for her virginity to be taken away. It was done without her consent. She regrets what happened and therefore, her mind is pure which in my opinion, makes her a pure person. It is because "this incident had turned the scale for her." She was ashmaed and was afraid to be rejected by society. Tess had good intentions. She is not a bad person, but simply a person who had a bad thing happen to her. She has no control over what happened to her, it was not her choice, but it seemed to be fated for her. From this event, Tess seeks ways to recieve forgiveness. She prays and confesses while looking for forgiveness from Angel. She is pure at heart, she has good intentions and is a good person. Her virginity may of been taken from her, but all other parts of her soul and heart are truely pure.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Tess is a pure woman because she has good intentions, is honest, and always tries to do the right thing. Despite the unfortunate situations she is involved in, Tess remains pure. After the rape and the baby, Tess feels guilty. When Angel falls in love with her, she thinks that she does not deserve to be happy, unless he knows the truth. Once confessing her past, Tess feels as if her conscience has been "purified", and she is now "allowed" to be happily married to Angel. Tess is therefore pure through her honesty. Tess is also pure when it comes to how she tries to take care of her family. The reason she goes to the D'Urberville's in the first place is to "claim kin" to benefit her family, by being related to a noble family. The only reason Tess leaves home is so her family's ancestry is known. Tess is prepared to marry Alec to help her family, even if she does not love him, proving she is pure by sacrificing her own happiness. Through her honesty and caring nature even after unfortunate events, Tess Durbeyfield is a pure woman.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above, Tess' actions are what make her a pure woman, not her sexual history.
ReplyDeleteTess is a pure women because in this book purity seems to be defined as naiveness. In the beginning of the book Tess was considered "pure" because she was naive and didn't know what was wrong with the world. She hadn't had sex, but she was also naive about the dangers of the world. Then, after her encounter with Alec she is considered "impure" through society because she had lost her virignity but I don't think that is fair. The only reason Tess did not struggle free from Alec is because she was taught by society and her family not to disrespect a man and Tess was afraid of what might happen if she refused Alec. It is not Tess's fault that Alec had sex with her because she did not know how to handle it because of the way she was taught. So therefore, Tess to me is even more pure at the end than the beginning because Tess now knows what true love is and what it isn't, she knows what her feelings tell her and how to act now with less naiveness about the world.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of someone who is "pure" has changed quite a bit since the time period when this book was written. In Victorian time, only woman who were still virgins were considered "pure". When Tess is apparently raped by Alec, the question arises if Tess has still maintained her purity. It is my belief that, even though she did indeed loose her virginity and become pregnant through Alec, she should still be considered a "pure" woman.
ReplyDeletePurity is more than just remaining sexually pure. For me, purity involves your thoughts and actions also. Tess is pure in her thoughts because of her focus on religion after the rape. This demonstrates Tess's guilt and her want to be pure in thought. Through her actions, Tess is equally pure b/c she chooses not to act upon her own needs, choosing to first focus on the needs of others. This is shown when Tess baptizes her baby, and when she takes on responsibilities for her family.
ReplyDeleteI think that Tess is still a pure woman, she is true to her heart and society is what's labeling her as a whore and/or seductress. Tess didn't ask for what happened to her and I am sure most women would agree that rape is not something they would want to happen to them. We don't say that rape victams are unpure so we shouldn't do so for Tess.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Tess's intentions are pure, I still believe she is not a pure woman. All of the events leading up to the so-called "rape" scene imply that Tess is allowing it to happen. She keeps her thoughts and feelings very sheltered until the end of Phase Four when she confesses her past to Angel Clare. In this way, I think she is being selfish and looking out for only herself. It is implied that she is affected deeply by what society thinks of her, but never does anything to solve that problem. Instead, she runs away. After she meets someone brand new, she ends up trapping him in marriage because her past is kept hidden and divorce is illegal in this time period. All of her actions are committed out of shame, even though she may have thought she was helping others.
ReplyDeleteOne may argue that the definition of "pure" has changed a great amount, but in her time period, she is unpure as a woman can be. In today's society, her actions in response to what happened to her and the events that occurred in her life would be taken into a completely different perspective.
I believe that Tess is a pure woman because she was not a seductress and did not try to get Alec to like her. She even tried to stay away from him as much as possible and had been taken advantaged of when she lost her virginity. Tess is also pure because she so greatly regretted what she allowed to happen to her and only wants forgiveness for her mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI believe Hardy correctly identifies Tess as a pure woman. Someone who is pure may be virtuous, honest and even sexually pure as in virginal, Tess is all of these things. Even though by definition Tess may not seem to be a virgin, she is morally so. She was defiled and had no intention of commiting such a sinful act. Her thoughts are in the right place and she feels badly about what happened even though it was not her fault. Thus, Tess is truely a pure woman.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Tess is a pure woman. She may have lost her purity at the end of phase 1, but throughout the following phases she rebuilds her purity. She does what she thinks is best for herself after the rape, even if that meant hiding it. Tess wanted to move on from it and have others realize that she was a victim.
ReplyDeleteso i'd like to first say,
ReplyDeletethat making this account for the blog the right way, was the most frustrating and annoying processes i've been through. although im not finished because the computers at the school are horribly slow. but anyway...
In regards to the prompt. I feel that considering my beliefs and what my definition of the word pure is, Tess is not pure. In my opinion, pure, is a word that cannot be connected to a persons character or being. So in order for Tess to be pure, she'd have to be some type of bottled water. As for the time period in which Tess of the D'Urdervilles was written, Tess would not be considered pure either. Because Tess was possibly raped then she is no longer a virgin and no longer pure in Victorian standards.(I use the word possibly because the book never truely reveals what really happened with Alec in The Chase.) Both my modern opinion and the Victorian view of the word pure, classifies Tess as being un-pure.
Although I agree with Krystal in the fact that she somewhat allowed the rape to happen because she allowed Alec to kiss her and pursue her, she is still pure. The meaning of "pure" has changed through the years and according to my standards, meaning her thoughts and actions count for more than whether she is a virgin or not, she is pure. This is because after she realized the mistake of her "promiscuous" actions (i.e. had a kid), she became a new woman. She tried to save her baby from its "original" sin (being born out of wedlock, completely frowned upon in the Victorian era), she started a new life for herself by working at the dairy farm, and she hid her past from Angel because she was so ashamed of it. She completely turns her life around and was wary of any type of relationship with a man for a while after what she experienced with Alec. She has been looking for redemption for the past few phases of the book, so I believe that Tess has proved herself as pure.
ReplyDeleteI think that Tess isn't pure because I just want to disagree with everyone haha
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Hardy correctly portrays Tess as a "Pure" woman because she never actually did anything wrong. Although, in victorian times, she would not be considered pure (as told in the book) because purity was such a big deal back then and their social status' were judged harshly. Times have changed since then , and being raped wouldn't be concidered "not pure", because it wasn't Tess's intentions and it wasn't her fault. Also, i agree with what Catherine said, that she "rebuilds" her purity throughout the next phases.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what (candycane814) said, that Tess is pure because her thoughts and actions are truly pure. She feels such remorse and regret for the sin that she was an unwilling party to. Her purity and kindness are far above that of many women (and men), for she is forgiving and devoted to the man she loves despite that same man being unforgiving of her own similar action. I also agree with what Cat said, that though losing her physical purity, she builds such a mental and emotional purity in the events that follow her rape that to consider her impure would almost be a tragedy.
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Candycane814. Is Tess really at fault for these horrible events happening to her? I do not believe that Tess is at fault when she is raped and becomes impregnated because they are all out of her power and she is not capable of controlling others. Although Tess does make a few wrong choices, she is courageous in the way that she overcomes these obstacles in order to overcome her "un pure" persona. Victorian times may perceive Tess as unpure, but even Hardy himself disagrees with this, as he subtitles the novel, "A Pure Woman", and also with many idealisms and beliefs of the Victorian ages.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Tess is pure. She is not at fault for the tragedies that befall herself, and she is wrongly punshed by her parents for her actions. She has many poor situations which Hardy puts her in to, and she, not knowing the possible outcomes of her actions, just goes with her intuition, which almost always leads her down a path at which another character begins to push her towards her immenent future distruction.
ReplyDeleteCan I point out that the "Pure Woman" part of Hardy's novel, the subtitle or whatever it is called may be a contradiction? In The Mayor of Casterbridge, there is also a sub heading called "A Story of a Man of Character". If you're reading Mayor, you will have your own opinion of whether or not Michael Henchard is that of a man of character, but throughout the book he proves himself to fail time and time again. He sells his wife and baby, and then goes on to be one upped, and make grievous mistakes...Even though you could argue that he has character because he has incredible endurance to deal with his constant failures.
ReplyDeleteI guess it could go either way just like "A Pure Woman" with Tess..I just thought it was interesting that The Mayor of Casterbridge had kind of the same thing...maybe Hardy does this with most of his books?
I believe that Tess is a pure woman because judging her based on the fact that she unwillingly had sex, is completely ignorant. Maybe in Victorian times that was normal, but today I do not think labeling people as impure based on whether or not they've had sex is rational. Tess did not choose to lose her virginity, it was taken from her, so we cannot judge her based on a choice that she did not even make. Therefore, Tess is a pure woman based on the conscious decisions she made, not the ones forced upon her by sexually deprived men.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such this nice article. Your post was really good.
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