[德伯家的苔丝]中苔丝的英雄主义形象浅析(英文版)

第12卷第4期

2002年12月

湖南工程学院学报Vo1. 12. No. 4

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Dec. 2002

Journal of Hunan Institute of Engineering

H eroism of T ess in H ardy ’s TESS OF THE D ’URBERVI LL ES

YAN G Y ong -he 1, ZHAN G Xiao -yan 2

Ξ

(1. Dept. of Foreign Language and International Trade ,Hunan Institute of Engineering ,Xiangtan 411101,China ;

2. Hunan Polytechnic Vocational College ,Changsha 410001,China )

　　Abstract :Introduced in this research paper is a vital aspect ———Heroism of Tess in Hardy ’s novel TESS

OF THE D ’U RB ERV ILL ES. The author studies this topic through its definition and standard ,together with criticism of K ing. Besides ,by analyzing different examples of Tess ’s heroic actions ,the author discusses the relationship between Tess ’s heroism and tragedy. K ey w ords :heroism ; Tess ;tragedy

　　Heroism ,according to Webster ’s Third New In 2

ternational Dictionary , is “heroic conduct ”and “quality (as courage ,bravery ,self -2ness ) of a hero ”. As to in Hardy ’s TESS OF ,there is ab 2solutely something from her endurance ,

’s pursuit. Angel ,the ro 2, before seen a woman ’s which forced upon his mind with such persistent iteration the old Elizabethan simile of roses

(Hardy , P. 209) . He confesses that filled with snow ”

he is devoted to her in all sincerity and asks for love and marriage. Even Tess ’s workmates feel jealous of her ———Izz ,one of the dairymaids having failed to get

(Hardy , Angel ’s kiss ,murmurs “I shall go hwome ! ”P. 204) More than that , Tess “, a woman with a strong conscience which is active in the story from the very

(Heilman P. XI ) ,then turns to be differ 2beginning ”

ent from ordinary woman. She unexpecedly goes to Trantrige ,deserts the evil seducer an begins her hero 2ic struggle. Although she loves Angel , Tess does not express first and tries to refuse the marriage and tell

Angel her misfortune (It is Angel who stops it ) . On the wedding night , Tess , who first forgives Angel ’s wrong doing , confesses everything. Facing Angel ’s

“Tess ’s acute sense of responsibility ,which may lead

to the assumption of tasks ,to be done or to the sense of guilt for things done or left undone ,is a strong uni 2

(Heilman ,P. XX ) . Let alone her wom 2fying element ”anliness and beauty.

Jeannette K ing ,in her Tragedy in the Victorian

Novel , says “Hardy treats this (the seduction ) as the moment from which Tess ’s heroism begins (P. 113) ”. I don ’t think this is accurate. She neglects one thing :thoughquite young , Tess is not as vulnerable as the girls in her age. Facing Alec ’s bad -treatment and cursing , the country girl “cried with spirit :Y ou ought to be ashamed of yourself …I hate you and de 2

(Hardy ,P. 98) . Can ’test you ! ”t it be a good evidence of her heroic behavior ?

In effect , Tess ’s heroism runs through the whole novel ,from the very beginning to the end. Hardy goes out his way to establish Tess ’s beauty and womanli 2ness. Tess is of course attractive physically ———Alec can ’t help occupying her (hence the seduction ) ;

“disillusionment ”, Tess just says that he can get rid of her by divorcing her instead of bursting out quar 2relling or begging.

Tess ’s stoical endurance and courage are no match for others. “She is ill -treated by Alec and An 2gel , by Farmer Groby , by the timing of events , by weather and job situation ,by accidents and death …”

Ξ收稿日期:2002-10-15

作者简介:杨永和(

1966-) , 男, 硕士研究生, 副教授, 研究方向:语用翻译和英语教学。

(Heilman , P. XI ) . However , Tess sees “Past is past , whatever it had been it was no more at hand ;whatev 2er its consequences , time would close over them ”(Hardy ,P. 141) —She cares about the past no more. Tess baptizes the dying child , tries her best to per 2suade the vicar to admit her action and buries the ba 2by in the churchyard with a “ceremony ”. Under such great suffering ,she remains calm and goes to work at Talbothays. In the threshing machine scene , Tess prefers to remain working hard with it rather than meet Alec who is waiting for her. She clearly pays no attention to his molestations. Tess uses her gloves to hit Alec ’s mouth when he sneers at Angel …She re 2gards the seperation as her own fault. Tess lives en 2tirely for Angel and never says a word of sting or bit 2terness. She can even be satisfied at a glimpse of him. Indeed “, Angel is too much to see how he is hurting

(Heilman ,P. X ) . Tess ”

During her two main (, P. 117) , freedom ,and then ”

Tess strongly the readers by her self -sacri 2fice , unselfishness and independence. When the baby is dying , Tess asks pity for her child , not herself —

request. She hesitatingly agrees the marriage and tries hard to confess the seduction. Because of her great re 2sponsibility for her husband , Tess makes a long and desperate appeal to Angel despite Alec ’s molesta 2tions. And again ,just because of her responsibility for the family ,poor Tess is forced to be Alec ’s mistress.

Bravery is another aspect of Tess ’s heroism which should not be neglected. When her father is drunk , Tess drives the wagon on an all -night trip ; Tess kills Alec and starts wandering to Stonehenge with Angel. Even when she wakes up only to find the arrest , Tess calmly says “:I am almost glad -yes glad !

…It was too much —I have had enough. ”And final 2

(Hardy , P. 487) ,quietly ly ,she also says “I am ready ”

making her dying is none other and a can a tragedy be connected heroic girl ? Is it true that heroism is al 2ways the very cause of a tragedy ?

First of all ,we cannot deny that Tess is flawed. Her passivity and powerlessness result in her great suffering:“Tess in Clare ’s arms as he sleepwalks ; Tess in the clutch of the threshing machine ; Tess be 2

(Brown ,P. 163) and her deal 2fore Alec D ’Urbevilles ”ing with the false romantic hero and the convert , Tess makes no effort to alter the course of these events. Thus we can see that she is inevitably carried to buri 2al. Moreover ,it is just Tess ’s heroism that revenges her. “Tess ’s physical and emotional womanliness are the qualities for which she is loved ,but also the quali 2ties for which she suffers ”. Therefore “, her research

(after the seduction ) for a better future leads her only to the awareness that her future is inseparable from

(K ing ,P. 113) . Being the past she is trying to escape ”

so responsible “, twice the yields to Alec ,so twice she (Heilman , P. XX ) . Also being so coura 2loses Angel ”

geous , Tess “knows what she must do ”, unfortunate 2(Morrell , P. 32) —ly “, fails to act in time ”She con 2fesses the seduction on the wedding night and suffers the great pain of being cast off. Although her en 2durance and self -sacrifice finally lead to the return of Angel , Tess “has idealized Angel ,thus she had at least

(Heilman P. XXIV ) . intensified her own suffering ”

What ’s more ,the murder of Alec becomes inevitable

“O ,merciful G od ,have pity on my poor baby ! Heap

as much anger as you want to upon me ,and welcome ;

(Hardy , P. 144) . Faced with the but pity the child ”

cruel lover ’s casting her off , Tess does not worry about his desertion. On the contrary ,she does her best to calm him , she still cherishes the hope and keeps waiting for his return. She is “never embattled or (Alvarez ,P. 21) . shrill self -pitying or vengeful ”

It is Tess ’s independence that contributes great 2ly to her heroism. First of all , Tess breaks away from Alec who masters her body and faces the reality bravely. In addition , Tess builds a stoicism out of de 2spair —she returns home and again works at Flint 2comb Ash. Besides , although she has suffered much privation , Tess never applies to Angel ’s father for any money during Angel ’s absence.

Tess ’s acute sense of responsibility is also a strongly unifying element. Because of this , Tess un 2willingly visits the D ’Urbervilles in the hope of im 2proving the family fortunes. Because of her responsi 2bility for love , She deserts Alec and accepts Angel ’s

and consequently ruins herself —Tess also loses An 2gel.

There is no doubt that the most essential and fundamental cause for the heroic girl ’s tragedy lies in the society —the Victorian convention. Tess is born to be associated with the old customs and the rural soci 2ety at that time. So she is sure to be more or less in 2

fluenced (such as her powerlessness ,passivity and the so -called weakness ) . The cruel Nature ’s Law —

portant that those ,it is a tragedy of the Victorian con 2vention.

All in all ,we can draw a conclusion that heroism runs all through Thomas Hardy ’s TESS OF THE D ’U RB ERV ILL ES. It is this characteristic , together with some others ,that helps us to know the society at that time. It is the heroic Tess that has faithfully pre 2sented Thomas Hardy ! Therefore , Tess , a rebel a 2gainst Alec ,a rebel against convention and a rebel a 2gainst the evil society ,is absolutely a heroic and glori 2ous female figure in the English literature or even in the world literature.

References

[1]　A. Alvarez. Penguim Book. 1954. [2Character and Environment.

:]Tragedy in the Victorian Novel. London

and New Y ork :Macmillan,1973.

[4]　Henry K ozicki. Papers on Language and Literature.

Broghton :Havester Press ,1974.

[5]　Robert Heilman , ’Gulliver and Hardy ’s Tess :Houyhnhn 2

ms , Y ahoos ,Ambiguities ’. S outhern Review ,1970. [6]　Thomas Hardy. Tess of the d ’Urbervilles. London :Ox 2

ford University Press ,1994.

[7]　Roy Morrel. The Will and The Way. Studies in English

Literature ,1965.

[8]　Chen Jia. A History of English Literature (Volume 3) .

Beijing :The Commercial Press ,1986.

[9]　Y i Shuqian et al. 500Questions for Foreign Literature.

Shenyang ;Liaoning People ’s Press ,1987.

“once victim , always victim ”is rooted in people ’s mind; Man belongs to the active ,changing social or 2der ,woman is in contrast. Therefore “woman is always

(K ing , P. 120) . The same is quite the final victim ”

true of Tess. She can not but suffer the man -made law. She can only ask herself “Was once lost always (Hardy ,P. 150) . Angel is lost really true of chastity ? ”

frustrated by the Victorian convention and then 2comes its agent. He “desires the , being that Tess was 114) . However , experience with woman. Now “of fresh is replaced by

(K ing ,P. 11) . Thus comes his disil 2the man of spirit ”

lusionment over Tess —“The devoted lover turns to be

(K ozicki ,P. 58) . a withered destroyer ”

TESS OF THE D ’U RB ERU ILL ES is , there 2fore ,a tragedy of Tess ’s heroism. It is a tragedy of her womanhood and endurance ;of “rebellion and aspi 2

(K ing , P. 120) ;of desire to keep integrity ;of ration ”

self -sacrifice and unselfishness. However , more im 2

《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝的英雄主义形象浅析

杨永和1, 张小燕2

(1. 湖南工程学院外语外贸系, 湖南湘潭411101; 2. 湖南工业职业技术学院, 湖南长沙410001)

　　摘　要:从英雄主义的定义和标准着手, 结合对金的批评, 探讨了哈代的小说《德伯家的苔丝》中苔丝人

物形象分析的一个重要方面, 即苔丝的英雄主义形象。通过对苔丝不同阶段的英雄主义行为的实证分析, 探讨了苔丝的英雄主义行为和其悲剧的关系。关键词:英雄主义; 苔丝; 悲剧中图分类号:I106. 4　　文献标识码:A 　　文章编号:1671-1181(2002) 04-0070-03