An Analysis of the Symbolic Meanings of Settings in Tess of D’Urbervilles

Abstract

Tess of D’Urbervilles is one of Thomas Hardy’s famous series of novels called “Character and Environment.” Tess of D’Urbervilles is the story about the misfortune and tragedy of Tess, a beautiful and innocent young country girl. To stress Tess’ tragic fate and her personality, Hardy uses a lot of depiction of the settings in this novel. Through the symbolic description of the settings in Tess of D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy interweaves settings so thoroughly into the plots as well as the fate of the heroine in the novel. This paper will analyze the symbolic meanings and the archetypal images of the settings from the following aspects: the color, the bird imagery, seasons and the changing of places. The changing of the places symbolizes the changing of Tess’ fate; the season is tied to the development of Tess’ mind state; the appearances of the red color imply the changing of Tess’ tragic fate and situation; Tess’ fate is closely related with the birds’ fates. Through the analysis, readers can predict the heroine’s tragic fate and have a more deeply feeling and profound understanding of the whole novel and her tragedy.