Reinvestigating Thomas Hardy’s Motives in The Characterisation of Alec D’urbervilles and Angel Clare in Tess of the D’urbervilles

Abstract

One stable error of judgement by critics of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles is regarding Alec D’Urbervilles as a villainous tool of fate instrumental to Tess Durbeyfield’s tragedy. This idea goes with the associated assumption that Tess has all the moral and ethical reasons to reject him and embrace Angel. This paper seeks to redeem the name of Alec in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles by positing that all the odium placed on him result from gross misrepresentation and that he is a hero of love, whose tragedy results from bestowing his love on Tess unrequitedly. It will be proven by comparison that Angel Clare is ironically the evil in the set-up, and the embodiment of all the tragic contents of Victorian moral laws and patriarchal customs. This study is a product of a qualitative research approach, involving interpretive and content analysis aimed at deepening the argument that while Alec’s conduct is almost completely unimpeachable, Angel is the agent of distraction and destruction that single-handedly brings about the tragedy of both Tess and Alec. The key finding is that Tess’s tragedy happens as a result of her rejecting Alec’s love and bestowing her love on the wrong person.