Summary & Analysis of "Hardy's Moments of Vision"

Summary:

One of the pieces of criticism I read and chose to focus on is called "Hardy's Moments of Vision" by Virginia Woolf. Reading her piece helped me a lot because she put into words some of the things I was also feeling about Tess, but didn't know exactly how to state them. Woolf highlights many of the things that make Hardy's novels great pieces of literature, namely that he has these 'moments of vision' that make up for the other less great parts of the story. She calls Hardy's 'moments of vision' "those passages of astonishing beauty and force which are to be found in every book he wrote" (401). According to Woolf, these moments are gone as suddenly as they appear, but they leave a profound effect on readers nonetheless. She also talks a lot about the kinds of characters Hardy writes, and how they are less like individuals and more like types. She, however, does not see this as a negative thing. Woolf does admit that Hardy has some faults in his writing, but she says, "If we are to place Hardy among his fellows, we must call him the greatest tragic writer among English novelists" (405).

Analysis:

It was clear throughout reading her piece that Woolf had a lot of respect for what Hardy was doing with his writing. I especially liked the way she described Hardy's characters because that was a big point we all debated about in class. We agreed that we wanted to see more of Tess's individual thoughts, feelings, and motivations--especially during the important parts like the murder scene--but Hardy does not give that opportunity to readers. In fact, in many parts of the story I found myself wanting to hear a little more directly from Tess just how she felt about things, but she was always a little distant. In Woolf's piece, she argues that Hardy does this sort of thing with all of his characters because they are supposed to represent more of a type of person than a real, individual one. She states that his characters are "eternal," and says, "We meet them over and over again in the novels, and they always have something typical about them, more of the character that marks a race than of the features which belong to an individual" (402). Taken altogether, the characters in Hardy's novels are supposed to give off more of a hazy impression than have specific characteristics, so it would make sense then that we aren't always able to hear Tess's thoughts. If this is what Hardy is indeed doing, it would seem that Tess and Angel and Alec and everyone are kind of symbols for something bigger about life, than just there to tell a story about a woman who has a tragic end. The part I struggled with in the novel was that it's obvious Hardy has a lot of bigger ideas about society and life in general he's trying to express through Tess, but it's difficult for me to pin down exactly his intentions when he's only giving these hazy and incomplete impressions and types of characters instead of more specifics.

Summary & Analysis of "Critical Reception of Tess of the D'Urbervilles"

Summary:

I loved reading the critical reception for Tess of the D’Urbervilles because I’m still a little unsure how I feel about the novel overall, and it’s interesting hearing how others during that time period reacted. Many of the reviews were positive; for example, the reviews called it “a most moving presentment of a ‘pure woman’” (The Pall Mall Gazette), “not only good, but great” (The Athenaeum), and “one of [Hardy’s] most powerful novels” (The Spectator). Others are not so positive, such as The Saturday Review, which states, “It matters much less what a story is about than how that story is told, and Mr. Hardy, it must be conceded, tells an unpleasant story in a very unpleasant way” or the correspondence between Henry James and Robert Louis Stevenson, in which Stevenson writes, “Tess is one of the worst, weakest, least sane, most voulu books I have yet read.” James simply replies that Tess is “vile.” My favorite piece to read of all of these was the interview with Thomas Hardy. He defends the character of Tess by saying, “I consider that she was to all intents and purposes a pure woman till her last fall” (388). I liked getting the author’s own opinion about Tess, despite all of the critics against both him and her.

Analysis:

The most compelling piece to me was the one from The Illustrated London News by Clementina Black because she recognizes that Tess of the D’Urbervilles is not going to be popular according to most of the public, but that this fact reveals more about society’s opinions rather than reflecting a lack of talent of Hardy’s part. She states, “The conventional reader wishes to be excited, but not to be disturbed; he likes to have new pictures presented to his imagination, but not to have new ideas presented to his mind. He detests unhappy endings, mainly because an unhappy ending nearly always involves an indirect appeal to the conscience.” She goes on to say that Tess of the D’Urbervilles is “a challenge” for readers (383). In other words, the reason readers were reacting so negatively to the novel was because Hardy was challenging their traditional notions about something controversial like women’s purity. Readers of the time were disgusted with the character of Tess and hated the ending of the book, but Black points out how they just wanted a simple, happy ending like what they were used to. Tess of the D’Urbervilles makes readers really think about tough questions in life, which is one of the reasons I liked reading the book so much. Black sums up the novel nicely by saying, “Its essence lies in the perception that a woman’s moral worth is measurable not by any one deed, but by the whole aim and tendency of her life and nature” (383). This statement led me back to thinking about Angel. He seemed like such a free and progressive thinker , definitely not someone who would go back on his love for Tess because of one aspect of her past. However, that is exactly what Angel did, which is why I think I almost dislike him more than Alec in a way. Angel recognized eventually that Tess is so much more than just her past ‘misdeeds’, but he already broke her heart before he realized it. I think the outcome in the end could have been much different if he would have just behaved differently. But, then again, Tess’s fate was meant to be (as Hardy says) and maybe nothing could have changed her actions.