Abstract:Tess of the D'Urbervilles—one of the most famous novels of Thomas Hardy is a tragedy about an ordinary rural girl in the 19th century of England. Tess is pure, beautiful and kind but she suffers the strikes of life one by one. She is born in a poor family, raped by Alec, and discarded by her lover—Angel, but still bears to live. She fights with fate alone but is doomed to death at the end. This novel focuses on Tess, but also describes some other rural women. The narration and the depiction in the novel heighten Hardy’s deep feelings about those women characters. These women characters share something in common: they are kind, loving, and energetic, and the younger ones are blooming and beautiful. All of them are simple, caring, and expecting their coming new lives. Differences lie in that three kinds of women who appear in the novel can stand for different groups. The elder ones, who are stupid and fatuous, represent the tradition. By contrast, the younger ones, who are signifying new things and a coming new ager, Tess in particular, dare to protest the society for happiness. At the end of 19th century, with the fully developed capitalism in urban areas of England, the rural regions were also deeply industrialized. Those former farmers were confronted with bankruptcy. The characteristics they form can’t be departed from the condition they own. As the most important person in the story, Tess is pure even though she is raped and she commits murder in the end. Influenced by the situation of English countries and feminism, Hardy cries out for women’s rights. In the natural fields which he is greatly attached to, he expresses worries about those lovely women who are suffering some unfair creeds. Tess is a daughter of nature, created by nature, but destroyed by civilization. The following thesis is mainly analyzing Hardy’s words about the rural women, and comparing their similarities and differences, combined with the Victorian feminism to get a better understanding about Hardy’s views on females. By this work, we can feel Hardy’s love for his countries. In his mind, rural people are kind and tolerant. Purity and diligence are more embodied by women. By their adversity, he criticizes the hypocritical morality and hopes his women can strive for a better life, fight and live for their happiness forever.
Key words: purity, feminism, morality, love, expectation
摘要:托马斯·哈代的小说——《苔丝》这部作品，主要讲述了19世纪英国一个普通的农村女孩悲剧的一生。苔丝纯洁，美丽，善良，却接连遭受生活的打击。她出生贫穷，被强暴，被心爱的人抛弃，隐忍生活，反抗命运而最终被命运判了死刑。小说以苔丝为主，结合多个农村女性形象，为我们展现了维多利亚时期英国农村的经济状况及人文面貌。而通过哈代的叙事描写，也可以对哈代于这些农村女性的情感，略知一二。经过一定的深入研究，我发现，哈代笔下的这些农村女性有着多个共同点，她们大多善良，慈爱，朝气蓬勃。年轻的女子又美丽，单纯。这些女性即使在生活困苦的情况下，仍然对生活抱有一定的希望。十九世纪的英国，资本化较甚，连农村都有了一定程度的工业化。农民的境况不容乐观。哈代通过对农村女性角色的刻画来体现资本化英国下的伪道德与人性的冲突，更有代表性。苔丝，哈代笔下的这位“纯洁”的姑娘，就是一个在这样的看似繁荣，道德高尚的社会中，饱受虚伪道德残害，为求自己幸福而苦苦挣扎的女子。同时，哈代还描写了苔丝身边的几位女子，她们分别代表了不同年龄层的女性。本文希望通过分析哈代对于这些女性的描述，结合维多利亚时期的女性主义，比较不同女性角色之间的异同，来更好、更全面的了解哈代的女性观。在一定的研究比较过后，可以体会到哈代对于当时遭受来自社会各方面苦难的农村女性深表同情。
关键词：纯洁，女性主义，道德，爱，期待
