Book Review

Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D'Urbervilles stands as a poignant tragic masterpiece criticizing Victorian hypocrisy. Tess Durbeyfield, a pure and hard - working rural girl, becomes a victim of her era rather than her own missteps. Tricked by the fake noble Alec d'Urberville and abandoned by her lover Angel Clare after confessing her past, Tess struggles desperately between survival and morality. Clare’s double standard—forgiving his own indiscretions but condemning Tess’s misfortune—exposes the era’s unfair gender norms. Hardy labels Tess “a pure woman” in the subtitle, directly challenging the rigid chastity ethics that oppressed women. The novel blends fatalism and social criticism. Tess’s tragedy is not just a matter of bad luck, but the inevitable result of class exploitation, patriarchal oppression and moral hypocrisy. Even today, this story still makes readers lament the tragedy of innocent individuals crushed by harsh social systems.