Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Tess of the D’Urbervilles is Victorian writer Thomas Hardy’s 12th novel. It was first published in 1891 as a serial in the newspaper The Graphic; this serialized publication was followed by a three-volume edition in 1891 and a single volume in 1892. Like many of Hardy’s other realist novels, Tess is set in the fictional, southwestern English region of Wessex, using fictional locations closely modelled after real ones. Hardy’s sympathetic portrayal of a young woman who becomes an unwed mother made the novel controversial, but it was also commercially successful. Through his depiction of Tess’s tragic life, Hardy explores themes of social stigma, gender, class injustice, and the inevitability of fate. This guide references the 2005 Oxford World’s Classics edition and contains references to rape.

Plot Summary

The novel is set primarily in the English countryside during the 19th century. John Durbeyfield and his wife Joan make a very modest living as farmers but tend to be irresponsible in how they take care of their large family. Their eldest daughter, Tess, is beautiful and intelligent, and she often must help support her family. John and Joan become convinced that they are related to the wealthy d’Urberville family and decide to send Tess to get to know the family in hopes that she will end up marrying a wealthy man.