Within Ellen Rooney’s essay, she attempts to make sense of some of the contradictions of terms that Hardy presents within Tess. These terms include rape, seduction/seductive, pure/pure woman, meaning, and consent. In this post, I will focus on Rooney’s attempt to piece together Hardy’s attempt to separate seduction from rape, and how it affects Hardy’s … [But wait, there’s more!]
During this reading of Tess, I wanted to draw attention to the striking differences that Tess, Alec d’Urberville, and Angel Clare experience when thinking about their pasts and when performing or partaking in actions that go against societal norms of the time period. Tess has the most obvious struggle with her past, as would be … [But wait, there’s more!]
What strikes me the most about Tess at this point in her (unfortunate) life is that almost all of the knowledge that she has come in contact with has caused her to look even more negatively on herself and what has happened to her. Even though she is only a child when we first encounter … [But wait, there’s more!]
