Thomas Hardy’s treatment of nature in Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

Answer

Comment on Hardy’s treatment of nature in Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

Or, Bring out the significance of nature in Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) loved nature deeply. In “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” (1891), nature is not just the background of the story. Nature is like a character that walks with Tess in her happy and sad times. Nature reflects her emotions, her pain, her hope, and even her fate. Sometimes nature protects her, and sometimes it warns us about what is going to happen. In this novel, nature plays a powerful role throughout Tess’s life.

Tess is the Daughter of Nature: In the novel, Hardy often connects Tess with nature. She is a country girl, simple and pure. Just like nature, Tess is beautiful, strong, and pure. When society blames her, it is nature that gives her comfort. Tess feels close to the birds, animals, and the sky. At Talbothays Dairy, Angel calls her the “daughter of Nature.”

“What a fresh… daughter of Nature that milkmaid is!”

Angel thinks that Tess is pure and beautiful like nature. Hardy makes us feel that Tess belongs more to the natural world than to the human world.

Nature as a Friend in Her Happy Days: When Tess goes to Talbothays Dairy, she feels happy and hopeful again. The place is full of life. The fresh air, the green fields, and the flowing river make Tess feel peaceful. Hardy writes:

“The new air was clear… The river itself, which nourished the grass and cows…”

This place brings love into Tess’s life. She meets Angel Clare here. The beauty of nature matches Tess’s happiness and hope. The green world and the singing birds show that Tess is blooming again like a flower. Nature here acts like her friend.

Nature Shows Her Suffering: Later, when Tess is heartbroken and poor, she works at Flintcomb-Ash. There, the land is dry and rough. There is no greenery, no beauty. Hardy