Justice for Tess
I haven't been writing on my blog. I think it's a sign that I'm growing up and/or turning into a hermit that I don't have the stomach to deal with the back-lash that inevitably happens every time. So, here's an update on my life via my latest review on GoodReads:
Tess of the D'Urbervilles. By Thomas Hardy. (WARNING! Mega mega mega spoiler alerts!)
Have you ever seen Silver Linings Playbook? You know the scene where Bradley Cooper finishes an Ernest Hemingway book, closes the cover and screams "What the F?!" I had about that same reaction minus throwing the book through a window.
So let's get right down to it.
Tess was straight date raped. DATE RAPED. Right? I don't know if it was just the 1800s or everyone referencing a later edition of Tess. But as for me and my edition of Tess--girlfriend was date raped. So for all the douchebags claiming Alec is her "real" husband, I understand that you have to write an essay on this book, and while you could've written about the themes of social injustice, the poverty and circumstances of the working class, or my fav-the OBVIOUS double standard of mens' "virtue" versus womens', you decided to make up some garbage about a rapist being the real husband.
Nope.
And for my second point, and, probably most important of all: ANGEL CLARE IS THE BIGGEST A-HOLE!!! I mean, he marries this girl that he is just crazy over. Then on their wedding night he tells her that he whored around for 48 hours back in the day, and then Tess is like "OMG Angel! Thank you for telling me! Now I know you'll understand, but I was date raped and had a baby from it who died!" Then he goes off the handle because she's a liar who isn't virtuous and deceived him. Back to my favorite theme of double standard for men and women. I literally yelled when I was reading this chapter. AND THEN he just leaves her. Like, don't call me, I'll call you. Douche. Bag. AND THEN! he asks an unmarried woman to go to Brazil with him to be his side piece for the next 2 years.
At this point I was really hoping for a double murder single suicide. By which I mean Tess would murder Alec and Angel and then kill herself, because, honestly, she just wants to die the entire book. She says it over and over again, and its like yowza Hardy, maybe tone down all the metaphors and allusions to death please?!
And poor Tess. You love the girl, but I got to a point where I was like "could you please stand up for yourself?!" I guess its sad when the highlight of a book is when a downtrodden character sends what can only be a hangry letter to her estranged husband telling him exactly where he can put his so-called "virtue" and then stabbing her rapist in the heart. Actually, that part was awesome. It just got really hard to read. And maybe that was just Hardy's point: women back then, especially working class, didn't have much of a voice. They were completely beholden to their husbands, and even when they tried to be independent in some way like Tess,they were still beholden to some type of male figure (the farmer, their family etc.) And then the point that women would be paid less for the same exact work that men did. It was hard.
And I really loved what Hardy said to detractors of his book: he was essentially like, "look, you don't like this book because it talks about hard things. But guess what? This stuff happens every. single. day. to the working class. Open your eyes. Look at all the social injustices."
So yeah, the story itself is crazy. But I really loved the themes that Hardy wrote about.
And truly some of the most beautiful lines and pages I've ever read in literature. My favorite was said by Tess when her idiot of a husband calls her a stupid peasant who doesn't know anything: "I am only a peasant by position, not by nature!" I'm going to cross stitch that on a banner and put it over my bed. You go girl.
In the end, I guess Angel like 25% redeems himself when he sticks by Tess's crazy murdering side. Seriously, if he had turned her away at that point I couldn't have finished the book. And Tess definitely redeems herself by murdering Alec. You go girl x's2. And yeah it was super depressing that Tess goes to prison and is most likely hanged--but, it's all she wanted in her sad, exhausting life. She wanted to die being loved by Angel, and she did. Wow, that makes me want to sob. Or start a campaign titled "Justice for Tess."
In the end, a really depressing yet beautiful book. Almost Hemmingway-esque. It may have made me a Bernie fan*. Yeah. It's that intense.
*Not actually going to vote for Bernie. He seems like a good dude, but...
Tess of the D'Urbervilles. By Thomas Hardy. (WARNING! Mega mega mega spoiler alerts!)
Have you ever seen Silver Linings Playbook? You know the scene where Bradley Cooper finishes an Ernest Hemingway book, closes the cover and screams "What the F?!" I had about that same reaction minus throwing the book through a window.
So let's get right down to it.
Tess was straight date raped. DATE RAPED. Right? I don't know if it was just the 1800s or everyone referencing a later edition of Tess. But as for me and my edition of Tess--girlfriend was date raped. So for all the douchebags claiming Alec is her "real" husband, I understand that you have to write an essay on this book, and while you could've written about the themes of social injustice, the poverty and circumstances of the working class, or my fav-the OBVIOUS double standard of mens' "virtue" versus womens', you decided to make up some garbage about a rapist being the real husband.
Nope.
And for my second point, and, probably most important of all: ANGEL CLARE IS THE BIGGEST A-HOLE!!! I mean, he marries this girl that he is just crazy over. Then on their wedding night he tells her that he whored around for 48 hours back in the day, and then Tess is like "OMG Angel! Thank you for telling me! Now I know you'll understand, but I was date raped and had a baby from it who died!" Then he goes off the handle because she's a liar who isn't virtuous and deceived him. Back to my favorite theme of double standard for men and women. I literally yelled when I was reading this chapter. AND THEN he just leaves her. Like, don't call me, I'll call you. Douche. Bag. AND THEN! he asks an unmarried woman to go to Brazil with him to be his side piece for the next 2 years.
At this point I was really hoping for a double murder single suicide. By which I mean Tess would murder Alec and Angel and then kill herself, because, honestly, she just wants to die the entire book. She says it over and over again, and its like yowza Hardy, maybe tone down all the metaphors and allusions to death please?!
And poor Tess. You love the girl, but I got to a point where I was like "could you please stand up for yourself?!" I guess its sad when the highlight of a book is when a downtrodden character sends what can only be a hangry letter to her estranged husband telling him exactly where he can put his so-called "virtue" and then stabbing her rapist in the heart. Actually, that part was awesome. It just got really hard to read. And maybe that was just Hardy's point: women back then, especially working class, didn't have much of a voice. They were completely beholden to their husbands, and even when they tried to be independent in some way like Tess,they were still beholden to some type of male figure (the farmer, their family etc.) And then the point that women would be paid less for the same exact work that men did. It was hard.
And I really loved what Hardy said to detractors of his book: he was essentially like, "look, you don't like this book because it talks about hard things. But guess what? This stuff happens every. single. day. to the working class. Open your eyes. Look at all the social injustices."
So yeah, the story itself is crazy. But I really loved the themes that Hardy wrote about.
And truly some of the most beautiful lines and pages I've ever read in literature. My favorite was said by Tess when her idiot of a husband calls her a stupid peasant who doesn't know anything: "I am only a peasant by position, not by nature!" I'm going to cross stitch that on a banner and put it over my bed. You go girl.
In the end, I guess Angel like 25% redeems himself when he sticks by Tess's crazy murdering side. Seriously, if he had turned her away at that point I couldn't have finished the book. And Tess definitely redeems herself by murdering Alec. You go girl x's2. And yeah it was super depressing that Tess goes to prison and is most likely hanged--but, it's all she wanted in her sad, exhausting life. She wanted to die being loved by Angel, and she did. Wow, that makes me want to sob. Or start a campaign titled "Justice for Tess."
In the end, a really depressing yet beautiful book. Almost Hemmingway-esque. It may have made me a Bernie fan*. Yeah. It's that intense.
*Not actually going to vote for Bernie. He seems like a good dude, but...
Ok, we totally need to talk, because I seriously love/hate this book so much!!! And also, I just saw Thomas Hardy's grave in Westminster Abbey. All of his books were so intense!
ReplyDeleteNice review. Book was written a long time ago. That should have been a big red flag. Old stuff is the worst.
ReplyDelete