Tess Of The D Urbervilles Flaws

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Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, is driven by the main character's flaws. Like many things in the human race, flaws lead to destruction. Tess's weaknesses draw her into situations unsuitable for a girl her age, and eventually lead to her downfall. The first-and greatest-of Tess's major flaws is her excessive sense of responsibility. The first example of Tess's strong sense of responsibility is her coming home from the May Day dance early because she was worried about the welfare of her family after she witnessed the crazy things her father was saying. Another example was volunteering to drive Prince to the market when she could have asked one of the boys from the town to do the task instead. Later, Tess feels as though it is her responsibility to go to the d'Urberville mansion to claim her birthright because she was the one who had caused Prince's death. Because of her father's addiction to alcohol and her mother's inhibition to properly run a well-functioning household, Tess feels that she must act as the head of the family, and is often the one who keeps the house and family running. Another flaw in Tess's character is her beauty. But Tess's beauty works against her, "It …show more content…

Throughout the course of the novel, Tess's family is able to guilt her into accepting help from Alec, and in turn, Alec is able to conform her to his will. While Angel is pressuring Tess to say yes to his proposal, Tess is unable to bring herself to tell Angel about her past with Alec because she craves acceptance and does not want to ruin the relationship she and Angel have. Tess starts to develop her own character when she goes against her mother's advice and tells Angel about her past, which unfortunately leads to the separation of the couple. When Tess kills Alec, she does not view the murder as a fault, but as a liberation to finally be her own self, free from the judgement and power of

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