Tess Of The D Urbervilles Symbolism Essay

The novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles written by Thomas Hardy was an interesting novel with lots of suspense. The main protagonist is Tess D’Urbervilles, a young, attractive, intelligent, and sensitive girl. In the first chapter, Tess’s father finds out he’s the last descent of one of the oldest families in England, the D’Urbervilles. Tess’s family lives in poverty and faces difficult to get through life. In the process of all this happening Tess experiences many bad things. The book introduces many symbols; one of the many was Red and White. These colors foreshadow future events in the novel such as pureness, beauty, carelessness, innocence, sin, evil and more.

In the beginning of chapter two, it is May- Day and woman of the village are celebrating and dancing. Tess is introduced wearing a white dress with a red ribbon in her hair. “She wore a red ribbon in her hair, and was the only one in the white company who could boast of such a pronounced adornment.” (Hardy 12). The author infers white as being a pure color. Tess is still a young,

pure girl starting to experience life with hopes of a better one. “And as each and all of them were warmed without by the sun, so each had a private little sun for her soul to bask in, some dream, some affection, some hobby, at least some remote and distant hope which though perhaps starving to nothing, still lived on, as hopes will. Thus they were all cheerful, and many of them merry.” (Hardy 12 )
Tess’s father’s horse dies while Tess and her brother Abraham are on the journey for the beehive.

“ But somebody must go’ Tess replied. ‘It is late for the hives already. Swarming will soon be over for the year….” (Hardy 31). Tess decides to take charge for the family and she goes with her brother Abraham. “ I think I could go if Abraham could with me to kip company. “ (Hardy 31). On their journey the horse dies “ The pointed shaft of the cart had entered the breast of the unhappy Prince like a sword, and from the wound in his life’s blood was spouting in a stream, and falling with a hiss into the road.”(Hardy 35). The reason for the horse dying was from misleading the carriage and Tess and her brother falling asleep.” Tess awakes from the sleep into which she, too, had fallen.” (Hardy 35). The death of their white horse symbolizes and foreshadows further negative events that Tess will go through with white horses being

present.
White could also represent beauty. “ The atmosphere turned pale, the birds shook themselves in the hedges, arose, and twittered; the lane showed all its white features, and Tess showed hers, still whiter” (Hardy 36). Hardy compares nature’s beauty with Tess’s beauty. Everything around her, the atmosphere, it turned pale and its features stood out. Although there was a spectacle mess in front of Tess her features stood out ” The huge pool of blood in front of her was already assuming the iridescence of coagulation and when the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it.” (Hardy 36). The author is making sure the reader notices Tess’s beauty.
Alec takes Tess on a tour around the mansion “he conducted her about the lawns and flower-beds, and conservatories; and thence to the fruit-garden..” (Hardy 46). Alec feeds Tess red strawberries. “...he stood up and held it by the stem to her mouth.” (Hardy 47). It may also symbolize sin and as she eats the strawberries it shows Tess’s innocence is being swept away by the devil, also known as Alec. “ She obeyed like in a dream.” (Hardy 47). The red strawberries symbolize that Alec is up to no good.
White symbolizes obedience due to the fact the maid takes orders from the mistress and owner of the estate. The servant is wearing white and that represents she’s a servant/ maid. “ …. the door in the wall opened and a servant in a white cap and apron entered.” (Hardy 69). She then leads Tess to take care of the mistress’s birds. “ ‘Ah, you are the young woman come to look after my birds? Said Mrs. D’Urberville.” (Hardy 69).
In chapter 2, Tess’s so-called “cousin” rapes Tess. On their way home they get lost. Alec goes out for help to get directions, Tess falls asleep “With the setting of the moon the pale light lessened and Tess became invisible as she fell into reverie upon the leaves where he had left her.” (Hardy 89). Alec takes advantage of her “ D’Urberville stooped and heard a gentle regular breathing. He knelt and bent lower, till her breath warmed his face…. She was sleeping soundly, and upon her eyelashes there lingered tears.” Alec then rapes her “Darkness and silence ruled everywhere… but, might some say where was Tess’s guardian angel?... Tishbite spoke, he was talking, or he was pursuing, or he was in a journey… “ (Hardy 90- 91). The author talks about no one being there to help Tess not even her guardian angel. The fact that she fell asleep made her unaware of her surroundings. She’s wearing white once again and white mist/fog is in the way “The obscurity was now great that he could see absolutely nothing” (Hardy 90). The color white in this scene symbolizes carelessness, Tess is carless and just falls asleep in the middle of nowhere and isn’t attentive of her surroundings.
The machines at the field Tess works at are red. “ … another in a petticoat as red as the arms of the reaping-machine..” (Hardy 111). The color red infers hell, evil and danger. The machine is referred to as “ the engine-man “ a monster that must be fed and maintained. The place and machine indicates bad luck after Tess gets the job.
Tess’s baby is very ill and is about to die, Tess decides to baptize the baby at midnight. “Book open before her, as the clerk at church before the parson and thus the girl set about baptizing her child.” (Hardy 118-119). Tess is dressed in white “ her figure looked singularly tall and imposing as she stood in her long white nightgown…” (Hardy 119). She tried doing the baptism as churchly as possible. Meaning her baby must’ve been dressed in white as well. This scene could represent the color white as innocence. A baby, who didn’t have much time on earth, didn’t perform a single sin, was innocent but yet had to die.
Another act of purity is when Tess is drinking pure milk and impresses Crick, “ She drank a little milk as temporary refreshment to the surprise-indeed…” (Hardy 139). Milk emphasizes that she is a “pure woman.” She even works milking cows “The red and white herd nearest at hand, which had been phlegmatically waiting for the call, now trooped towards the steading in the background, their great bags of milk swinging under them as they walked.” (Hardy 136).
The color white also represents jealousy. The girls Tess works with find out that Tess is marrying Angel they are all wearing white gowns for bed. “They hung about her in their white nightgowns before replying” (Hardy 254). Marian and Izz go up to Tess to congratulate her although deep down their jealous of her, they are happy for her. “Marian kissed Tess…. Was that because of love for her o because other lips have touched there by now? Izz said to Marian. Still, nobody else is to marry’n in the world- no fine lady, nobody in silks and satings; but she who live like we.” (Hardy 253-254). Retty the jealous of all “I don’t know- I don’t know! I want to hate’ee; but I cannot” (Hardy 254).
White in this scene is explaining nature, something the author, Hardy, was passionate about. “Here the air was dry and cold and the long cart roads were blown white and dusty within a few hours after rain.” (Hardy 358). The blowing air is being described as white and dusty. The author seems to talk about nature a lot throughout the book. “ In the middle distance ahead of her she could see the summits of Bulbarrow and of Nettlecombe Tout, and they seemed friendly.”(Hardy 358). The author is giving the fields in the country human characteristic “friendly”, using Personification.
White symbolizes tradition. When Marian was talking to Tess. “ And you’ve got no collar on’ (Tess had been accustomed to wear a little white collar at the dairy)” (Hardy 360). Tess and others that work there are used to wearing a white collar at the dairy and this represents being uniform and when wearing it the people around there know whose working at the dairy. It’s a tradition to wear it.
Red in the book symbolizes a death. The landlady of the place where Alec and Tess are staying in is observing the white ceiling and she didn’t notice what it was at first that caught her eye. After realizing it wasn’t a wafer “… but it speedily grew as large as the palm of her hand, then she could perceive that it was red…. had the appearance of a gigantic ace of hearts.” (Hardy 488). The landlady then realizes its blood; the spot of blood represented a death.
Towards the end of the book, the main character, Tess, commits a crime. Tess goes to her hotel room where her former partner Alec is. They have an intense conversation about Alec convincing Tess her husband Angel was never going to return. “ Dear husband came home to me.. And I did not know it! And you had used your cruel persuasion upon me.” (Hardy 486). After Tess feels betrayed she stabs Alec in the heart, killing him. The color red could be defined as a sin. “My good God, the gentleman in bed is dead! I think he has been hurt with a knife- a lot of blood has run upon the floor” (Hardy 489). All of this sums up to the color red, the red in the ceiling is blood. “ The oblong white ceiling, with this scarlet blot in the midst, had the appearance of gigantic ace of hearts.” (Hardy 488).
Tess is introduced to the D’Urbervilles mansion she describes it as a red color. “The crimson brick lodge came first in sight, up to its eaves in dense evergreens.” (Hardy 42). The mansion itself symbolized red as a house of evil. The whole house is foreshadowing dangerous things that happen every time she goes near it. It could be seen as the evil eye.