Theme Of Control In Tess Of The D Urberville

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Control is the social construction constituting exercising authority over other beings. It can take many forms, the most prominent of which between Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer being physical, psychological, capitalist and patriarchal. Both novels are of the Bildungsroman genre, however whilst Jean-Baptiste Grenouille has a predatory and psychotic personality, this is something to which Tess Durbeyfield is subject without reciprocity until the end of the novel, and it is ultimately this hamartia which leads to her oppression. Physical Under the historical influence of Darwin’s natural selection, Hardy attempts to highlight the physical control that Alec has over Tess through an animalistic comparison. …show more content…

Sorrow’s presence within these environments in phase the second after the rape scene complies with Engel’s theory of patriarchal monogamy; due to the industrial revolution, property must be inherited by the successive generation, which links to Shakespeare’s second phase of life: ‘the schoolboy’. This links to the Hardy’s postulation of ‘the baby's offence against society in coming into the world’. Sorrow will grow up to be an oppressive figure. This domestic restriction emanates physicality to the increasing social chasm of Victorian society. With a Malthusian trap and a trend in fordist production, large numbers of unskilled, low-paid labour there is a step away from primitive forms of survival and a step towards developing higher pleasures, and we see this in Alec’s cigar and Angel’s harp. The cigar smoke covers his face which is symbolic of his evil intentions. Smoke returns in the rape scene, which illustrates the usage of these vain commodities as a way of controlling Tess. This is similar to Grenouille’s desire to use perfumes to gain what he wants. The contrast between visible smoke and invisible perfume does say something about the methods used by Alec – he makes little effort to hide his wealth or srexual motivations, whereas Grenouille as someone who is …show more content…

Such details in the context of Tess and Perfume are opposite ends of the spectrum; Grenouille’s unstoppable urges to kill means he feels isolated and unable to love or feel loved. Tess’ undesirable beauty means ‘She can only be the passive medium of her own innate, inescapable seductiveness, the vessel of a beauty she is fated by ‘nature’ to display, however she may try to hide it.’ [8]. When both characters’ peripeteia arises, they backfire, leaving them at the eternal mercy of death. Bibliography [1] The Cambridge Edition of the works of D.H. Lawrence Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays, D. H. Lawrence, page 99, Cambridge University Press, 25 Jul 1985 [2] Barron’s Book Notes Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, page 114 – Douglas Brown: Social and Individual Fate in Tess from Thomas Hardy, 1961 [3] John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Chapter 1, The social presence of men and women, page 5, 1972 [4] "Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy." 123HelpMe.com. 04 Jan 2014 . [5] Sin, Society, and the Double Standard, Male and Female Transgressions in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Scott

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