Male Dominance in Tess of the D’urbervilles
The Victorian era, as described by Professor of History and Women's & Gender Studies Nancy Reagin in her essay “Victorian Women: the Gender of Oppression”, witnessed the ideology of separate spheres in which society viewed men as independent and reasonable while viewing women as passive, dependent on men, emotional, and submissive. Men were given the governing role in which they would dominate society due to their ability to make rational decisions while women were expected to unquestionably fill the social roles that men decided for them, and those roles usually revolved around a woman’s duties as a mother and a wife. In marriage, a woman was expected to abide by the orders and views of her husband, and man and wife became one in terms of a woman’s rights, property, and identity. In Tess of the D’urbervilles, a book written in the Victorian Era, Hardy conveys this ideology of separate spheres in his portrayal of men and their dominance over women in society, primarily Tess. Their dominance is shown in how the men act as the masters of society, but it is also seen in how the women in Tess unquestionably view the men as the dominant gender. Often, the women are blindly influenced and act passively when interacting with male characters such as Alec and Angel. They are also seen to be very dependent on the men, and the men acknowledge that, for that is expected of a woman in that age to not be able to make a living for herself. The women’s actions in Tess of the D’urbervilles correspond with what was expected of them in the Victorian era, and they do not try to break the social norm, but, instead, they accept it.
In accordance with the perceptions of women in the Victorian era, the men in Tess of the D’urbervilles tremendously influenced the women in their lives. Even when the men are not directly asserting their influence upon the women, the men’s existence still overpowers the women in their actions desires. This influence is shown when Tess’s fellow girls at the dairy hear about Tess and Angel’s marriage, and they react in drastic ways, for Retty attempted to commit suicide while Marian was “found dead drunk” despite the fact that she was not known to have ever drunk alcohol before (Hardy 175). The girls’ love for Angel, rather their love for the thought of him, affected them so much that they were driven to such extremes upon him marrying a woman other than them, despite Retty and Marian knowing that he would never marry either of them. Furthermore, upon Angel refusing to forgive Tess about her past with Alec, Tess begins thinking of committing suicide for the sake of Angel. She says to Angel that “[the suicide] was thought of entirely on your account—to set you free without the scandal of the divorce that I thought you would have to get. I should never have dreamt of doing it on mine,” which shows the severity of Angels influence on her since she would go so far as to commit suicide not for her own benefit, but so that he can rid himself of her. What she wants for herself is a secondary thought while Angel’s desires are the forefront. This coincides with Reagin’s analysis of women in the Victorian era in which she says that the inherent qualities of women include emotion and selflessness among other things. The reactions of Retty and Marian and in Tess’s overly emotional response to Angel’s neglect of her show the emotional side of women, while Tess’s willingness to sacrifice herself so that Angel can live without having scandal to his name shows the selfless side of women. Men don’t necessarily have to assert their dominance for them to have influence on women’s lives. Women were seen as naturally inferior, and; therefore, easily swayed by men due to society’s perception of them being irrational and sensitive, which is how Hardy portrayed women in Tess of the D’urbervilles.
Since men took the role of the governing gender, they were the ones capable of earning an income and making a living for themselves. This is shown when Tess’s family falls short of money due to the death of their horse, Prince, and the family persuades Tess to go to the dairy farm so that she can marry a man and brings back money for her family. When Tess is reluctant to go to the dairy farm, her family chimes in saying, “Tess won’t go-o-o and be made a la-a-ady of!—no, she says she wo-o-on’t….and we she shan’t have a nice new horse, and lots o’ golden money” (Hardy 34). Tess’s family chooses to overlook the fact that she does not want to go for they want her to marry Alec and bring her family wealth. The women depended on the men to bring them wealth, rather than women trying to provide money for themselves. When Tess and her family, once again, need money due to Angel’s disappearance from Tess’s life, Alec acknowledges that Tess needs a man to provide for her and he offers to help her if she marries him. Tess rejects him claiming that she has plenty of money at her father-in-law’s house if she asks for it (Hardy 280). As said by Reagin, “women did not have the option not to marry: it was simply a necessity for survival. Because society prevented women from making their own living, there was an inescapable dependence upon men’s income”. Alec uses this to his advantage when asking for Tess’s hand in marriage; for he acknowledges his social dominance over her and knows that she needs his income in order for her and her poor family to survive. Even when she says that she has another source of money, Tess still validates the statement that women depend on a man’s income for she refers to the money that Angel left for her. In the words of Reagin, “no matter what the women desired, most were predestined to become wives due to their economic reliance on men”. Therefore, Men automatically had social dominance, for even if a woman wished to gain an income that would sufficiently provide for her and her family, the opportunities for work that were given to women at the time did not cover the expenses that a family needs, so a woman needed to marry so that a man can cover her expenses.
Tess portrayed a submissive and passive women, as expected of women at the time, especially when given orders by the most prominent man in her life, Angel. Angel’s orders were not to be questioned, and she never even thought to disobey him. In fact, she gladly and blindly followed his order. When talking to Angel after the revelation of her past with Alec, Tess says, “I shan’t do anything, unless you order me to. And if you go away from me, I shall not follow ‘ee: and if you never speak to me any more I shall not ask why, unless you tell me I may” (180). This shows Tess’s submission to Angel as she willingly obeys him whole-heartedly without questioning any of his orders or actions. As she continues to show her loyalty and obedience, Tess says, “I will obey you, like your wretched slave, even if it is to lie down and die” (180). Once again, Tess does not try to take charge of her own live and make her own decisions on how she wants to act and think in light of the troubles in her relationship caused by her past. Instead, Tess decides to obey her husband, and she does not mind whatever lengths he wants her to go to in her obedience of him, even if it means death. Married women in the Victorian era gave up their rights and their identity when they married, and the husbands’ thoughts in turn were reflected in the wives’ thoughts as the “unquestionable truth” (Reagin). So, Hardy portrayed Tess as the stereotypical woman in the Victorian era, for her passivity and willingness to abide by the orders of her husband, Angel, caused her incapability of having original thought. She lets her husband make all the decisions and do all the thinking for her, and she gladly reflects his thoughts in her actions.
Despite the fact that Tess, and women in general, were often held accountable for and looked down upon for their sins, the men at the time were permitted to roam free, for they were impervious to judgment. When Tess tells her mother about Alec taking advantage of her, Tess’s mother does not put any of the blame on Alec for raping her. Instead she tells Tess that she “ought to have been more careful, if [she] didn’t mean to get him to make [her] his wife” (Hardy 64). Tess is held accountable for her actions more than Alec is despite the fact that Alec seemed to have a more prevalent role in the sin that was committed. In addition, Alec was never mentioned after Tess gave birth to his baby, and no one expected him to provide or take care of Tess and the baby. The responsibility was put entirely on Tess while Alec continued to do as he pleased. This idea that men are not subject to judgment is also present in Tess and Angel’s relationship when Tess confesses about her past and asks Angel to forgive her. Angel has already confessed to his past with a woman, and Tess forgives him, but when Tess asks for Angel’s forgiveness, he says to her, “forgiveness does not apply to the case. You were one person: now you are another” (Hardy 179). Tess and Angel have both committed the sin of premarital sex. Furthermore, Tess consented less to the action than Angel did, yet Tess is held accountable for her sins more than Angel is for his. When he tells her that her sins are unforgiveable, she does not question him in that. She does not bother to point out the similarity of her and Angel’s sins. Instead, she begs for forgiveness and feels ashamed while not holding him accountable for his injustice towards her. In correspondence with Angel’s expectations of a virginal wife, despite not being one himself, Reagin says in her essay that women were expected to be virgins to even be recognized as a potential wife, which explains Angel’s reluctance to accept and forgive Tess’s past. Furthermore, Reagin states that men in the Victorian era expected their wives to be virgins, yet “this requirement of chastity and absolute purity was not expected of men, as the potential husband had the freedom to participate in premarital and extramarital sexual relationships”. In this regard, men view themselves as superior to women for they commit sins freely and don’t expect judgment from neither women nor society. In addition, this explains why Alec was not held accountable for taking advantage of Tess, for premarital relationships were not abnormal for men, and it also shows why Angel’s past relationship did not carry as much weight as Tess’s, despite the fact that Tess did not consent to sex in her past while Angel did. In general, Victorian society did not expect women to rationally think for themselves, so they were not permitted to have premarital relations, much less think of love and sex at all, especially if they were single women. Society viewed men; however, as independent, rational beings driven by self-interest, so they were expected to make their own decisions and go after what they desired. So when men attained what they desired, sinful or not, society’s perception of them as rational beings excused them from being held accountable for their actions.
Hardy created a society in Tess of the D’urberviles that reflected the society in the Victorian era, which explains why Tess, like any Victorian woman, was submissive, emotional, and dependent, while the men took the prominent role in society. Women naturally took the inferior role in society as they depended on the men to make the decisions and the money for them. Although appropriate for its time of publication, the society and the gender roles do not reflect society today. Although women and men may not be seen as undeniable equals, feminism is on the rise and has fortunately made progress since the Victorian era. Women have many more privileges now than ever, for they have almost all the same opportunities in the work field as men, they can able to form and state their own opinions without men asserting their own opinions as the superior one, and the biggest progress of all, they are able to exercise their right to vote. In contrast, Women are still subject to judgment in the media based on their looks or their weight, as the media often criticize women for being too skinny or too heavy. Furthermore, men still assert their dominance over women in songs that degrade women and talk about a woman as a sex object rather than an actual being, and these songs seem to be the most popular in today’s generation. Also popular in today’s generation are the jokes that many young men make about feminism and women’s rights, which hinder the equality that women and men are meant to have in modern day society. Men are also seen as more dominant in the work force today, for they are being paid 77 cents per hour more than women in the same job as stated by Sara Glynn in her article titled “On Pay Equity Day, Why Women Are Paid Less Than Men”. In addition, “eight out of ten women say they still do more housework than their husbands” and according to research the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), only one in 10 married men do an equal amount and 13 percent do more work, which shows that society still regards women as responsible for house duties, while the responsibility of the work and the income is primarily on the man (Has Feminism Failed?). So, despite the fact that society has progressed much since the Victorian era, so much that the gender roles in Tess of the D’urbervilles seem almost foreign to the modern day woman; society still has a progress to make in its gender equality.