GD GOENKA WORLD SCHOOL
Extended Essay

What is the role and significance of women in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbevilles’ and George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’?

Candidate Name: Jaee Sherlekar
Candidate Number: 002279-104 Session: May 2011
Subject: English A1
Level: Higher Level
Word Count: 4000
Supervisor: Ms. Jyoti Ahuja

Abstract:
In this essay, I have attempted to bring out the reality of the “glorious” Victorian Era. An era which is said to be the time when the world took its first steps towards reform in terms of technology, medicine, entertainment - every section of the society was touched with the reform but women were still shackled in the society’s ideals.
“What is the role and significance of women in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbevilles’ and George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’?”
‘Tess of the D’Urbevilles’ is a book which mocked at the norms about the purity of a woman. I have tried to analyse the struggle of a woman through the seven stages of her life whereby man is not punished for his sins but the woman has to suffer the brutality of life. It is about the doomed life of Tess Durbeyfield, who at every stage of life, struggled for her identity.
‘Middlemarch’ again a book defining the lives in the Victorian Era where some sky-castles are built and with a change of fate, they shatter on the ground like glass pieces. They take decisions which define their lives and yet at the end they are bound in the walls of the society. This research is attempted in bringing out the real role which a woman played in the Victorian Era with the help of George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbevilles.
Through this research, I learnt that in Victorian Era women were mere puppets but in reality; women are more than just porcelain dolls and have a significant role in building a world and therefore command equality in society. (Word Count - 271 words)

Table of Contents
Introduction - 4
Purity of a Woman: Angels or Whores - 6
Love, Marriage, Education: The Hidden Desires - 12
Conclusion - 17
Bibliography - 18

Introduction:
The Women in the Victorian Era were like birds trapped in a golden cage in the male dominated society. They were the domestically cultivated flowers - innocent, graceful, delicate, righteous and dutiful but could never be like the wild flowers of the woods - uncontrollable and free to sway. They are idealised as the seraph in the house, the helpmate of man and also claimed as the property of their husbands. Education for them was confined to the teachings that would help them bring up their children and to keep the house. The society offered them little in occupation and therefore their aims were - securing a husband, yielding to the political propaganda. The importance which was attached to the roles of wifehood and motherhood led to marriage being believed to be the archetype of womanly completion, alternatives to which were observed as disgraceful or perverted.
During this era, authors like Charlotte Brontë and Anne Brontë in their novels Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall brought to life an atypical Victorian woman who had the sense of right and wrong and stood for herself and challenged the so-called morals of the society and told the story of a woman who “dared to shut the door of the room on her husband’s face” and thus stood up against the abuse she was bestowed with respectively. Anne’s novel was amongst the first ones promoting feminism but was fiercely thrashed by the society. During the same period, Thomas Hardy in Tess of the D’Urbevilles attempted to ridicule the Victorian notions about the purity of a woman. George Eliot, in Middlemarch traced the lives of women who were strong willed and took decisions of their lives without any dominance. Hardy and Eliot exposed the darker side of the society and the reality of the Victorian Era respectively.
The main aim behind researching on this topic was to explore the Victorian women and their lives and to compare it to the life we lead today hence the research question,
What is the role and significance of women in Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbevilles’ and George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’?
The strong opinion that I hold in support of feminism acted as the catalyst in developing on this research. Tess of D’Urbevilles and Middlemarch are two books which more or less have covered all the issues which were prominent during the time that was - whether it’s about virginity, lust, passion and victimhood of women or desire of being educated, choosing the right husband, desire of upliftment in the societal hierarchy - these books have recreated the Victorian women and were perfect for a research on the lives of shackled gender.

Purity of a Woman - Angel or Whore:
Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbevilles is a sympathetic often notorious depiction of young women predominantly of the lower class, persecuted by the sanctimonious inflexibility of Victorian societal ethics. It comments on the sexual two-facedness of the Victorian society. It’s a journey of transformation of a young maiden into a victim of social norms - bruised yet strong.
In the first phase - Maiden, a moment of fate paves the path of Tess Durbeyfield’s tragedy when the local parson, Tringham addresses John Durbeyfield as “Sir John” and informs him about his splendid ancestry and about his roots linked to the noble D’Urbevilles. The fact that the revelation of the identity happens right at the beginning of the novel, reminds the readers of Shakespeare’s tragedy - Macbeth. In the opening of Macbeth, the witches address Macbeth as “Thane of Cawdor” and later “King of Scotland”. Noble address leads to catastrophic events and deaths in Macbeth - in this case it leads to disastrous reforms in Tess’ life. She enters the story dancing with other maidens on the May Day, in a white dress with white branches and flowers in her hands. Her introduction in something white which is reminiscent with purity and truth, reminds the readers of the subtitle of the novel - A Pure Woman. The anxiety and envy faced by the young women on the arrival of Angel Clare, highlights the desire of acceptance from an attractive high stature man. It is very ironical that the very ancestry which builds hopes inside the parents of Tess about them rising in the social hierarchy turns out to be the reason for the inescapable catastrophe that fate brings for them. Her sense of conscientiousness is highlighted when she decides to deliver the work which is ignored by her parents but realizes that due to a mistake, she killed the horse that was the only source of income. The guilt ridden Tess seeks to claim kinsmanship and decides to meet Mrs. D’Urbevilles unknown to the fact that Mrs. D’Urbevilles’ husband had bought the title and had no links to the noble family. The darkness enters Tess’ life in the form of Alec D’Urbevilles who is her libertine cousin and son of Mrs. D’Urbevilles and at once charmed by her beauty, appoints her as the poultry keeper. The day when Tess leaves with Alec, the tears of her family and the insecurities they feel about sending Tess with him foreshadow the unnerving pains she is going to face in Trantridge. Alec’s abhorrent advances heighten the suspense and the fear of what Tess is walking herself into.
“Let me put one little kiss on those holmberry lips, Tess; or even on that warmed cheek, and I’ll stop - on my honour, I will!”
Tess clearly shows her dislike and repels him verbally yet cannot help but tolerate his importunate redundant interest because she feels she has no alternative, as she must earn enough for her family. It is ironic to see that Tess who is sent to take advantage of the ancestral correlation in place is taken advantage of by Alec, her so called kinsman. The “purity” of the woman tagged by the society is ridiculed when at the mere age of sixteen; Alec takes advantage of her sexually. Hardy uses pathetic fallacy to show the emotions felt by Tess when Alec leaves to find a road back to Trantridge. The atmosphere is misty and foggy reflecting her inner perplexity and uncertainty. This setting works as a mystery in which Hardy never reveals whether Tess is seduced or raped.
With a set of coincidences, Hardy tries to convey that Tess’s hardship is truly preordained, she is not liable for it, and she cannot really be judged as fine or dire. This mystery is archetypal of Hardy - he makes the readers feel compassionate towards Tess, making them consider vigilantly regarding the morals and realistic perception of her decisions, and then jolts them by voicing sagaciously that all of these moral contemplations are extraneous.
After the heart-rending fall in first phase of her life, in the second phase - Maiden No More, the readers notice a growth in her character. This is the intermediary epoch which takes Tess from the panorama of her dishonour to an assurance of a fresh verve in Talbothays. It begins with Tess standing up against what fate decided for her and thus eloping back to her family. Her marble reaction to Alec’s kisses on the name of companionship just shows the pain which she is suffering that moment. Her formless look highlights the deadness towards what he is doing. Tess’ refusal to marry Alec despite the societal advantages the match would bring and refusal to accept any help from him show that she is something more than just an ignorant prey; her uprightness and valour make her valiant. Her cry to her frustrated mother, who wanted Tess to accept Alec, highlights the innocence in her which Alec trampled for his pleasures.
“How could I be expected to know? I was a child when I left this house four months ago. Why didn’t you tell me there was danger? Why didn’t you warn me?”
Her claims about not knowing the menaces a bloke such as Alec facade and to make her suffer for submitting to an unknown threat rouses the emotions and raises questions over the so-called elite society which always reprimands the woman whereas the man soars as a free bird. The depression she is going through can unmistakably be witnessed when she loathes the dawn. ‘Sorrow’, her sickly son who dies in a week’s time, symbolises his birth conditions. Her desire for happiness and to unshackle herself from what the fate has decided for her is shown when she makes her mind to work in Talbothays.
The happiest phase of her life starts - The Rally in which she finds love in Angel Clare. There is a development in Tess in terms of her pristine triumph: her homecoming to typical verve, her accomplishment as an employee, and her victory as a more righteous lover. There is a callous irony in terms of Angel’s first inkling of Tess as “virginal” is underplayed by her self-denying asset going to the degree of keeping away from him. A conflict between her love for Angel and her morals which deny her to move forward with the love matter arouses.
The next phase shows the conflict Tess is facing, regarding her past and future. Her conscience is too strong to let her live with the secret. This section brings out the real conflict of morals - Tess’ wish to be happy and to be loved by Angel and her commitment to tell him about her past. Since Tess has such a strong impulse for self-delight, she is able to hold-up and defy her principles but her even stronger nous of ethical responsibility, does not allow her to defy anymore; the section ends as she starts on her story.
The emphasis on purity of a woman reaches its peak in the next phase when Angel who himself had been involved in pre-marital sex abandons Tess after the revelation of her past. The double standard mentality of men comes into light when Angel simply mentions that she is not the woman he fell in love with, or got married to.
“I have forgiven you for the same.”
Ambience is again a very vital factor as Tess is in the vicinity of the zenith of her tragedy; the sense of mystical darkness strengthens. As they say goodbye, she seems no less than a corpse. Undeniably, it appears that Angel has killed her soul and her yearning to survive. It is evident at this moment that Tess can never getaway the immoral of the past, either communally or individually. The drama heightens when Alec returns to her life at the moment of her greatest weakness and she has to fight the temptation to give in to him so as to help her family once again. It seems as if fate doesn’t want Tess to overcome the tragedies of her life. The next phase - The Convert is a struggle of Tess to remain free from Alec despite her family’s frantic quandary, which he has the clout to lessen if Tess consents to love him. This time the conflict is within Tess as two of her inmost merits, her uprightness and her devotion to her family, pull her towards opposite paths. Her honour stresses that she stay away from Alec, whom she does not love, but her obligation to her family lures her to go with him to save her mother and her siblings. Her helplessness after the final surrender to Alec is highlighted when she in the D’Urbevilles aisle says,
“Why am I on the wrong side of the door?”
Izz and Marian’s letter to Angel Clare clearly points that every suffering has to have a limit and that till what extent would Tess be able to bear all the pains that fate had introduced in her life? It also questions Angel’s love for his wife.
“Sir, there is one near her who ought to be Away. A woman should not be try’d beyond her Strength, and continual dropping will wear away a Stone - ay, more - a Diamond.”
The seventh phase comes as the conclusion to the tragedy where Angel comes repenting to Tess, only to see her as a mistress to Alec. Bruised due to the wounds given to her by fate time and again, she kills Alec to reconcile with Angel. The readers realise that Tess has finally lost the battle of life and the relief on her face after being caught by men highlights that she has already vanished in the murk of her fate. With her death, the novel ends leaving numerous questions in the reader’s mind - why men and women are not judged on the same terms? Tess all her life suffered for the crimes which she never did and lived a life more degraded from what she deserved. Are women only distinguished on the terms of angels and whores?

Love, Marriage, Education - The Hidden Desires:
George Eliot’s Middlemarch brings out the conventional reality of the society where we reside. Through an inter-woven narrative, the novel describes the lives of women and the decisions they took. It’s a compilation of relationships between several characters that together represent the provincial life in Midlands’s town of Middlemarch.
First in the narrative is Dorothea, an orphan living with her uncle Mr. Brooke and sister Celia. Eliot uses the metaphor “cygnet among the ducklings” to bring out Dorothea’s character who though dresses feebly yet is considered to be really beautiful. Dorothea is an incomparable woman: she is smart, virtuous, and beautiful, and the foremost outlook of her character is her yearning to assist the deprived. This trait of hers is clearly highlighted in her persuading Mr. Brooke in spending more money on socially responsible projects rather than supervacaneous entertainment. She possesses strong opinions and is highly intellectual whereas women are expected to “have weak opinions”. She is immovable and strong-minded which can be seen when despite all advices; she marries aged, lacklustre and unattractive Casaubon as described by Celia. Her main attraction towards him is due to his distinguished and cerebral discussions. She hopes to live her dreams of intellectual life by assisting Casaubon in his research. As his wife, Dorothea wishes to support Casaubon in his erudite quests like the poet John Milton's daughters assisted their father. Through this role, she can achieve contact to the education accessible to men only. It is to be noted that Milton and Casaubon stand as mirror reflection as Milton was blind and Casaubon’s eye sight is failing. Milton’s daughters were scribes for their father but saw him as a persecutor and never liked working under him. This seems as foreshadow to the marriage and Dorothea’s ultimate frustration as Casaubon’s wife and helpmate. She has an idealistic approach to things which do not coincide with her societal reality and is forced to undergo the process of disillusionment. This occurs from the limitations placed on women's access to the civic communal world, but it also occurs because her dreams are plainly impractical. Dorothea pledges to her own idyllic belief of herself and denies her own individual desires. Her self-delusion crops up partially out of need to countenance her quest of higher learning and from her glorification of unselfishness. Her dissatisfaction starts coming up when she feels rejected by Casaubon emotionally at their honeymoon in Rome where he is busy in his work. She starts realizing her marriage’s veracity and Ladislaw’s mocking of Casaubon’s work voices her worries that she has been feeling. Dorothea's persona and basic philosophy of life directly oppose Casaubon's. Their disappointments highlight the human nature as ambiguous. Her feeling of kinship with his ill-fated aunt due to the marital difficulties is a sort of foreshadow of the wedlock of Dorothea and Casaubon. Dorothea has a strong craving to be a restructuring philanthropist. However, as a woman, she can only endorse the reforms she devices through men. Her cottage plans come to execution through Sir James. She endeavours to do the same through Brooke. However, she cannot bring her plans to action without a man to help her which highlights the limitations of women in the Victorian period. Her veneration of self-sacrifice actually happens from a dormant conceit. She expects admiration for her passive self-sacrifice. However, Casaubon considers her self-sacrificing obedience part of her duty as a wife, not a mark of amazing high calibre. He drains Dorothea's vivacity and contentment out of her. She increases his anxieties and self-doubts. The contrasting metaphors of youth and death,
“She was awakened by a sense of light, which seemed to her at first like a sudden vision of sunset after she climbed a steep hill: she opened her eyes and saw her husband” portrays them to take on a melancholic eminence. Casaubon's anonymous promise bears a strong figurative connection to the formation of their marriage. Dorothea never concurs to his promise. His unnamed need troubles her, because she will never be able to satisfy him. The unnamed promise represents the incapability of both to fulfil their idealised expectations of one another. It is a promise never vocal, but one that unavoidably will bust. She feels enraged when gets to know about her deceased husband’s suspicion on her as he mentions that if she marries Ladislaw, she will be disowned of his property. This can be compared to what happened to Casaubon’s ill-fated aunt who was disowned by her family after she married the man of her choice. The different treatment given to a man and a woman is highlighted when Featherstone’ bringing of illegitimate son and making him a wealthy gentleman do not harm his reputation at all but a suspected extra-marital affair that hasn’t been consummated can destroy Dorothea’s reputation completely. Her fidelity to her deceased husband shifts as she feels deceived by his allegation that she was disloyal. She is forced to confront the conflict between her own individual desire and the self-interest of the people she has vowed to help. She stands up to her description as a character and sets back to help Rosamond whom she believes is having an affair with Ladislaw. Her growth as a character is clearly shown when she decides to marry Ladislaw - a marriage of equals, mutual understanding and most importantly emotional connection. Her will to forego the wealth shows her regained rebellious energy with a touch of maturity to it. Though the societal narrow sphere is still present and can never actually pursues her dream of being a philanthropist.
A contrast to Dorothea is the genteel Rosamond Vincy whose interests are not solemn; she is concerned with societal minutiae, upward mobility, and living well. Although Rosamond comes from a middle-class backdrop, her education lifts her to a higher societal sphere. She represents the aptitude to revolutionize social status through demeanour, but in the end her education ruins her marriage and happiness. She is the conventional woman of the Victorian period. She is the perfect “ornament” a man would want but has unrealistic views about her husband and sees Lydgate as the stereotypical hero of romance novels. He too finds her as his “ideal” wife only to find in the need that she is not the best wife for him. The relationships in the novel between men and women are written off as impractical , conventional ideals as can be seen in the case of Rosamond and Lydgate where her conventional “groom” only resides in romantic novels and his “ideal” wife is much more than an ornament.
She believes that he has “aristocratic connections and novelty” and continues deceiving herself. Conservative gender roles place women in a defenceless position. She has only indistinct notions of Lydgate's income. She assumes that he is wealthy because he has aristocratic relations. Her only concept about money is that it will be provided when she wants or needs it. The narrow range of potential for self-realization obtainable to women is perhaps partly responsible for Rosamond's scheming nature. She achieves her dream only through a man. Her cleverness and her capability to manage people deteriorate into self-centred narcissism in the stunted setting available to women. There is no other outlet for her ambitions. Conservative gender roles stifle Rosamond's expected dream, and because of her aggravated yearning, both she and her husband are despondent. Her only passage for this desire is her husband. She treats him like an entity to be manipulated as a way to fulfil her ambitions. Her want for independence can be seen when she does not adhere to her husband’s order and moves out for a ride with his cousin when she is pregnant. Theirs is a conflicting marriage where no spouse understands the other’s viewpoint or can become a support for the other as seen when Rosamond due to her lack of “education” cannot help Lydgate in the financial troubles.
"Rosamond would not confess to herself how much that consequent blank had to do with her utter ennui."
Her husband is a doctor, who doesn't notice the signs of her gloominess. The uncared for, difficult pain of the accident-induced miscarriage leaves her sensitively incompetent of dealing with Lydgate's unexpected disclosure of their indebtedness. She rises above her selfishness and helps Dorothea reconcile with Ladislaw thus giving up her fantasies with him. For the first time, she acts not on her private wishes but for contemplation for someone else. After all the scandals and evolvements, Rosamond and Lydgate fail to make their marriage work.
Eliot captures the truth of Victorian Era perfectly and has brought out the desires of women which remain hidden immaculately. The characters are idealistic, self-absorbed or otherwise out of touch with reality and make mistakes which eventually shatter their illusions about their lives.

Conclusion:
The books bring out the reality of the Victorian Era through their individual storylines. Hardy uses the journey of a girl to bring out the darker side which does not let a woman live her desires and ruins her completely on the basis of “purity” and her “virginal beauty”. It points finger at the societal hypocrisy to which the women are subjected to and thus mocks at the Victorian notions about women through the tragedy of Tess. On the other hand, Eliot brings out the subtle reality with contemporary characters of Dorothea and Rosamond and highlights how their “ideals” result in causing great unhappiness in their lives. It also emphasises on the conventional gender difference thus reasoning the behaviour of the women and bringing out their hidden desires.
After studying lives of women like Tess, Dorothea and Rosamond - a word that remains in my mind is suppression. The whole idea development feels ridiculous when half the society is treated as puppets and the other half are the “proud” puppeteers.
There are questions that rise in the mind at the end of the journey, which remain unanswered. Was it right on Tess’ part to take the law in her hand? Can fate be so cruel on one innocent soul? Was marrying Ladislaw a right decision on Dorothea’s part when she never could achieve her dream even being with him? What would have happened if Dorothea and Lydgate would have been together? These are some questions which remain in the chambers of one’s mind at the end of Tess of D’Urbevilles and Middlemarch. But despite all of this, one may actually find that times may have changed but for women it’s still the same. In the remote areas of society, still they are shackled, still the suppression is prominent and still women are puppets though in the developed regions women have evolved and have left mark of inspirations for many others like us.

Bibliography:
Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, United States of America, Modern Library, 1997.
Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre, United Kingdom, Penguin Classics, 2009.
Eliot, George: Middlemarch, United Kingdom, Everyman Classics, 2009.
Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbevilles, United Kingdom, Penguin Books, 2003.
Shakespeare, William: Macbeth, United Kingdom, Cambridge School Shakespeare, 2005.

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[ 1 ]. Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbevilles, (Penguin Books) Page 55
[ 2 ]. Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbevilles, (Penguin Books) Page 82
[ 3 ]. Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbevilles, (Penguin Books) Page 228
[ 4 ]. Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbevilles, (Penguin Books) Page 364
[ 5 ]. Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D’Urbevilles, (Penguin Books) Page 365
[ 6 ]. George Eliot: Middlemarch, (Everyman Classics) Page 427
[ 7 ]. George Eliot: Middlemarch, (Everyman Classics) Page 593