Tess Durbeyfield - A beauty is a curse

Článek opět v AJ, ale další budou již v ČJ :) (i když nevim, komu to píšu, ale třeba mezi váma je někdo, kdo to tu pravidelně navštěvuje, i když o tom pochybuju, vlastně :D)

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (second half)

I want to write my opinion on this book first. I really like it! In fact, second half of the book is better (more action, less description). Last chapters were so suspenseful and gripping that I couldn’t stop reading.

Tess Durbeyfield – a beauty is a curse. A young woman who is struggles with her burden, struggles with her life after her split up with husband. I feel sorry for her. She grows up from a naive girl to woman who tries to be strong. I am really happy that she is in the end with Angel again (even for a short time). She kills Alec, she ends in a prison (she does not deserve it, of course, it is a murder but…).

Angel Clare – I know that this guy is not as good as he looks like. He tells Tess something about his past and Tess tells him something about her past. Actually, she wants to tell her secret which is tormenting before their wedding but… she says it after the wedding. Angel sees it as a big big problem, he is aggrieved and offended. I think he is kinda selfish.
WHAT is important? -> the past or the present? In my opinion, definitely the present. The past is the past. An important thing is that Tess loves Angel so much, probably much more than he loves her (as we can see in Tess’s life).
He goes to Brazil, then he comes back and in this case we can see that he realizes his love to Tess. He was hasty and he knows it. He finds her, she does not care. In the end, Tess changes her decision and hurries to him. They go through a great time, time of happiness (even it is short time).

Alec d’Urberville – disgusting and creepy guy. He changes but when he sees Tess, he is the same guy. Well, I call him a stalker. I am pleased that Tess kills him. I confess, I was in shock but it does not matter (if I was on her place, I would do that a long time ago).

Marian, Izz, Retty – These girls are in love with Angel but he picks Tess. For someone this will be a horrible disaster and maybe someone will hate Tess but these milkmaids not. On the other way, they still love Tess. Unfortunately, after Angel and Tess leaving, Marian turns to drink, Retty attempts suicide and Izz is not happy too (she almost go to Brazil with Angel). Poor girls. Nevertheless, Marian helps Tess with a job. Finally, Marian and Izz write a message for Angel about Tess’s intense love, so I consider this as a pretty good action.

Liza-Lu Durbeyfield – we do not know about this girl much. She is Tess’s younger sister. Liza-Lu is just like Tess – she has her good qualities and none of her bad qualities and she is her younger copy (of the appearance, except little exceptions).

After all, this book is great written. Most of story is sad. And sadder thing is, that everything contains in this book, can happen.

-š