description: A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading.
language: English
title: Tess of the D'Urbervilles
titlecomplete: Tess of the D'Urbervilles
characters: Angel Clare, Alec D'Urberville, Tess Durbeyfield
genres: Fiction, British Literature, Classic Literature, Literature, Romance, Classics, Novels, 19th Century, Historical Fiction, Victorian
ratings_count: 276842
places: Dorset, England, United Kingdom
publisher: Oxford University Press