num_pages: 360
description: Set in Hardy's Wessex, Tess is a moving novel of hypocrisy and double standards. Its challenging sub-title, "A Pure Woman", infuriated critics when the book was first published in 1891, and it was condemned as immoral and pessimistic. It tells of Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, who learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urbeville. In her search for respectability her fortunes fluctuate wildly, and the story assumes the proportions of a Greek tragedy. It explores Tess' relationships with two very different men, her struggle against the social mores of the rural Victorian world which she inhabits and the hypocrisy of the age.
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: 276763
places: Dorset, England, United Kingdom
publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd