Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1892-07-21


To summon forth the bees
"Tess Of the D. Ubervilles," Thomas
Hardy's last book, has created strong
sensation in England and has been only
. little less talked Of on our side OF the
water. No small part of the interest
which the book has aroused is due to the
nature and handling OF the plot, and
more still to the curious challenge in the
subtitle, "The History of Pure Woman
Faithfully Presented" If it had beer
called "The History of Weak Woman
Faithfully Presented" the meaning o.
the story would have been less enigmati-
cal. The fatalism that has always been
the strongest characteristic OF Hardy's
books has full play in this story; more
than ever are his characters pressed by
fate from misery to misery. from mis-
take to wickedness, like "dumb driven
cattle" before an irresistible storm.
The theory of human life which makes
man the helpless creature of Incredibly
and environment, acting and leacting
upon each other, and which admits nc
play for free will, is soothing to certain
class of weak-fbered minds; but the in
stinct of the majority is in open and
wholesome, rebellion against this fore
ordained disposal OF human destiny. 1t
is interesting to trace this rebellion in
the various criticisms that have been
written of "Tess of the D. Uberville's. %
Each critic has discovered for himself
some stumbling-block in the logic OF the
development Of the story against which
he throws himself in protest. If Hardy
had simply faithfully presented" the
character and fate Of Tess, without max
ing himself her advocate, without claim
ing, as he indirectly does, her absolute
inability to do otherwise than she did,
this irritated dissent would not have
been aroused; but it is its debatableness
which has given the book it's hold upon
the public mind. 1t is not simply the
history Of an English peasant woman,
but theory Of human life which Hardy
has written; and which the critics have
been answering according to their various
beliefs.
The importance that book acquires
in stirring the public mind by the theory
it contains is quite distinct and apart
from its Importance as a contribution to
lasting literature. Bellamy's Looking
Backward" is an extreme example of the
book that is read for the theory-and for
the hour. Robert Elsmere" is all the
more hopelessly consigned to oblivion for
its moment of triumph. The fate OF the
novel that is written as a sermon in dis
guise is the fate OF the daily paper,
eagerly snatched, greedily read, discussed
for an hour and thrown aside. Good
work was done on yesterdays paper, and
yet how low it lies. While the furore
o interest lasts the novel Of this class is
lent fictitious value; its claims to i'm
mortality are discussed, but the purpose
that has lent it wings for the short flight
ends by being the milestone that drags it
to oblivion. l think OF no exception to
this rule, unless it be "Uncle Toms
Cabin"
Tie real and wonderful excellence of
Hardy's last novel is the perfection with
which the peasant life and character is
less in the character of Tess
herself than in the minor figures of the
men and maids at work about the dairy.
Hardy's knowledge of nature and the out
of-door life of his peasants is greater than
that of any living writer; he imparts the
very atmosphere of teeming verdure of
he Valley of Froom to his pages. His
gork-people are not the pretty posing
Of the opera but the real, grim,
working peasants of Millet. He puts no
ine-spun sentiments into their lips, nor
loes he explain away their coarsenesses;
hey stand vital in their actual setting,
10 do the "Jolly Beggars" of Burns. In
hAo AooPOSo hoiuy StOIy IN Stedter Illdn
Adam Bede," to which one instinctively
it. In enlisting the sympa-
hetic comprehension of his readers for
he character Of Tess, he falls far short of
GEORGE Eliot in her portrayal of Hetty
orrel. Tess would not have behaved as
he did behave, if she were the woman
Iardy described her. His account of
er actions and of her character do not
but work antagonistically. With
lefty Sorrel we see and understand, we
cquiesce in the over-ruling providence
her creator; but we rebel against the
tie of Tess; we feel that Hardy arbi-
'arily made her do what she did; it is
~! s : ] ! !