The President of the Immortals has finally ended his game with Tess: Where could one find such poignant lines if not in Hardy. It is not hard to see that Hardy’s heart goes all out to his protagonist heroine. But what is the inner core? What is it that Hardy has so beautifully and historically(In the context of novel per se)evoked in this momentous novel. Perhaps it is the freedom of the individual, the freedom to make a choice both social and moral for every human being more so Tess in the context of the novel. This freedom is contrary to the moral and social code enforced by the society which is why the tragedy. It is another question that many of the twists in the story in this novel, happen because of the strange quirks of fate; the slipping of the letter under the carpet for example.
Hardy bestows great attention on his heroine making her a beautiful maiden of fortune who has been spurned by fate but yet carrying the weight of a noble line on her The d’urbervilles.’ The insensitivity of society to individual throes and the familiar reaction after a tragedy is Hardy’s question to society at large in this novel which shares its moorings with another great novel Jude the obscure.
The description of rural life, the blossoming of love between Angel and Tess, the succumbing to Alec twice by Tess and the supreme tragedy of Tess make this a fascinating novel.