Tess of the D’Urbervilles is Victorian writer Thomas Hardy’s 12th novel. It was first published in 1891 as a serial in the newspaper The Graphic; this serialized publication was followed by a three-volume edition in 1891 and a single volume in 1892. Like many of Hardy’s other realist novels, Tess is set in the fictional, southwestern English region of Wessex, using fictional locations closely modelled after real ones. Hardy’s sympathetic portrayal of a young woman who becomes an unwed mother made the novel controversial, but it was also commercially successful. Through his depiction of Tess’s tragic life, Hardy explores themes of social stigma, gender, class injustice, and the inevitability of fate. This guide references the 2005 Oxford World’s Classics edition and contains references to rape.

Plot Summary

The novel is set primarily in the English countryside during the 19th century. John Durbeyfield and his wife Joan make a very modest living as farmers but tend to be irresponsible in how they take care of their large family. Their eldest daughter, Tess, is beautiful and intelligent, and she often must help support her family. John and Joan become convinced that they are related to the wealthy d’Urberville family and decide to send Tess to get to know the family in hopes that she will end up marrying a wealthy man. Due to their efforts, Tess ends up meeting Alec d’Urberville, a wealthy and spoiled young man. Alec is attracted to Tess and arranges for her to come and live at the d’Urberville residence under the pretext of caring for his mother’s birds.

Tess is suspicious of Alec, but one night, after a mishap coming home from an outing at a nearby village, she ends up alone with him in a wooded thicket. Alec has sex with Tess; it is not clear to what extent she consents to this encounter, but afterwards she is clearly unhappy. Tess returns to her family ashamed and brokenhearted; she eventually gives birth to an illegitimate child, whom she names Sorrow. Sorrow dies as an infant, leaving Tess devastated. She decides to try to move forward with her life and finds work as a dairymaid in a different area.

Tess settles into a peaceful life working as a dairymaid and winds up falling in love with a young man named Angel Clare, who is also employed at the dairy. Angel comes from a well-educated and deeply religious family; Tess wonders repeatedly if she should tell Angel about her past but hesitates to do so. On the night of their wedding, Angel admits to a previous romantic relationship with an older woman; this confession emboldens Tess to tell him about her experience with Alec and their deceased child. Angel is distraught and judgmental; he and Tess separate, and he goes to Brazil. Abandoned, Tess struggles to find work and sustain herself; she also reencounters Alec, who begins pressuring her to resume their relationship. When her father dies and her mother falls ill, Tess begins to consider accepting Alec’s financial help in order to take care of her family.

Angel finally decides to forgive Tess and journeys back to England to reunite with her. After a long time looking for her, he finds Tess at an expensive inn. He tells her that he wants to reunite and put the past behind them, but Tess explains that in his absence, she has reunited with Alec and become his mistress. Angel leaves in shock, and Tess argues with Alec. In a fit of emotion, she stabs him to death and then flees. Tess catches up to Angel and explains what has happened. The two of them spend several days in isolation, hiding out. Eventually, authorities catch up to them at Stonehenge, where Tess peacefully submits to arrest. She has already asked Angel to take care of her family and to marry her sister Liza-Lu. At the end of the novel, Angel and Liza-Lu stand outside of the prison and see confirmation that Tess has been executed for Alec’s murder.