内容提要
Set in Hardy’s Wessex,Tess of the d’Urbervilles 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'Urberville。 In her search for respectability her fortunes fluctuate wildly,and the story assumes the proportions of a Greek tragedy。 It explores Tess’s relationships with two very different men,her struggles against the social mores of the rural Victorian world which she inhabits and the hypocrisy of the age。
In addressing the double standards of the time,Hardy’s masterly evocation of a world which we have lost,provides one of the most compelling stories in the canon of English literature,whose appeal today defies the judgement of Hardy’s contemporary critics。
目录
PHASE THE FIRST
TheMaiden
CHAPTERSI--XI
PHASE THE SECOND
MaidenNoMore
CHAPTERSXII--XV
PHASE THE THIRD
TheRally
CHAPTERSXVI--XXIV
PHASE THEF OURTH
TheConsequence
CHAPTERS XXV--XXXIV
PHASE THE FIFTH
TheWomanPays
CHAPTERS XXXV--XLIV
PHASE THE SIXTH
TheConvert
CHAPTERS XLV--LII
PHASE THE SEVENTH
Fulfilment
CHAPTERS LIII--LIX
NOTES TO THE TEXT