Tess' Character Flaws Laura Lee

Some of the most readable and critically acclaimed social commentaries in the English language, such as Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, employ a fascinating protagonist and numerous sarcastic intrusions. Thomas Hardy similarly produces a beautiful novel in Tess of the d'Urbervilles because of his intriguing characterization and his willingness to step into the story. While Hardy's intrusions add to the story, his attempts to portray Tess as a completely admirable character fail; instead, she is a normal person -sometimes admirable, sometimes not- and it is due to this that she is so pitiable.

Admittedly, Tess is a likable and admirable person at a few instances throughout the book. For example, when Tess realizes that Angel loves only a false image of her, she refuses to attempt to win him back even though it is in her power. As Jean Jacques Rousseau said, "Only when the voice of duty replaces physical impulse" does man find himself "ennobled" and "elevated"; Tess is a remarkably noble admirable person at this moment because most readers acknowledge that they would be unable to resist the same temptation. The "many effective...