Hardys Use Of Nature English Literature Essay

Throughout the novel, Hardy uses various aspects of nature in different ways in order to help tell the story. In Tess of the DUrbervilles, Hardy has written it so that Tess’s life simply gets worse and worse until her death at the end. Nature does not help her, with Hardy portraying it as being unsympathetic, uncaring, and unforgiving.

Hardy uses seasons, and setting of location in the novel to portray the passing of time; phases in Tess’s life and new emotions associated with these new phases. At the start of the novel in chapters I and II, the location is set in Marlott, where the character of Tess lives. It is the spring, in May; Marlott is described by Hardy as though being almost flawless, as a “fertile and sheltered tract of country”. This description is used to portray early on, the purity and sexual innocence of Tess which will be degraded throughout the novel

When Tess travels to visit Alec, Hardy transforms her surroundings, making The Slopes appear out of place and unnatural. This gives the reader a sense of uncertainty about what is about to happen to Tess. This is shown as Hardy writes how the house is “of the same rich crimson colour that formed such a contrast with the evergreens of the lodge” This colour, crimson, is evidently very out of place in a green forest setting. Tess also says “I thought we were an old family; but this is all new!” This shows her naivety and her own worry for the situation she is about to encounter. Also, she is surrounded by ‘Druidical mistletoe’ while at The Slopes. This relates to how people are often seduced under mistletoe, therefore foreshadowing how she is going to be seduced there later by Alec in the autumn.

At the start of phase the third, Hardy writes about Tess’s finding of work in Talbothays dairy in the summer. He describes this setting in a more positive way, because this is a happy time for Tess, as she meets Angel. Talbothays is described as “the verdant plain so well watered by the river Var or Froom”. ‘Verdant’ makes it seem as though it is a green, healthy and luxurious place which is the impression that Hardy is trying to set in. Hardy begins to describe normal things in a more sexual way, to reflect what is going to happen in Talbothays. For example, “..the milk oozed forth and fell in drops to the ground.”

In complete contrast to Talbothays, in chapter XLII, Hardy describes Flintcombe-Ash as a barren land, and it is now winter. Tess is now very miserable and lonely. This pathetic fallacy is made to help us feel sorry for Tess’s now considerably less fortunate circumstances. “Here the air was dry and cold … hedges mercilessly plashed down”. The use of the word ‘mercilessly’ describes how everything around Tess appears to be against her, including nature. Hardy specifically expresses this in chapter XIV, “…that bastard gift of shameless Nature who respects not the civil law…”.This describes how nature does not care that she was raped, unlike the civil law, which would.

Hardy uses animal imagery within the novel to perhaps foreshadow the hidden themes and to metaphorically represent Tess. For example, in chapter IX Tess goes to work for Mrs D’Urberville in her poultry house. This means that right at this point of the novel, we are already associating her with an animal which is trapped in captivity. Mrs d’Urberville asks Tess, “‘Can you whistle?'” She cannot, so Alec has to teach her. For birds in the wild, whistling is a way of a bird trying to attract or seduce a mate, therefore the fact that Alec has to teach Tess to whistle means that his seducing has already started. On the other hand, the fact that Tess cannot whistle yet may also be implying that she is too young and not ready for sex.

In the novel, Hardy has written it so it is as though Tess is accompanied by birds frequently, and so reflects her similarities to the animal – about how she is trapped like a bird in a cage, and cannot escape her fate at the end of the novel. This is perhaps subtly foreshadowed in chapter XIX. “Tess, like a fascinated bird, could not leave the spot.” This implies that she cannot control the fact that she is listening to Angel’s music, and the fact that she will be trapped by fate is inevitable. Birds also appear at various points in the novel. For example, in chapter XLI, when Tess finds some injured birds. Her “first thought was to put the still-living birds out of their torture … she broke the necks of as many as she could find.” This act perhaps foreshadows her own death which is inescapable. On the other hand, it may also be interpreted as though Tess can feel the birds’ pain, so kills them to put them out of their misery; as she has experienced similar pain that they have. They have been hurt by causes beyond their control – like Tess’s rape.

In the novel, Hardy uses weather, among other aspects of nature in a way that will reflect the story’s events. For example, when Tess is first raped by Alec in chapter XI, The Chase is surrounded by a thick fog. Alec says, “…owing to this fog, which so disguises everything…” It is made to seem as though the fog, and therefore nature itself is uncaring. It is made to seem as though nature cares not for common morals, but only for itself, as it is happy for Tess to become pregnant, caring not that it is through rape. Hardy also personifies nature, for example at the start of chapter XXIII, “The hot weather of July had crept upon them…” the use of the word ‘crept’ is effective as it describes how quickly time has passed for her, and how such unexpected events have happened so quickly.

Hardy effectively uses pathetic fallacy within the novel in order to portray certain events to help the reader to empathise with the character of Tess. The best example of this is in chapter XIV when Tess is trying to baptise her baby before she knows it will die. Darkness is often associated with sad feelings and thoughts. Chapter XIV contains very sad and discomforting themes so Hardy uses dark colours and night time to help increase the atmosphere. “…shone in the gloom surrounding her.”

As the story goes on, the character of Tess matures, and it is as though nature around her also matures and changes accordingly to how she does. This is shown effectively in chapter XX. In this chapter, the development of Tess and Angel’s love is described, and this is reflected in Hardy’s description of nature in the first few lines. “The season developed and matured. Another year’s instalment of flowers, leaves, nightingales … took up their positions where only a year ago others had stood in their place…” The use of the word ‘instalment’ portrays how the life of nature, and also Tess works in cycles, and each generation of nature is somewhat unimportant, only coming in ‘instalments’. Unimportance and insignificance is a common theme throughout the novel. This is also depicted in chapter XI when Tess is raped. “Already at that hour some sons of the forest were stirring and striking lights…” It is as though nature is uncaring and goes on as normal around the awful events that are happening at the same time.

In the novel, nature is meant to come across as being amoral and uncaring. This is most reflected in the passage about her baby Sorrow being a ‘bastard gift’ from nature, which does not care as to how it came about, in contrast to the law which would have punished Alec. But also, nature is portrayed as though it doesn’t judge Tess for what has happened, thus also meaning it does not judge Alec.