Description

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Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a novel by Thomas Hardy. Tess of the d'Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England. Set in Hardy's Wessex, Tess is a moving novel of hypocrisy and double standards. Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, who learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urbeville. 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 struggle against the social mores of the rural Victorian world which she inhabits and the hypocrisy of the age. Received critically by the readers of his era, Thomas Hardy's Tess of d'Urbervilles is a heart-rending tragedy. Listed among the best-loved novels of all time on The Big Read, a survey conducted by BBC, the novel has undergone numerous adaptations and continues to appeal to its readers.