She was. She took the whole "raped-thing" pretty well, and her decision to flee the nest to find work on her own is a great display of strength. It is quite commendable that this woman, robbed of her maidenhead after going off to work, is again going off to work on her own. That is sheer audacity. Supporting herself is a great show of strength. And let me just take this minute to address her prowess as a dairymaid. It is well known that ability to milk a cow is directly related to inner-strength. And her tender, yet firm approach to coaxing milk out of a cow is indicative of her strength. Anyhow...I said she was becoming a stronger person, until she met the farmer-extraordinaire Angel. Yet again she is becoming vulnerable to the advances of a young man. Her independence was the source of her new found strength, but she has fallen back on a man. Forsaking love, which produces the same hormonal effects of eating large amounts of chocolate, for independence is a necessary part of growth. She needs to separate herself from Angel and firmly establish her own identity. When this is complete, she is ready for a relationship. However, Tess has failed to do this; her retrogressive path is setting herself up for failure.
I believe that Tess is not becoming a stronger person because she still makes the same flawed decisions. In the beginning, she trusts Alec because he is familiar and then he takes advantage of her. Similarly, she trusted her mother to tell her that "there were danger in men-folk." Time and time again, she illustrates her vulnerability by trusting people because she knows them. This ideology has lead to major consequences in her life. She seems to act as if she does not have trust or feelings invested in Angel; however, when he leaves to visit his family she is concerned that he has gone. It will be interesting to see what consequences her trust in Angel will have.
It is tempting to say that Tess is becoming a stronger person. At the end of Phase 4, she reveals to Angel what happened between her and Alec. This obviously takes courage. She has to be able to accept what happened and also be prepared to deal with the consequences that will come after telling Angel the truth. Tess appears to be stronger, but I do not believe that she truly is. Although Tess is brave for telling Angel, she is doing so mostly out of fear. She is afraid of what he will do when he finds out, so is determined to tell him as soon as possible in hopes that he will not be too angry. Further, she reveals her secret after Angel reveals his, because she thinks that he will be less angry since he was in a similar situation. So, even though she is doing something brave, her motive behind it is still cowardly and weak.
I feel Tess has become a stronger person. She still isn't perfect but she has come a long way. She didn't deal with being raped very well but she still made her own choice to leave and go back home where her mother told her she shouldn't have, that most would have stayed and married him. Tess grew from being raped, and from loss of her child, and loss of her love when she didn't think she would ever find someone to love her. To keep living after all the bad that has happened to Tess I believe she is strong.
Tess is becoming a stronger person because even after she was able to overcome her rape and fall in love and trust again, Tess got knocked back down. Angel has left her and she has had to face the disappointment and shame of her family over again. Tess shows her strength by leaving her family to go find work so that she can support herself. When her economic position worsens, Tess shows strength by gaining the courage to go and ask Angel's family for help. Tess displays her strength by being humble enough to ask for help when she needs it. However, once Tess decides to return home and not ask for help, that begins to display some weakness. Tess should stand up for herself, because she did not ask to be raped so Angel shouldn't treat her like this.
If i could answer in one word it would be no. She was at one point, that is leaving home to go and milk cows for a living takes a lot of strength because milking cows is a horrible profession. The point though however is that she was becoming independent. And then Angel came. And She just got more submissive to the point where she'd rather see herself dead than to see an unhappy Angel. So to state my point in Chiasmus: when you overcome something, you become less submissive, but you become more submissive when something overcomes you.
I do not think that Tess is becoming a stronger person. She was strong in the beginning of the book because she was willing to leave her home and family out of obedience of her parents. Surviving as a victim of rape does show her tenacity, but keeping it from Alec did not help her case. If she had told Alec before they had started a relationship, I would have more respect for her. She also needs to stand up to Angel and not accept that way he is treating her just because she was raped. It was not her fault that she was raped and instead of rejecting her, Angel should be sympathizing with his wife and being angry with Alec, not blaming it on Tess. If Angel really loved her, he wouldn't leave her for something like this. And if Tess were strong, she wouldn't accept this behavior. I understand Angel being upset, but leaving Tess is making her feel worse. Yes, she has been through a lot, but the way she handles the situations that are thrown at her does not reflect any stability.
In the beginning, it appeared that Tess was going to turn out to be a very strong and independent character. With the turn of events that happened between her and Alec, a typical person would break down but Tess handled it fairly well...or so it seemed. As the book progresses, we as the reader find out that she feels horribly guilty about what happened and blames herself.
Once she succumbs herself to Angel and his desires though, all traces of independence appear to be lost. She is now ready to give in to anything he asks of her. At one point, she is even willing to end her own life for him due to the impurity she possesses.
Now that it has been assumed her and Angel no longer have a future together, we may start to see a rise in the independent side of Tess yet again.
I think Tess at one point was becoming a stronger person. After her rape, we all could see that she changed, and when she realized that the past was the past and she was going to move on, it was clear to say she had become stronger. I think also her relationship with Angel displayed how much stronger she had become because after someone has been raped, you would think they had lost all trust in all men completely. Tess's persuance of Angel marks her strength, and how far she has come. However, now that Angel has learned of her impurity, it is only bringing Tess back to the person she was; She was a person full of guilt and regret. Because of her honesty, she has to deal with Angel's reation which doesn't help her at all. I think now she is weaker than ever, because she doesn't even believe she deserves to live, which to me is the ultimate weakness.
I do believe that Tess became stronger at one point in the text. After the rape, and her few months of isolation, marks the turning point in Tess’s life which essentially leads Tess to become a stronger person. After accepting that the past is the past Tess goes out, finds work, and tries her best to move on with her life. The fact that Tess could even go out and function normally shows a great deal of strength that she acquired. The problem is though is her love for Angel. This relationship is preventing her from growing stronger and most likely making her weaker. Her guilt due to her impurity leads her to feel the need to do absolutely anything to make Angel happy and also makes her feel as if she is nothing without him. To me, this shows how dependant she has become of Angel and dependency is a sign of weakness.
I do not believe that Tess is becoming a stronger person through the course of the book. While she deserves some respect for overcoming her incident with Alec, she is far from the fully-recovered person we would love to see. First of all, her view of her rape keeps her from displaying her true feelings for Angel for a long time. She deters him because she does not think herself worthy. Then, when she finally betrays her real feelings to Angel, she is unable to tell him about the incident and when she finally gathers the courage, it is at the exact wrong moment: immediately following their marriage. When Angel fails to recognize that she is not to blame for the incident, she accepts his view and blames herself for something that was out of her control. Instead of standing up for herself, she submits to Angel's whims and is subservient. Her source of happiness is no longer herself, but she relies on the acceptance of others for her happiness. Therefore , she is not a stronger person now than she was at the begginning, when she was able to stand up to Alec and seemed a happier person.
Tess has become a stronger person. She was raped, and she fell in love again. She got dumped, and she was able to get back on her feet. So many traumatic events have happened in Tess' past, and she somehow finds a way to fight through them and get past them. People today would be stuck and not be able to get passed these events, but Tess stayed strong and moved on with her life.
I beleive that Tess is becoming a stronger person. Firstly, because she has slowley managed to overcome her past. I commend her for this because she is slowly letting go of all the emotional and mental instability that Alec has installed in her. Secondly, she has managed to move forward,trust, and fall in love again; with Angel. Although Angel soon brings her down and robbs her I beleive, of her dignity, she manages to obtain a job as a dairy maid. This demonstrates her growth as a woman as she attepts to support herself and not depend on a man. However, as her economic position gets worse, she also gains the courage to ask Angels parents for money, which also demonstrates her change and growth as a charecter.
I do not think Tess is becoming a stronger person. At times, it seems like she might be taking a step in the right firection but then she turns around and takes it all back. I think the prime example to show that she is not becoming stronger is when she considers suicide. Although she is considering taking her own life for the happiness of her husband, she still feels that suicide might be her only option. Obviously, if she was a strong woman then this would not even enter her mind. She thinks that she can escape her guilt when she goes to be a milk maid, when she marries Angel, and when she tells Angel about Alec but her feelings never change. She never becomes more confident or comfortable in her own skin. She cannot look beyond the past no matter what she does to try and improve how she feels and resolve the guilt. I think Tess is almost breaking down more and more as time goes on since nothing in her life can go right. The only aspect of the novel which might show her becoming stronger is when she finally tells Angel that she was raped. This event is cancelled out because she is so weak, and only continues to become weaker. Tess feels so awful and Angel and her parents do not care to help her so i do not see her ever becoming stronger.
I don't believe that Tess is becoming stronger. I feel like she always has her guard up and pretends that everything is alright, but internally, she is constantly feeling guilty. She does not value herself enough to understand that it was not her fault that she was raped. She was vulnerable and Alec took advantage of her, but that does not make her a bad person (though she believes it does). Also, she feels like she deserves her treatment from Angel. She would lay down her life for someone who has nearly ended their relationship over and incident in her past that she had little control over. I think she needs to learn to love and accept herself first before she can expect anyone else to.
I really have to say that Tess is taking a few steps back in the 'stronger' department. She depends so completely on Angel and just gives herself to him, willing to risk anything and give anything to him. Then, when she is not forgiven by Angel, not only does she have the weight of the rape on her, but now the only person she had felt love for didn't love her anymore. However, I will say that leaving to get a job and sustain herself is definitely a strong move. But the only persond who stands in her way is herself. She needs to get over things and move on for the sake of her future.
Yes and no. Some of Tess’ actions obviously involve a lot of courage and strength: leaving her family, leaving Alec, telling Angel the truth; just to name a few. However, when one looks behind the motives of Tess’ actions the reader realizes that these actions are performed out of fear or some other driving force. For example, in the beginning of the book when Tess is leaving her home for the first time, she is leaving because she feels guilty about killing Prince. She doesn’t leave because she enjoys being around Alec, she didn’t trust him from the start, however, she left anyway because she felt guilty about taking away the family’s main source of income. And when she tells Angel of her rape, she told him because she felt guilty for not telling her husband that she wasn’t pure, and that she wasn’t the wife he thought he was getting. So, yes, at first glance Tess seems like a strong character- I believe deep down she still is- but when taking a closer look at what drives her actions the common conclusion is that Tess is not a very strong person.
No. Tess is so ridiculously portrayed that it is hard to consider the character development to have such an identifiable concept as 'stronger.' The novel is set up to offer promise of good and following the offering - a swift slashing. It is almost paranormal how abysmal Tess' circumstances are. At least to this point, Tess has been somewhat unable to truly develop beyond tragedy. She is more experienced - yes - but in most regards still the family pleasing, social guilt-ridden mess she was at the beginning of the novel; the target of her compiling guilt just keeps changing its master. And to this guilt? She takes no stand, certainly no sense of lacking adjunct stance to fault. She seems to only accept her tragedy and live with it. Does that make her strong? I could argue it, but I would never truly believe it. Strength to live with tragedy but not to prevent and right it is not strength at all - it is giving up.
Tess is not becoming a stronger person. Tess is the symbolically small character that we all cheer for in the novel hoping that once-just once she makes that clever move that gets her what she wants. Instead, whenever we see her with the opportunity to acquire a form of social or internal success, a small twist of fate decimates any chance of it. Having said that, Tess is not becoming a stronger person. But why not, certainly these events would have caused her to become stronger? No. Tess is still encountering all sorts of altercations: Alec, Sorrow, Angel, Her Parents. It's all just causing her downward spiral to a weaker person to accelerate quite rapidly. In this light, Tess has not, and will not become a stronger person.
I don't think Tess has become any stronger as the book progresses. Although I am not really in a position to judge because I have not experienced what she has (i.e. rape), I do know that strong people do not depend on anyone but themselves for their happiness. Tess constantly depends on others for her own happiness, therefore she is consistently let down- this leads to her misery. Rape is a traumatic occurance; however, if she were a strong person, she would not let this past experience control her present life. Even when Angel starts showing affection for her and confesses his love, she won't let herself forget her past and just be happy with him. It seems like it takes her forever to finally say yes to him, and even when she does she's so sad. Of course, it was a different time where marrying someone like her was frowned upon, however, she continues to let herself be controlled by something that was not even her fault. Angel's departure too is hard for her, and she lets her life be controlled by that as well. I acknowledge and pity her for the circumstances with which she is dealing, but I don't think that makes her a stronger person because she lets what is beyond her control reign over her entire self.
While it can be argued that Tess has become stronger after being raped, I have to disagree. In the beginning of the novel, Tess was depicted as an innocent child on the verge of adulthood. As the book progresses she encounters certain instances that make her "less pure" (the rape being the prime example). It opens her eyes to the harsh realities of life she had previously been sheltered from. This newfound knowledge, however, does not make her stronger, it simply makes her more aware. While she has matured slightly throughout the book, her indecisive nature remains a major flaw and portrays her naivete. The fact that she needs others to make decisions for her and her lack of independency shows signs of weaknesses that now frame her life.
AAshworth4 I do not believe Tess has become a stronger person. I think that she dealt with being assulted (raped) horribly. Although, I can not completely understand because I have never been in her situation, I think she could have dealt with it better. She did however, go to the farm to be a milkmaid to help her parents, which took a lot of courage and strenght. Still, I believe that she wept too much and let it control and ruin her present life. Also "losing" her husband over her uncontrolable situation did not help. But, I believe if she could be strong and say "I know this is not my fault and this is his decision to leave" it would not affect her as much. She lets her emotions dominate her. I do have sympathy for her, but it could always be worse than what it is and she could at least make the best of what she was dealt with. Nobody has a prefect life, but it is the people that make something out of the bad they have better and more successful lives in the future.
I assume that after one experiences a tragic rape, it is highly unlikely that one will become a strong independent person in the long-run. Shortly after the rape, Tess showed some early signs of becoming independent, when she chooses to leave Alec and go off on her own to work as a dairy maid. However, her strength fell through when she met Angel Claire. After falling in love with Angel, she now depends on him, and is willing to do anything she can to please him, and in most cases that involves emotional pain for her. As the book progresses, I feel as though Tess'immature desicions show that she has not become stronger.
I do not think that Tess is becoming a stronger person. I understand that rape is very traumatic. I don't expect anyone to be able to get over it immediately. It is understandable if one never completely moves past it. However, I think that a strong person would find a way to cope with the rape. It seems that a strong person would find a way to heal. Tess chose to essentially run away from her problems. At the dairy, no one knew of Tess or her problems. By putting herself in that situation, it shows that Tess was not even able to truly aknowledge her past. In my opinion, a strong person is someone who can deal with a traumatic experience and then heal and try to move past it. Tess further showed her weakness when she fell for Angel. She had tried to resist a man because she didn't believe that she was pure or worthy or marriage. Clearly she failed at that one because she fell in love and then married Angel which exactly what she had tried not to do. Fine, you can say that love is undeniable but if you can't stick to your plans, then at least be honest with who you are changing your plans for. If Tess was becoming a stronger person, she would have been capable either of resisting Angel, or being honest with him.
I don't believe that Tess is becoming a stronger person. I actually believe that her inner strength is deteriorating. At the beginning of the novel, as we all know, Tess is raped, granted she did deal with the situation 'okay'. If she was truly becoming stronger throughout the novel, she would have started with that. It was a tragic event, no doubt, but the pity party is getting old. She should move on. It happened, theres nothing to change that, but Tess needs to learn that things happen for a reason. By getting involved with Angel, Tess has once again opened herself to hurt and heartache. She should have been strong enough to tell Angel about the rape at the beginning of the relationship, regardless of his attempts to not listen. By not addressing the situation until it was too late, she inevitably brought on this new heartache herself. As I read the novel I feel like Tess is begging for pity, well I'm sorry, but I won't give it. To be strong means being aware of yourself and the situations you're putting yourself in and obviously she's put herself in a bad situation therefore she cannot be truly strong.
No. Tess is not becoming stronger. In fact, she has not displayed any internal strength throughout much of the novel- all of her seemingly “brave” decisions are dictated by outside forces. Her decision to go work at the D’Urbervilles was the product of her guilt about killing Prince. Her decision to become a milkmaid is the product of her need for money to support herself and her family. Her decision to let Angel leave her high and dry is the product of societal pressures (women subordinated to their husbands), and of a misplaced sense of self-worth. She even ponders about killing herself, which, in my opinion, would have been a brave act, but she is too limited by the outside forces of others. I think all of these outside forces are building up. Tess has not made any rash, truly “brave” decisions yet, but when the time comes- and I am sure it will- she’s going to snap. Then we will finally see Tess become truly strong.
I still think that Tess is pretty wishy-washy. She is attempting to be a stronger person, and to a slight extent succeeding, but overall she seems like the same shy girl that she was when the book had started. I think that the book will end with her only thinking of others and pitying herself, which is just the way that it started. She did need some strength to tell Angel about her rape, but it took her so long that she had time to work up the courage for it. I can't say that she is an extremely strong person because she will do anything for anyone. She told Angel that she would kill herself for him. I dont think that indicates a strong character.
schen6 I think at the very beginning she became stronger because being raped is something that stays with you the rest of your life and she dealt with it fairly well, maybe a little to well. However, after being with Angel she became a little too dependent on him and thought being with him would be her life or her reason for living. She basically thought being with Angel would make everything alright. The worst things that can happen in life are happening to Tess and I think they should make her stronger, but the way she reacts to them seems like they do not.
Jfriedler Is Tess becoming a stronger person? No. If anything I think she lost some of her strength after the rape. I understand that after such an awful ordeal it’s hard to pick up the pieces and get on with your life. I also understand that there can be strength in leaving home to face the world; however, is it really strength when Tess is fleeing something she fears more than standing alone in the world? Isn’t it sometimes easier to face a stranger than it is to face a friend? I feel that Tess, by leaving, is actually expressing weakness, rather than strength. She doesn’t want to face her problems or people that know of them – so she leaves. She shows a lack of strength again when asked for her hand in marriage. She can’t decide what to do. She asks for advice, agrees to it, decides not to follow it, and then chickens out on not following it, only to “bite the bullet” and tell all. Yes she tells – that’s difficult, but was it from her strength that she could tell Angel or was it from her guilt? Finally, Angel rejects her after her big confession, and Tess, rather than saying “I love you – I always will, but I’ll move on with my life if you won’t accept me” says instead “I’ll kill myself…if..if you want.” Indecision strikes again, so she’ll ask if she should kill herself rather than coming to a conclusion on her own. The fact that she even offered to kill herself rather than face life regardless of the hand dealt her (in my opinion) shows weakness. When Angel leaves her, her crumbling wall of strength gets plowed over by a great, big, yellow bulldozer, and all she’s left with is a pile of dust and a few bricks in the form of “I can’t live without Angel” So she runs away again. (I think you get where this is going)
Samuel Covert No i do not think tess is becoming a stronger person because in this phase of the book her will seems to be broken by angels rejection of her because of her past she shut down and she now wants to die also she let angel put her in a coffin thats, nuts by any standard, so because of her submission to this treatment i think she is now weaker than ever however i hope that this pain will someday make her stronger
Throughout the novel, Tess has come off as a very strong individual. After being raped, something that most people could never bounce back from, Tess handled it pretty well. Next, on top of it all she had a baby from the rape and the baby got very ill and passed. Tess took this all fairly well considering how bad of a life she has had so far. However, now that her and Angel have married I feel that she is more dependent on him. When Tess reveals that she has been raped, Angel now has the power. Tess takes all the guilt and tells Angel " I will obey you like your wretched slave if it is to lie and die"(Pg. 184), revealing she will do anything to keep him. This exemplifies that she is dependent and no longer as strong as she was.
Although it is extremely difficult to tell for sure, i believe that Tess, despite several attempts to become a stronger person, has failed to do so. Her sabbatical like journey to work as a dairy maid was a valiant attempt at a new start, something most would not even have the will to attempt after a tragedy such as rape. She fails, however, in the sense that rather than becoming a strong minded individual while at the farm, she falls in love with Angel, and later becomes a toy in their marriage offering to kill herself for him. I would hardly consider going from an individual that wants a new start to a suicidal one becoming a stronger person. Until Tess accepts herself, society will not, and if she does accept herself i will say she has become a stronger person.
"Stronger" is one of the words i would never use to describe Tess. From the very beginning she wasn't a strong character. She kills her family's horse, and even though she goes to work to help buy a new one, which demonstrates some strength, she is suddenly being taken advantage of by Alec. After she was raped, she was still the weak character who turns her cheek so that the man who raped her can kiss her goodbye. She was mastered by Alec, and continues to be mastered by everyone throughout the rest of the book. Angel didn't master her in the sense that Alec did, but he won her over with his intense love for her which, in turn, made her depend on him. When he leaves, she was thrown into horrible, horrible feelings because she was again hurt, in a different way, by another man. I'm about to sound really bitter here, but one would think that she would learn not to trust people as deeply as she does, and that in the end, its the trust that you once had for someone that totally destroys you inside after you realize that you couldn't trust them. Tess but so much work into making herself stronger that it actually made her weaker.
I believe that Tess is not becoming a stronger person, but a weaker one as a result of internal forces. After the incident with Alec, Tess found true love with Angel Clare. She kept the secret away from Angel, her true love, because she believed that he would respond poorly to the news. He did in fact act poorly and irrationally to the news as he thought that he fell in love with a different Tess. When they parted ways Tess could not handle life, as she couldn't even find the strength to keep her physical beauty. She did not want men looking at her or even finding her attractive, revealing the insecurities she faces. The shaving of her eyebrows demonstrates how far she is willing to go in order to feel comfortable in her own skin. She even ventures to the Clare house in order to meet his parents and ask about money, but she does not have the confidence in herself to make it inside the door. Her feelings, emotions, and self confidence are at an all time low during Phase Five and until Tess realizes that the raping did not affect her inner purity and innocence, society will not.
Thus far, Tess has failed to make sufficient progress as far as strenth goes. She is deteriorating further with each phase it appears. Initially, she dealt with the rape as best she could. Instead of putting up with it and letting it continue, she shows her pride and leaves him to return for home- even though she is pregnant with his child. After the death of Sorrow, Tess goes away looking for work which shows independence and strength. However, this is where her pregress ceases. Immediately, she becomes vulnerable to Angel, perhaps trusting him to soon and allowing deep feelings to get involved. Then, once he asks her to marry him she says no due to the fact that she perceives herself as being unworthy of his love-another sign of weakness. Her deterioration is once again shown after she confesses to Angel about what occurred with Alec. Instead of standing up for herself she allows Angel to increase her guilt and sadness. She begins to completely base her emotions on how he is feeling and how their relationship is going. She even goes as far as offerring to take her own life so he does not have to be married to her anymore. Once again Tess demonstrates weakness after overhearing Angel's crothers talking about her. Instead of sticking up for herself, she decides not to talk to his parents and flees town. All of these actions show increading weakness rather than strength.
Education: Bachelor of Science in Education with English and Speech certification; Masters of Liberal Studies with English and History as majors and Art as a minor.
Experience: I teach 12th grade English at Aurora High School including the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programme courses. I have been a teacher for 23 years.
personal: I am married and have two sons, ages 12 and 13. I love to read and enjoy many genres. My family also enjoys camping, biking and outdoor activities.
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ReplyDeleteShe was. She took the whole "raped-thing" pretty well, and her decision to flee the nest to find work on her own is a great display of strength. It is quite commendable that this woman, robbed of her maidenhead after going off to work, is again going off to work on her own. That is sheer audacity. Supporting herself is a great show of strength. And let me just take this minute to address her prowess as a dairymaid. It is well known that ability to milk a cow is directly related to inner-strength. And her tender, yet firm approach to coaxing milk out of a cow is indicative of her strength. Anyhow...I said she was becoming a stronger person, until she met the farmer-extraordinaire Angel. Yet again she is becoming vulnerable to the advances of a young man. Her independence was the source of her new found strength, but she has fallen back on a man. Forsaking love, which produces the same hormonal effects of eating large amounts of chocolate, for independence is a necessary part of growth. She needs to separate herself from Angel and firmly establish her own identity. When this is complete, she is ready for a relationship. However, Tess has failed to do this; her retrogressive path is setting herself up for failure.
I believe that Tess is not becoming a stronger person because she still makes the same flawed decisions. In the beginning, she trusts Alec because he is familiar and then he takes advantage of her. Similarly, she trusted her mother to tell her that "there were danger in men-folk." Time and time again, she illustrates her vulnerability by trusting people because she knows them. This ideology has lead to major consequences in her life. She seems to act as if she does not have trust or feelings invested in Angel; however, when he leaves to visit his family she is concerned that he has gone. It will be interesting to see what consequences her trust in Angel will have.
ReplyDeleteIt is tempting to say that Tess is becoming a stronger person. At the end of Phase 4, she reveals to Angel what happened between her and Alec. This obviously takes courage. She has to be able to accept what happened and also be prepared to deal with the consequences that will come after telling Angel the truth. Tess appears to be stronger, but I do not believe that she truly is. Although Tess is brave for telling Angel, she is doing so mostly out of fear. She is afraid of what he will do when he finds out, so is determined to tell him as soon as possible in hopes that he will not be too angry. Further, she reveals her secret after Angel reveals his, because she thinks that he will be less angry since he was in a similar situation. So, even though she is doing something brave, her motive behind it is still cowardly and weak.
ReplyDeleteI feel Tess has become a stronger person. She still isn't perfect but she has come a long way. She didn't deal with being raped very well but she still made her own choice to leave and go back home where her mother told her she shouldn't have, that most would have stayed and married him. Tess grew from being raped, and from loss of her child, and loss of her love when she didn't think she would ever find someone to love her. To keep living after all the bad that has happened to Tess I believe she is strong.
ReplyDeleteB HRADISKY
ReplyDeleteTess is becoming a stronger person because even after she was able to overcome her rape and fall in love and trust again, Tess got knocked back down. Angel has left her and she has had to face the disappointment and shame of her family over again. Tess shows her strength by leaving her family to go find work so that she can support herself. When her economic position worsens, Tess shows strength by gaining the courage to go and ask Angel's family for help. Tess displays her strength by being humble enough to ask for help when she needs it. However, once Tess decides to return home and not ask for help, that begins to display some weakness. Tess should stand up for herself, because she did not ask to be raped so Angel shouldn't treat her like this.
If i could answer in one word it would be no. She was at one point, that is leaving home to go and milk cows for a living takes a lot of strength because milking cows is a horrible profession. The point though however is that she was becoming independent. And then Angel came. And She just got more submissive to the point where she'd rather see herself dead than to see an unhappy Angel. So to state my point in Chiasmus: when you overcome something, you become less submissive, but you become more submissive when something overcomes you.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Tess is becoming a stronger person. She was strong in the beginning of the book because she was willing to leave her home and family out of obedience of her parents. Surviving as a victim of rape does show her tenacity, but keeping it from Alec did not help her case. If she had told Alec before they had started a relationship, I would have more respect for her. She also needs to stand up to Angel and not accept that way he is treating her just because she was raped. It was not her fault that she was raped and instead of rejecting her, Angel should be sympathizing with his wife and being angry with Alec, not blaming it on Tess. If Angel really loved her, he wouldn't leave her for something like this. And if Tess were strong, she wouldn't accept this behavior. I understand Angel being upset, but leaving Tess is making her feel worse. Yes, she has been through a lot, but the way she handles the situations that are thrown at her does not reflect any stability.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, it appeared that Tess was going to turn out to be a very strong and independent character. With the turn of events that happened between her and Alec, a typical person would break down but Tess handled it fairly well...or so it seemed. As the book progresses, we as the reader find out that she feels horribly guilty about what happened and blames herself.
ReplyDeleteOnce she succumbs herself to Angel and his desires though, all traces of independence appear to be lost. She is now ready to give in to anything he asks of her. At one point, she is even willing to end her own life for him due to the impurity she possesses.
Now that it has been assumed her and Angel no longer have a future together, we may start to see a rise in the independent side of Tess yet again.
I think Tess at one point was becoming a stronger person. After her rape, we all could see that she changed, and when she realized that the past was the past and she was going to move on, it was clear to say she had become stronger. I think also her relationship with Angel displayed how much stronger she had become because after someone has been raped, you would think they had lost all trust in all men completely. Tess's persuance of Angel marks her strength, and how far she has come.
ReplyDeleteHowever, now that Angel has learned of her impurity, it is only bringing Tess back to the person she was; She was a person full of guilt and regret. Because of her honesty, she has to deal with Angel's reation which doesn't help her at all. I think now she is weaker than ever, because she doesn't even believe she deserves to live, which to me is the ultimate weakness.
K.Lackey
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Tess became stronger at one point in the text. After the rape, and her few months of isolation, marks the turning point in Tess’s life which essentially leads Tess to become a stronger person. After accepting that the past is the past Tess goes out, finds work, and tries her best to move on with her life. The fact that Tess could even go out and function normally shows a great deal of strength that she acquired. The problem is though is her love for Angel. This relationship is preventing her from growing stronger and most likely making her weaker. Her guilt due to her impurity leads her to feel the need to do absolutely anything to make Angel happy and also makes her feel as if she is nothing without him. To me, this shows how dependant she has become of Angel and dependency is a sign of weakness.
W Domeck
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Tess is becoming a stronger person through the course of the book. While she deserves some respect for overcoming her incident with Alec, she is far from the fully-recovered person we would love to see. First of all, her view of her rape keeps her from displaying her true feelings for Angel for a long time. She deters him because she does not think herself worthy. Then, when she finally betrays her real feelings to Angel, she is unable to tell him about the incident and when she finally gathers the courage, it is at the exact wrong moment: immediately following their marriage. When Angel fails to recognize that she is not to blame for the incident, she accepts his view and blames herself for something that was out of her control. Instead of standing up for herself, she submits to Angel's whims and is subservient. Her source of happiness is no longer herself, but she relies on the acceptance of others for her happiness. Therefore , she is not a stronger person now than she was at the begginning, when she was able to stand up to Alec and seemed a happier person.
Tess has become a stronger person. She was raped, and she fell in love again. She got dumped, and she was able to get back on her feet. So many traumatic events have happened in Tess' past, and she somehow finds a way to fight through them and get past them. People today would be stuck and not be able to get passed these events, but Tess stayed strong and moved on with her life.
ReplyDeleteAshley Polk-
ReplyDeleteI beleive that Tess is becoming a stronger person. Firstly, because she has slowley managed to overcome her past. I commend her for this because she is slowly letting go of all the emotional and mental instability that Alec has installed in her. Secondly, she has managed to move forward,trust, and fall in love again; with Angel. Although Angel soon brings her down and robbs her I beleive, of her dignity, she manages to obtain a job as a dairy maid. This demonstrates her growth as a woman as she attepts to support herself and not depend on a man. However, as her economic position gets worse, she also gains the courage to ask Angels parents for money, which also demonstrates her change and growth as a charecter.
I do not think Tess is becoming a stronger person. At times, it seems like she might be taking a step in the right firection but then she turns around and takes it all back. I think the prime example to show that she is not becoming stronger is when she considers suicide. Although she is considering taking her own life for the happiness of her husband, she still feels that suicide might be her only option. Obviously, if she was a strong woman then this would not even enter her mind. She thinks that she can escape her guilt when she goes to be a milk maid, when she marries Angel, and when she tells Angel about Alec but her feelings never change. She never becomes more confident or comfortable in her own skin. She cannot look beyond the past no matter what she does to try and improve how she feels and resolve the guilt. I think Tess is almost breaking down more and more as time goes on since nothing in her life can go right. The only aspect of the novel which might show her becoming stronger is when she finally tells Angel that she was raped. This event is cancelled out because she is so weak, and only continues to become weaker. Tess feels so awful and Angel and her parents do not care to help her so i do not see her ever becoming stronger.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that Tess is becoming stronger. I feel like she always has her guard up and pretends that everything is alright, but internally, she is constantly feeling guilty. She does not value herself enough to understand that it was not her fault that she was raped. She was vulnerable and Alec took advantage of her, but that does not make her a bad person (though she believes it does). Also, she feels like she deserves her treatment from Angel. She would lay down her life for someone who has nearly ended their relationship over and incident in her past that she had little control over. I think she needs to learn to love and accept herself first before she can expect anyone else to.
ReplyDeletelauren sega
ReplyDeleteI really have to say that Tess is taking a few steps back in the 'stronger' department. She depends so completely on Angel and just gives herself to him, willing to risk anything and give anything to him. Then, when she is not forgiven by Angel, not only does she have the weight of the rape on her, but now the only person she had felt love for didn't love her anymore. However, I will say that leaving to get a job and sustain herself is definitely a strong move. But the only persond who stands in her way is herself. She needs to get over things and move on for the sake of her future.
Yes and no. Some of Tess’ actions obviously involve a lot of courage and strength: leaving her family, leaving Alec, telling Angel the truth; just to name a few. However, when one looks behind the motives of Tess’ actions the reader realizes that these actions are performed out of fear or some other driving force. For example, in the beginning of the book when Tess is leaving her home for the first time, she is leaving because she feels guilty about killing Prince. She doesn’t leave because she enjoys being around Alec, she didn’t trust him from the start, however, she left anyway because she felt guilty about taking away the family’s main source of income. And when she tells Angel of her rape, she told him because she felt guilty for not telling her husband that she wasn’t pure, and that she wasn’t the wife he thought he was getting. So, yes, at first glance Tess seems like a strong character- I believe deep down she still is- but when taking a closer look at what drives her actions the common conclusion is that Tess is not a very strong person.
ReplyDeleteNo. Tess is so ridiculously portrayed that it is hard to consider the character development to have such an identifiable concept as 'stronger.' The novel is set up to offer promise of good and following the offering - a swift slashing. It is almost paranormal how abysmal Tess' circumstances are. At least to this point, Tess has been somewhat unable to truly develop beyond tragedy. She is more experienced - yes - but in most regards still the family pleasing, social guilt-ridden mess she was at the beginning of the novel; the target of her compiling guilt just keeps changing its master. And to this guilt? She takes no stand, certainly no sense of lacking adjunct stance to fault. She seems to only accept her tragedy and live with it. Does that make her strong? I could argue it, but I would never truly believe it. Strength to live with tragedy but not to prevent and right it is not strength at all - it is giving up.
ReplyDeleteTess is not becoming a stronger person. Tess is the symbolically small character that we all cheer for in the novel hoping that once-just once she makes that clever move that gets her what she wants. Instead, whenever we see her with the opportunity to acquire a form of social or internal success, a small twist of fate decimates any chance of it. Having said that, Tess is not becoming a stronger person. But why not, certainly these events would have caused her to become stronger? No. Tess is still encountering all sorts of altercations: Alec, Sorrow, Angel, Her Parents. It's all just causing her downward spiral to a weaker person to accelerate quite rapidly. In this light, Tess has not, and will not become a stronger person.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Tess has become any stronger as the book progresses. Although I am not really in a position to judge because I have not experienced what she has (i.e. rape), I do know that strong people do not depend on anyone but themselves for their happiness. Tess constantly depends on others for her own happiness, therefore she is consistently let down- this leads to her misery. Rape is a traumatic occurance; however, if she were a strong person, she would not let this past experience control her present life. Even when Angel starts showing affection for her and confesses his love, she won't let herself forget her past and just be happy with him. It seems like it takes her forever to finally say yes to him, and even when she does she's so sad. Of course, it was a different time where marrying someone like her was frowned upon, however, she continues to let herself be controlled by something that was not even her fault. Angel's departure too is hard for her, and she lets her life be controlled by that as well. I acknowledge and pity her for the circumstances with which she is dealing, but I don't think that makes her a stronger person because she lets what is beyond her control reign over her entire self.
ReplyDeleteB. FILARSKI
While it can be argued that Tess has become stronger after being raped, I have to disagree. In the beginning of the novel, Tess was depicted as an innocent child on the verge of adulthood. As the book progresses she encounters certain instances that make her "less pure" (the rape being the prime example). It opens her eyes to the harsh realities of life she had previously been sheltered from. This newfound knowledge, however, does not make her stronger, it simply makes her more aware. While she has matured slightly throughout the book, her indecisive nature remains a major flaw and portrays her naivete. The fact that she needs others to make decisions for her and her lack of independency shows signs of weaknesses that now frame her life.
ReplyDeleteAAshworth4
ReplyDeleteI do not believe Tess has become a stronger person. I think that she dealt with being assulted (raped) horribly. Although, I can not completely understand because I have never been in her situation, I think she could have dealt with it better. She did however, go to the farm to be a milkmaid to help her parents, which took a lot of courage and strenght. Still, I believe that she wept too much and let it control and ruin her present life. Also "losing" her husband over her uncontrolable situation did not help. But, I believe if she could be strong and say "I know this is not my fault and this is his decision to leave" it would not affect her as much. She lets her emotions dominate her. I do have sympathy for her, but it could always be worse than what it is and she could at least make the best of what she was dealt with. Nobody has a prefect life, but it is the people that make something out of the bad they have better and more successful lives in the future.
jstawicki4
ReplyDeleteI assume that after one experiences a tragic rape, it is highly unlikely that one will become a strong independent person in the long-run. Shortly after the rape, Tess showed some early signs of becoming independent, when she chooses to leave Alec and go off on her own to work as a dairy maid. However, her strength fell through when she met Angel Claire. After falling in love with Angel, she now depends on him, and is willing to do anything she can to please him, and in most cases that involves emotional pain for her. As the book progresses, I feel as though Tess'immature desicions show that she has not become stronger.
I do not think that Tess is becoming a stronger person. I understand that rape is very traumatic. I don't expect anyone to be able to get over it immediately. It is understandable if one never completely moves past it. However, I think that a strong person would find a way to cope with the rape. It seems that a strong person would find a way to heal. Tess chose to essentially run away from her problems. At the dairy, no one knew of Tess or her problems. By putting herself in that situation, it shows that Tess was not even able to truly aknowledge her past. In my opinion, a strong person is someone who can deal with a traumatic experience and then heal and try to move past it.
ReplyDeleteTess further showed her weakness when she fell for Angel. She had tried to resist a man because she didn't believe that she was pure or worthy or marriage. Clearly she failed at that one because she fell in love and then married Angel which exactly what she had tried not to do. Fine, you can say that love is undeniable but if you can't stick to your plans, then at least be honest with who you are changing your plans for. If Tess was becoming a stronger person, she would have been capable either of resisting Angel, or being honest with him.
I don't believe that Tess is becoming a stronger person. I actually believe that her inner strength is deteriorating. At the beginning of the novel, as we all know, Tess is raped, granted she did deal with the situation 'okay'. If she was truly becoming stronger throughout the novel, she would have started with that. It was a tragic event, no doubt, but the pity party is getting old. She should move on. It happened, theres nothing to change that, but Tess needs to learn that things happen for a reason. By getting involved with Angel, Tess has once again opened herself to hurt and heartache. She should have been strong enough to tell Angel about the rape at the beginning of the relationship, regardless of his attempts to not listen. By not addressing the situation until it was too late, she inevitably brought on this new heartache herself. As I read the novel I feel like Tess is begging for pity, well I'm sorry, but I won't give it. To be strong means being aware of yourself and the situations you're putting yourself in and obviously she's put herself in a bad situation therefore she cannot be truly strong.
ReplyDeleteBLambert6
ReplyDeleteNo. Tess is not becoming stronger.
In fact, she has not displayed any internal strength throughout much of the novel- all of her seemingly “brave” decisions are dictated by outside forces.
Her decision to go work at the D’Urbervilles was the product of her guilt about killing Prince.
Her decision to become a milkmaid is the product of her need for money to support herself and her family.
Her decision to let Angel leave her high and dry is the product of societal pressures (women subordinated to their husbands), and of a misplaced sense of self-worth.
She even ponders about killing herself, which, in my opinion, would have been a brave act, but she is too limited by the outside forces of others.
I think all of these outside forces are building up. Tess has not made any rash, truly “brave” decisions yet, but when the time comes- and I am sure it will- she’s going to snap.
Then we will finally see Tess become truly strong.
Ekaiser4
ReplyDeleteI still think that Tess is pretty wishy-washy. She is attempting to be a stronger person, and to a slight extent succeeding, but overall she seems like the same shy girl that she was when the book had started. I think that the book will end with her only thinking of others and pitying herself, which is just the way that it started. She did need some strength to tell Angel about her rape, but it took her so long that she had time to work up the courage for it. I can't say that she is an extremely strong person because she will do anything for anyone. She told Angel that she would kill herself for him. I dont think that indicates a strong character.
schen6
ReplyDeleteI think at the very beginning she became stronger because being raped is something that stays with you the rest of your life and she dealt with it fairly well, maybe a little to well. However, after being with Angel she became a little too dependent on him and thought being with him would be her life or her reason for living. She basically thought being with Angel would make everything alright. The worst things that can happen in life are happening to Tess and I think they should make her stronger, but the way she reacts to them seems like they do not.
Jfriedler
ReplyDeleteIs Tess becoming a stronger person? No. If anything I think she lost some of her strength after the rape. I understand that after such an awful ordeal it’s hard to pick up the pieces and get on with your life. I also understand that there can be strength in leaving home to face the world; however, is it really strength when Tess is fleeing something she fears more than standing alone in the world? Isn’t it sometimes easier to face a stranger than it is to face a friend? I feel that Tess, by leaving, is actually expressing weakness, rather than strength. She doesn’t want to face her problems or people that know of them – so she leaves. She shows a lack of strength again when asked for her hand in marriage. She can’t decide what to do. She asks for advice, agrees to it, decides not to follow it, and then chickens out on not following it, only to “bite the bullet” and tell all. Yes she tells – that’s difficult, but was it from her strength that she could tell Angel or was it from her guilt? Finally, Angel rejects her after her big confession, and Tess, rather than saying “I love you – I always will, but I’ll move on with my life if you won’t accept me” says instead “I’ll kill myself…if..if you want.” Indecision strikes again, so she’ll ask if she should kill herself rather than coming to a conclusion on her own. The fact that she even offered to kill herself rather than face life regardless of the hand dealt her (in my opinion) shows weakness. When Angel leaves her, her crumbling wall of strength gets plowed over by a great, big, yellow bulldozer, and all she’s left with is a pile of dust and a few bricks in the form of “I can’t live without Angel” So she runs away again. (I think you get where this is going)
Samuel Covert
ReplyDeleteNo i do not think tess is becoming a stronger person because in this phase of the book her will seems to be broken by angels rejection of her because of her past she shut down and she now wants to die also she let angel put her in a coffin thats, nuts by any standard, so because of her submission to this treatment i think she is now weaker than ever however i hope that this pain will someday make her stronger
Throughout the novel, Tess has come off as a very strong individual. After being raped, something that most people could never bounce back from, Tess handled it pretty well. Next, on top of it all she had a baby from the rape and the baby got very ill and passed. Tess took this all fairly well considering how bad of a life she has had so far. However, now that her and Angel have married I feel that she is more dependent on him. When Tess reveals that she has been raped, Angel now has the power. Tess takes all the guilt and tells Angel " I will obey you like your wretched slave if it is to lie and die"(Pg. 184), revealing she will do anything to keep him. This exemplifies that she is dependent and no longer as strong as she was.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is extremely difficult to tell for sure, i believe that Tess, despite several attempts to become a stronger person, has failed to do so. Her sabbatical like journey to work as a dairy maid was a valiant attempt at a new start, something most would not even have the will to attempt after a tragedy such as rape. She fails, however, in the sense that rather than becoming a strong minded individual while at the farm, she falls in love with Angel, and later becomes a toy in their marriage offering to kill herself for him. I would hardly consider going from an individual that wants a new start to a suicidal one becoming a stronger person. Until Tess accepts herself, society will not, and if she does accept herself i will say she has become a stronger person.
ReplyDeleteB. Towers
"Stronger" is one of the words i would never use to describe Tess. From the very beginning she wasn't a strong character. She kills her family's horse, and even though she goes to work to help buy a new one, which demonstrates some strength, she is suddenly being taken advantage of by Alec. After she was raped, she was still the weak character who turns her cheek so that the man who raped her can kiss her goodbye. She was mastered by Alec, and continues to be mastered by everyone throughout the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteAngel didn't master her in the sense that Alec did, but he won her over with his intense love for her which, in turn, made her depend on him. When he leaves, she was thrown into horrible, horrible feelings because she was again hurt, in a different way, by another man.
I'm about to sound really bitter here, but one would think that she would learn not to trust people as deeply as she does, and that in the end, its the trust that you once had for someone that totally destroys you inside after you realize that you couldn't trust them. Tess but so much work into making herself stronger that it actually made her weaker.
I believe that Tess is not becoming a stronger person, but a weaker one as a result of internal forces. After the incident with Alec, Tess found true love with Angel Clare. She kept the secret away from Angel, her true love, because she believed that he would respond poorly to the news. He did in fact act poorly and irrationally to the news as he thought that he fell in love with a different Tess. When they parted ways Tess could not handle life, as she couldn't even find the strength to keep her physical beauty. She did not want men looking at her or even finding her attractive, revealing the insecurities she faces. The shaving of her eyebrows demonstrates how far she is willing to go in order to feel comfortable in her own skin. She even ventures to the Clare house in order to meet his parents and ask about money, but she does not have the confidence in herself to make it inside the door. Her feelings, emotions, and self confidence are at an all time low during Phase Five and until Tess realizes that the raping did not affect her inner purity and innocence, society will not.
ReplyDeleteMatt Deptola
Thus far, Tess has failed to make sufficient progress as far as strenth goes. She is deteriorating further with each phase it appears. Initially, she dealt with the rape as best she could. Instead of putting up with it and letting it continue, she shows her pride and leaves him to return for home- even though she is pregnant with his child. After the death of Sorrow, Tess goes away looking for work which shows independence and strength. However, this is where her pregress ceases. Immediately, she becomes vulnerable to Angel, perhaps trusting him to soon and allowing deep feelings to get involved. Then, once he asks her to marry him she says no due to the fact that she perceives herself as being unworthy of his love-another sign of weakness. Her deterioration is once again shown after she confesses to Angel about what occurred with Alec. Instead of standing up for herself she allows Angel to increase her guilt and sadness. She begins to completely base her emotions on how he is feeling and how their relationship is going. She even goes as far as offerring to take her own life so he does not have to be married to her anymore. Once again Tess demonstrates weakness after overhearing Angel's crothers talking about her. Instead of sticking up for herself, she decides not to talk to his parents and flees town. All of these actions show increading weakness rather than strength.
ReplyDelete