Tess Durbeyfield in Tess of the DUrbervilles and Sarah Woodruff in The French Lieutenants Woman Essay Example For Students

Tess Durbeyfield in Tess of the DUrbervilles and Sarah Woodruff in The French Lieutenants Woman Essay To be a fallen woman in Victorian society, was to be ordained sinful and would be outcast from the social world. Both authors choose to use this theme as a pivotal point in their novels. However, even though both are set in the 1800s, Fowles was writing a hundred years after Hardy. Some may say that this allows him the perspective needed to judge and make decisions. He could also draw parallels from the 1800s to his own time. In fact, one of the great ironies in Fowles novel is that while Sarah is such an innately free spirit, she is born and trapped into this intolerant, hypocritical society. He leads the reader to believe that if only Sarah were born into the liberal age of the 1960s, her spirit would be fulfilled. On the other hand, this gap of time could take away from the illusion of being written at the time that comes naturally to Hardy. As just mentioned, Fowles was writing in the 60s, a time of freedom of mind, body and soul, which is apparent in the character of Sarah, who personifies this wonderfully. Sarah prefers to be a visible social pariah rather than one who attempts to reform and assimilate into society. It is evident to the reader that Fowles had obviously studies a lot of Victorian text to get an understanding of writing techniques of the time. For instance he packs as much detail of the landscape into the opening chapter as possible, with use of references to historical findings in the places; which is not his usual writing style, redolent of seven hundred years of English history. Fowles uses incredibly long, tumbling sentences with as much detail to the setting as possible, being that largest bite from the underside of Englands outstretched south-western leg. A major difference between the two is that Hardy took a great risk in publishing this novel, as the subjects he covered such as rape were considered taboo in his time. However in doing so, he was able to draw attention to the very controversial subject of womens rights, which he felt strongly about. Fowles, on the other hand, took no such risk. Writing in the post-feminist 1960s, he was able to look in retrospect to womens liberation. Although his views are similar to Hardys, and possibly were influenced by them, there is nothing ground breaking about Fowles writing. The way in which the heroine is introduced to the reader by the author, tells us a lot about the character. Fowles does this more directly than Hardy, almost portraying Sarah as the witch on the cove. Dressed all in black, unwavering against the ocean spray, she stands like a statue Its clothes were black, this quote alone shows how Fowles wants us to view Sarah; without identity, thus foreshadowing the mystery that shrouds Sarah throughout the novel. Hardy however takes a far more subtle approach, introducing her father as a rather foolish drunkard learning of his past. Hardy purposely does this, to show us what could possibly be reason for all Tess trouble, rather than introducing the actual character first. In both of the novels, intellect is clearly a key factor to the structure. Born to be a farmers wife but educated to be something better shows that although both Tess and Sarah have been born into very poor families, they have still been educated quite well. This is then contrasted by Fowles, as Ernestina, the rich businessmans daughter is evidently a lot less deep and mature in her thoughts than either Tess or Sarah. This hints that, while Ernestina may well have had a more expensive education, she has had a lot less experience of life, and is not as intelligent; described by Charles as a pretty little thing, yet a shallow little thing. This is a sign of Fowles continuing the work that Hardy started 100 years previously, as he too was a strong supporter of womens rights, and rebelled against the class system. Fowles deliberately contrasts the character of Ernestina to Sarah to emphasise the abnormal nature of Sarah. Ernestina is described to be the height of fashion, however Sarah is not even given the privilege of being called a woman. Both Tess and Sarah are the definitive independent woman, who are happy to live alone. Spending most of her adulthood away from home, Tess worked with strangers and made friends along the way. Sarah also seems to love being along, spending many hours sitting and indeed sleeping on the cliff tops; although this is seen to be a lure for Charles, Charles was about to climb back to the path black figure appeared out of the trees. What at first appears to be a similarity between the two characters later turns out to be their biggest difference. Tess and Sarah both appear to be victims; of men, society and the universe in general. Analyzing The Story of an Hour EssayIt is not just Charles that shares his opinion of Sarah, Dr. Grogan summarises the readers thoughts on Sarah clearly when he comments that she has a warped mind. Many characters in the French Lieutenants Woman believe Sarah to not be of sound mind. In contrast we gather most of the opinions of Tess through Hardy, her bouncing handsome womanliness. A great majority of the descriptions of Tess are referring to her physical attributes, which of course is her downfall. Being physically mature beyond her years, men are attracted to her, which he see in the cases of Alec and Angel. Alec says, How loveable her face was to him. Although Hardy and Fowles do have differing styles, their messages are almost exactly the same. They have both written moralistic stories which communicate their views by showing how the pressures of society, have caused the degradation of key characters. It is the hope of success that is the main driving force of each novel, and the reader is compelled to have faith in the naive dreams of the characters as even though the characters failure is inevitable, you cant help but want them to succeed. This is more so in the case of Tess, where Hardy has created a more likeable character, thus in turn creating more sympathy and love for the character. Some critics have remarked that because of the limited perspective that Hardy gained on Victorian society, it happens so that the reader is left with a first hand view; and as Hardy is writing through Tess, the reader has the same perspective as Tess, which also helps to promote emotion and compassion for her. Hardys representation of Tess is highly sympathetic. He utilizes authorial comment in the novel to explain, justify or comment on Tess actions. He asks the responder, Why it was that upon this beautiful feminine tissue, sensitive as gossamer, and practically blank as snow as yet, there should have been traced such a coarse pattern as it was doomed to receive. Through the use of accumulation of positive attributes, such as beautiful, feminine and sensitive, it shows that Hardy values women. He sees that women are victims of men and challenges the values of Victorian society. Even from the titles of the chapters uses derogatory terms, such as Maiden no more and The Woman Pays, shows that after Tess was raped by Alec, she is no longer classified as a maiden. The title The Woman Pays also emphasises that even if Angel and Tess carry out the same acts, it is the woman who ends up in paying for the wrong doing. Hardy was able to pose his opinions in a far subtler way by adding them into a story rather than announcing them publicly. He was probably able to reach a far greater audience using this method. Fowles uses his novel in much the same way, but instead of hiding his views behind a story, he actively removes the narrator and poses arguments straight. This method allows the reader to actually consider the opinions of the author, rather than just accepting the subliminal suggestions of Hardy. John Fowles and Thomas Hardy both write on very similar subjects; their stories circulate around very strong, rebellious women who are fighting the social conformities set down by their male oppressors. Fowles tells the story from the point of view of Charles, and hence we do not gain full insight into Sarahs thoughts, making it difficult to connect and understand her as a character. This is Fowles downfall as you cant feel emotion for a character if you do not understand what they are thinking; which strikes the question, is Sarah actually realistic as a 19th century heroine as Fowles himself does not display sympathy for his own character. Hardy presents Tess as a very moral person from the very beginning of the novel, and in displaying her as a genuinely good person which generate the feeling of tragedy around her. Fowles presents Sarah as a miss guided, trouble individual, not even sure of her self, with a questionable mental state; a strange character that does not possess the power to evoke much emotion from the reader. These two heroines both depict a stance in Victorian society, however in very different ways; Sarah through illustrating the division between class, and Tess through her portrayal of the unfairness of Victorian morality.