Phase The First Flashcards
How does hardy characterise Jack?
As somebody who is too proud to work and let’s the idea of power and wealth get to his head - showing how sick he is of irrelevance
How does Hardy use dialogue and dialect in chapter 1?
- He dialogue it as a mouthpiece for himself, saying that ‘our impulses are too strong for our judgement sometimes’
- he uses dialect of locality to preserve the poor way of life
How does Hardy establish fate vs determinism in chapter 1?
He says, ‘how are the mighty fallen’, which sums up the durbeyfield family who fall from grace (trademark tragedy) however it also potentially foreshadows Alec and Tess as he thinks he is mighty but gets killed
What does chapter 1 convey?
the durbeyfield family’s ongoing and inevitable decline (John already drunk)
What happens in chapter 2?
It portrays the untouched, traditional way of life and shows Tess and Angel’s first encounter at the dance, in which his eyes ‘lighted’ on her but he went back to his brothers
How does hardy describe the environment in chapter 2?
He displays the traditional Victorian Britain society as being untouched and uses pastoral conventions to show the beauty of it
What symbolism does hardy’s reference to paganism have?
It critisises the religions of upper classes and aims to preserve class authenticity
How does hardy depict Tess as pure in chapter 2 and what is its impact?
She had ‘large innocent eyes’ and ‘wore a red ribbon’ which introduces the motif of red, a reoccurring theme showing that her pride could lead to her fate
How does hardy use irony to show tess’ pride in chapter 2?
‘Her pride would not allow her to turn her head again’ - her pride leads her to alec
How does hardy depict Angel Clare in chapter 2?
Angel is shown to come from a family typically associated with wealth, who tend to be snobby to the likes of Tess (shown through the brothers). However Angel is shown to want to break away from social conventions
How does Tess views the country lads in chapter 3 and why is this significant?
She ‘rebuked them’, therefore seeing herself as better which shows pride to be one of her tragic flaws because it ultimately leads her into the likes of Alec and Angel
How is Tess shown to be motherly in chapter 3?
‘Curious fetashstic fear’ - Tess consults the issue but is scared
How are the conditions the durbeyfield live in portrayed?
Their rough conditions completely juxtapose the conditions of natural surroundings beauty
How does hardy portray mr and Mrs durbeyfield?
Hardy portrays them as contrasting characters to Tess, showing them to find a sense of purpose when being alone and when they were their ‘souls expanded beyond their skin’
What does the death of prince foreshadow?
Alec’s murder through the ongoing motif of red ‘his life’s’ blood was spouting in a stream’ and also it underpins tess’ responsibility and guilt as being a key factor for her fate
What key quote by Joan shows Tess not being in control of her fate?
‘I tried her fate in the fortune teller’ - the mother has carved out Tess’ own fate by forcing her into prostitution
What key quote in chapter 3 shows Tess’ inevitable blight?
‘A blighted one’
What key quote in chapter 3 foreshadows Alec’s death through the guilt of Tess after killing prince?
‘She regarded herself in the light of a murderess’
How does Tess show the unity and love typically associated with the lower class families?
It says that Tess became ‘humanely beneficent to the younger ones’
What do ‘the slopes’ suggest in chapter 5?
How does hardy portray Alec as a womanising villain in chapter 5?
It said that he had ‘touches of Barbarism, foreshadowing his nature towards Tess and he referred to her as ‘my pretty girl’, emphasising her inferiority
What key quote in chapter 5 shows Alec’s self destruction as well as Tess’?
Alec was watching her through ‘skeins of smoke’ and the idea that ‘she was doomed’ shows he is determined for villainy
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What key quote shows Alec feeding her strawberries and how is this of significance?
‘In a slight distress she parted her lips and took it in’ - this sexual tension/imagery foreshadows Alec’s forceful and sinister nature and perhaps the red motif of strawberries signals the future danger
How does hardy describe the thorn that pricks tess?
As an ‘ill-omen’
What key quote shows that fate determines all?
‘She had hoped to be a teacher at a school but fate seemed to decide otherwise’
Why does Mrs Durbeyfield dress Tess up prettily in chapter 7?
She does this to purposefully over sexualise her in order to sell her to Alec
What key quote shows Tess’ inferiority?
‘Kiss of mastery’
What key quote in chapter 7 refers to Tess’ purity yet also links to the motif of trapped birds because it shows how Tess cannot escape?
‘A picture of honest beauty flanked by innocence’
What key quote shows Tess moving from childhood to womanhood/ruin in chapter 8?
‘Behind the Green valley of her birth, before the grey country’
How does hardy build tension?
Through tess’ victimisation and Alec’s persistence and force - builds up tension before tess’ doom
What key quotes in chapter 9 shows Tess to be a trapped bird?
- ‘She did put her lips as directed for pronouncing a clear note’
- ‘whistling by the cages each morning’ - Alec whistling sexual overtones which birds usually do when courting mates
How does Alec fall victim to the themes of class and society
How is Alec a complete antithesis of Angel?
He is too proud as he didn’t join in and dance with Tess, therefore showing him to be ignorant and dismissive of the lower classes
What key quote in chapter 10 reintroduces the motif of red?
When Tess looked at Alec she saw the ‘red coal of a cigar’
What key quote shows angels initial guilt at the beginning of phase the 1st and what does it symbolise?
‘his eyes lighted on Tess, whose own large orbs wore, to tell the truth, the faintest aspect of reproach’ - Angel uses idealistic language to describe Tess yet goes back to his brothers instead of dancing with her. This foreshadows future rejection. This therefore shows the strictness of societal ideals as angel wants to be progressive but isn’t
Which quote links to the ‘kiss of mastery’?
‘See how you’ve mastered me’ - Tess lets him kiss her, effectively sealing her own fate. This concept of ‘mastery’ creates the impression that Alec has ownership of Tess in an animalistic sense rather than having her heart
Key quote to provide context - contrasting the Jacobean and Victorian era’s to metaphorically contrast Tess and joan
‘When they were together the Jacobean and Victorian ages were juxtaposed’ - this comes after Tess is praised for being motherly, educated and having immense pride, therefore suggesting that those in Victorian society are better educsted
