Summary: Chapter VIII
On the way to the d’Urberville estate, Alec drives recklessly,
and Tess pleads with him to stop. He continues at a fast pace and
tells her to hold on to his waist. She complies only out of fear
for her safety. When traveling down the next steep hill, he urges
her to hold on to him again, but she refuses and pleads with him
to slow down. He agrees to drive more slowly, but only if she will
allow him to kiss her. Tess allows him to kiss her on the cheek,
but when she unthinkingly wipes the kiss off with her handkerchief,
he becomes angry and outraged at her unwillingness to submit to
his advances. They argue, and Tess finishes the journey on foot.
Summary: Chapter IX
The next morning Tess meets Mrs. d’Urberville for the
first time and discovers that the old woman is blind. Tess is surprised
by Mrs. d’Urberville’s lack of appreciation for Tess’s coming to
work for her. Mrs. d’Urberville asks Tess to place each of the fowls
on her lap so she can examine and pet them. She tells Tess to whistle
to her bullfinches every morning. Tess agrees and leaves. Tess is
later unable to blow any whistles, and Alec agrees to help her remember
how.
Summary: Chapter X
After several weeks at the d’Urbervilles’, Tess goes to
the market. Tess has not frequented this market very often, but
realizes that she likes it and plans to make future returns. Several
months later, she goes to the market and discovers that her visit
has coincided with a local fair. That evening, she waits for some
friends to walk her home and declines Alec’s offer to take her himself.
When her friends are ready to leave, Tess finds that some of them
are drunk, and they express their irritation that she has Alec’s
attention all to herself. The scene grows unpleasant. Suddenly Alec
arrives on his horse, and Tess finally agrees to let him carry her
away.
Summary: Chapter XI
Alec lets the horse wander off the path and deep into
the woods, where he tries to convince Tess to take him as a lover.
Tess is reticent, and Alec realizes that they have become lost in
the fog. He gives Tess his coat and goes to look for a landmark.
Still trying to win her favor as a lover, he tells Tess that he
has bought her father a new horse. When he returns, Tess is asleep,
and Alec uses the opportunity to take advantage of her sexually.
Analysis: Chapters VIII–XI
These chapters mark the second half of Phase the First,
which is subtitled “The Maiden,” and establishes several of the
major characters. Structurally, the main plot follows a linear progression, depicting
the direct progress of Tess’s life from the time her father learns
of their noble heritage to her falling prey to Alec d’Urberville’s
advances. This event is truly a catastrophe for her, because in Victorian
England any kind of sexual encounter would earn a young woman moral
rebuke and social condemnation, regardless of how the man involved
conducted himself. In a way, Tess’s fall can be seen as a direct
result of her father’s discovery of their noble descent. Tess is
sent to take advantage of the familial connection, but instead, Alec
takes advantage of her.
The plot hinges on a great many unfortunate coincidences, including
Simon Stokes’s fortuitous decision to call himself “d’Urberville,”
the accidental death of old Prince, and Tess’s bad luck in being
held up with her drunken friends after the fair. Throughout the
novel, many events actually hinge on improbable coincidences. Hardy
uses this technique to convey the sense that the universe itself,
in the guise of fate, opposes Tess and foreordains her tragedy. Some
critics, however, have accused these coincidences of straining the
bounds of credulity, making the novel less believable.
