Tess of the dUrbervilles
, by
Thomas Hardy
, is part of the
Barnes & Noble Classics
series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of
:
New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
Biographies of the authors
Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
Footnotes and endnotes
Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
Comments by other famous authors
Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations
Bibliographies for further reading
Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest.
pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.
Highly controversial because of its frank look at the sexual hypocrisy of Victorian society,
’s
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
was nonetheless a great commercial success when it appeared in 1891. It is now considered one of the finest novels in English.
Using richly poetic language to frame a shattering narrative of love, seduction, betrayal, and murder, Hardy tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, a beautiful young woman living with her impoverished family in Wessex, the southwestern English county immortalized by Hardy. After the family learns of their connection to the wealthy d’Urbervilles, they send Tess to claim a portion of their fortune. She meets and is seduced by the dissolute Alec d’Urberville and secretly bears a child, Sorrow, who dies in infancy. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer Tess love and salvation, but he rejects her—on their wedding night—after learning of her past. Emotionally bereft, financially impoverished, and victimized by the self-righteous rigidity of English social morality, Tess escapes from her vise of passion through a horrible, desperate act.
With its compassionate portrait of a young rural woman, powerful criticism of social convention, and disarming consideration of the role of destiny in human life,
is one of the most moving and memorable of Hardy’s novels.
David Galef
has published nine books: the novels
Flesh
and
Turning Japanese;
two childrens books,
The Little Red Bicycle
Tracks;
two translations of Japanese proverbs,
Even Monkeys Fall from Trees
Even a Stone Buddha Can Talk;
a work of literary criticism,
The Supporting Cast;
an edited anthology of essays called
Second Thoughts: A Focus on Rereading;
and, most recently, the short-story collection
Laugh Track.
In addition, he has written more than seventy short stories for magazines ranging from the British
Punch
to the Czech
Prague Revue,
the Canadian
Prism International,
and the American
Shenandoah.
His essays and reviews have appeared in the
New York Times, Newsday,
the
Village Voice, Twentieth Century Literature, The Columbia History of the British Novel,
and many other places. He is a professor of English at the University of Mississippi, where he also administers the M.F.A. program in creative writing.