Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles provides social commentary on many issues prevalent in Victorian society. In particular, Hardy uses Tess' submissiveness to her parents, Alec d'Urberville, Angel Clare, and society as a whole to examine the sexual double standards prevalent in Victorian society. Tess is a strong character, who has endured many trials in her life; However, this double standard seals Tess's fate, as the society she lives in prevents her from successfully rising above her oppressors. Hardy also uses Tess's submission and subsequent destruction to parallel other aspects of the society he criticizes, such as the fall of the rural society that Tess represents.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Tess's primary source of oppression are her parents, John and Joan Durbeyfield, who dream of going beyond their status as working-class individuals. to create an easier life. The opportunity to receive financial help from the aristocratic d'Urberville family sets Tess's destiny in motion. Blinded by their greed, John and Joan send their daughter to marry into the d'Urberville family without hesitation. After meeting Alec, Tess returns home but is reprimanded by her family for allowing herself to be seduced by the d'Urbervilles. The hypocrisy of the Durbeyfield family's response leads Tess to exclaim, "Why didn't you tell me there was danger in men?" Why didn't you warn me? Ladies know what to fight against because they read novels that tell them about these tricks; but I never had the chance to learn that way, and you didn't help me! (82). This cry for help is of no use. When Tess returns home again after her separation from Angel, her parents react angrily, seeing the humiliation Tess has caused them. The Durbeyfields place their daughter's needs far below their own, keeping her submissive by exploiting her whenever she can offer them something and ignoring her otherwise. The second and most important force that keeps Tess submissive is Alec d'Urberville. Beginning with his rape, Alec exerts physical and mental oppression on Tess. With his reappearance in Phase Six, Alec continues this oppression by blaming Tess for what happened in the woods and making her swear not to seduce him again. When Alec questions Tess about her religious views, he quickly dismisses her answer as her husband's opinion. In these conversations, Alec abuses his position as a man by relying on the subordinate position of women in society as a means to mistreat Tess. This trend intensifies in the next chapter as Alec's language towards Tess becomes increasingly harsh. He shouts: “Remember, my lady, I was once your master! I will be your master again” (336). The reference to Tess as a slave solidifies her position as subordinate to Alec and all other men. It is also at this stage that Tess herself admits her submission to society by stating: “Once a victim, always a victim, it’s the law!” (336). Through the power of Alec's dominant male character, Tess submits and accepts her place in society as a victim. Even after his sexual conquest of Tess is complete, Alec abuses his power, treating Tess like a possession rather than a human. Unlike the Durbeyfields and Alec, Angel Clare has a much more indirect role in subjugating Tess. Until their separation, Angel is one of the few positive influences on Tess in the entire novel. Even after Tess spoke to himfrom his past, Angel tries not to hurt Tess. Although his unbending morality and desertion to Brazil may cause Tess more difficulty than any other event, Angel's actions never lead to the heroine's submission. However, Tess's relationship with Angel provides important insight into how other parties, as well as the social beliefs of the time, made her a character submissive to any authority she might encounter. This concept is illustrated as Angel sleepwalks while carrying Tess across a river and places her in an empty coffin. Although Angel's actions put him and Tess in great danger as they cross the river, Tess is completely submissive to her husband. This unconditional submission provides further proof that Tess is a blameless character and that her tragedy is representative of all women of the time. Given her position in society as a woman, there seems to be little Tess can do to avoid submitting to men. The era's double standards used to judge men and women give Tess no chance to rise above the oppression that rules her life. This idea is discussed by Mary Jacobus when she states: "A sustained campaign of rehabilitation makes Tess such an egregious case of double standards of sexual morality applied to men and women, and Tess herself is so beyond reproach that the tragedy of the ordinary becomes tragedy. of the exceptional – blackening both man and destiny. This accusation of men as the source of Tess's tragedy and the idea that Tess is blameless suggests that Tess's submissiveness is used by Hardy to shed light on the plight of women in the Victorian era. Hardy's greatest criticism of women's subjugation is not the men, represented by John Durbeyfield, Alec d'Urberville, and Angel Clare, but the society that condones their actions. Through the conflict between Tess and the men in her life, Hardy discusses a wide variety of issues with Victorian society. Besides his literal critique of the position of women in society, Hardy uses the conflict between Tess and other characters to represent other issues of the time. One such example is discussed in the introduction to Lisa Alther's novel stating that "Tess's life is one of endless toil, and no other novelist writes so convincingly about the grueling demands of farm work...The violation of Tess by Alec parallels the violation of the laws of his region. centuries-old lifestyle of urban industrialists, who introduced mechanized agriculture (like the thresher that Tess feeds in Flintcomb-Ash), bought up family farms and transformed agriculture. Tess's submission to Alec represents not only the sexual double standard of the era, but, in a more figurative sense, the fall of family farms and the rise of the industrial revolution. Hardy suggests that, just as it is impossible for Tess to avoid Alec's advances, rural agriculture cannot survive with advances in mechanization. The appearance of the thresher in the field after Alec tells Tess that he will be her master again suggests that, like Tess, the land is subject to this new form of agriculture. Although generally submissive, there are moments throughout the novel in which Tess struggles against her oppressors. Tess's strength contradicts the expected role of women of the time. The baptism of grief is the first evidence of Tess's rejection of social norms. Tess rejects the idea that she and her baby are outcasts with this symbolic act. With her stance against society, Hardy describes Tess: "Her figure was singularly tall and imposing as she stood in her long nightgown, 1999