Re-exploration of the Mythological Archetype of Tess and Its Tragic Origin

Abstract

Tess is the protagonist in Thomas Hardy's work Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which tells the story of a pure and kind girl whose life experience is full of tragedies. Considering the educational background of Thomas Hardy, especially since he once followed a mentor at Oxford University who was a master of classics, it is a great possibility that Tess was created based on an archetype in Greek mythology. Typically, Tess is compared with Medea, who killed Jason because of his betrayal and disloyalty. However, after analyzing the motivation for murder, Tess shares more similarities with Clytemnestra and Penelope, and this paper will give a detailed analysis of Tess and the characters in Greek mythology. The comparison will reveal the root of Tess's tragedy—a thousand years of taming and scrutinizing females.