Tissu candide et poinçon écarlate : le détail dans Tess of the D'Ubervilles

Abstract

As shown by the Convergence of the Twain, for instance, Thomas Hardy is fascinated by the unfair relationship between parts and wholes . In Tess, bloody patches and crimson texts keep reminding the reader that Tess's body and soul can never be healed after Alec's seduction. The problematic logic, however, accounts for much of the novel's dialogic complexity. On the one hand, Tess is doomed by male metonymic reading, whether Alec sees her as Temptation, or Angel rejects her after the confession, since the missing hymen turns her entirely into «another woman in her shape». On the other hand, Tess is doomed by her split corrupted name, and she appears as the mere shadow of her ancestors, bound to repeat the curse unawares while her body is turned into the crypt which conceals their secrets. Ultimately, Stonehenge is constructed as the magical place which is both broken and whole, thus allowing the character to withdraw beyond the unbearable dichotomy.