A Cross-gender Analysis Of Thomas Hardy's Creation Of "Tess"

Thomas Hardy was a great novelist and poet in the history of English literature. He earned a world-wide reputation largely due to his Victorian local-colored novels. Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of his most popular works, appealing to generations of readers for the creation of its female protagonist, Tess. In this thesis, the classical text written by a male author is read in detail from a feminist perspective. To make the analysis more persuasive, two other contemporary novels are selected, one is Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, and the other is The Awakening by American woman writer, Kate Chopin. Thus in contrast with "Jude" (a male writer's hero) and "Edna"( a female writer's heroine),"Tess"( the male writer's heroine) can be viewed all-sidedly. By analyzing the narrative point of view, narrative voice and arrangement of plots in the novel, this thesis examines the way "Tess" is created and points out that Thomas Hardy, as a male writer, didn't surpass the limitations of his sex, and his creation of "Tess" betrayed a strong male-orientation which deserves attention of readers, especially female readers.