Fiction Assignment of tess as a pure woman PDF

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Student’s Name: Syeda Afsheen Semester: 2nd Program: Masters Instructor name: Sir Hafiz Imran Subject: Fiction

Q no 1: Is Heathcliff a victim or a villain?

Ans. According to me, Heathcliff neither is a villain nor is he a complete victim in the novel. He’s a grey character, having both villainous and victim’s attributes in his personality. When we hear about Heathcliff’s childhood from Nelly Dean, We can’t help but sympathize with the little child for how he is being treated in the household of Earnshaws. In an age where children hardly discriminate good and bad, He was facing class struggles in a complete strange house. At first, the slanderous behavior of Hindley on basis of mere jealousy is cruel, but what keeps Heathcliff grounded and sane is Catherine, who’s just as rebellious and adventurous as Heathcliff. Although we see no resentment from Heathcliff on Hindley’s behavior and we see him bearing everything silently, It is evident that from where the hostility of Heathcliff stems later in the novel. The only hope that Heathcliff was holding onto after the death of Mr. Earnshaw was Catherine, He loved to spend time with her on the moors away from the barbarous and judgmental society. But that hope did not lasted long as Catherine turns out to be the complete opposite of what she was after her visit to Thrushcross Grange. She was suddenly hyper aware of the class differences between her and Heathcliff, and that torn Heathcliff apart. And just when he barely contained himself from the indifferent behavior of Catherine, He overheard the words of Catherine when she chose Edgar above him. The sudden heartbreak drains Heathcliff of all the sanity that was left in him and he left the place in resolution to comeback for revenge. The return of Heathcliff is the downfall of everyone else. He came and destroyed everything that comes in his way. His hate that was driven by revenge made him an apathetic villain in this part of story. Emily Bronte did not clarify that Heathcliff killed Hindley but she still hinted him as the suspect and as if that was not enough, He willingly kept Hearton uneducated and turned him into immoral man that gets agitated on little things. Heathcliff, though he knew how heartbreak hurts, he made Isabella fell in love with him and then tore her apart after marrying her. Heathcliff was a ruthless man after he returned. He got so many bloods on his hands even of his own son Linton whom he tortured until he was dead. He kept Cathy imprisoned against her will. Even If we justify his revenge from Hindley and Edgar on basis of what he went through in his past, we cannot reason his behavior with Isabella and his own son Linton, whom he left to die in misery. The revenge was expected because he had been wronged but the severity of it is what I despise as a reader. He destroyed two generations and was left empty handed at the end.

Q no 2: Thomas Hardy’s subtitle refers to a ‘pure’ woman. Discuss this idea of ‘purity’ with respect to the main character. Is Tess a ‘pure woman’- Why or Why not?

Ans. Though Thomas Hardy’s subtitle refers Tess to be a pure woman, He never in the novel clarifies or denies her to be one. Events that would’ve clarified her purity are clouded by the writer, mainly for the readers to interpret their own meanings and understand the happenings according to their own understanding. I consider Tess as a pure woman and I have all reasons to do so. The tragedy of Tess is a mixture of several catastrophes that women face living in different societies. At a young age, she was objected to carry the misfortune of her family being poor. She left her home to make an income and was taken advantage of her purity and beauty by a lust driven man. Soon after the mishap, she left the house she worked in, and even after her mother convinced her to go back and marry the man; she rejected her proposal by making her understand how it was wrong of her mother to send her away when she was unaware about the nature of man. This shows an aspect of Tess’s Purity and frees her of all the accusations there can be. Another evidence of her purity is the child she bore from the devil of a man. She could’ve killed the child out of hate or out of shame but she took care of him and even buried him with her own hands after he died of bad health, all the while bearing the judgmental gazes of society for the crime she didn’t commit. One more example of Tess’s purity is the delayed answer to Angel’s proposal even when she fell deeply in love with him. The whole scenario with Angel is driven with bad fate of Tess, where, despite of trying so many times she couldn’t tell him of her misfortunate past before marriage. Her constant attempt at telling him the truth shows that she didn’t wanted to deceive him or to keep him in the dark. Thus she again has my support in being a pure woman. The doubts start rising when Tess give in to Alec for being his mistress, but if we reason it with the description of woman in Victorian era; we can completely understand the helpless situation that leads her to accept his proposal, that too after his numerous attempts to lure her. In a society where woman had no fortune until she was with a man ascends Tess to take wrong decision. She killed Alec as soon as she learns that Angel has forgiven her. This attempt of Tess raises questions on her being completely pure; as a murderer cannot be, but the writer one more time didn’t clarify the urge that leads her to kill him. According to me the murder is definitely not just anger driven, as I have observed Tess to be a really contained woman throughout the story. So I’ll have the benefit of the doubt and conclude that Tess really had no choice but to kill her assaulter and thus served herself the justice she deserved....