Comparison Between Alec d Urbervilles and Angel Clare
[Abstract]: Tess of the d¡¯Urbervilles is unanimously looked on as a novel of character and environment. ... Anyone of them cannot be judged as entirely good or entirely bad, even Alec d¡¯Urbervilles and Angel Clare, As a matter of fact, who are two disputed characters. ... And this article will be involved in deep comparison of these two and further presenting my personal viewpoint on them. [Key words]: gentleman responsible comparison liberal Introduction Tess of the d¡¯Urbervilles is divided into seven ¡°phases¡±. ... Alec d¡¯Urdervilles, her supposed cousin, arranges for her to work as a poultry girl, and then seduces her. ... There she meets Angel Clare, the son of a clergyman, who long before had seen her briefly as he passed through her village. Then they fall in love, and without knowing anything of Tess¡¯s previous history, Angel offers to marry her, and with some reluctance, she accepts him. ... Angel leaves for Brazil, while Tess goes back after a time to work on a farm. After an unsuccessful attempt to make contact with Angel¡¯s parents, she chances to meet her seducer, Alec d¡¯Urbervilles, now reformed and converted into a way-side preacher. ... In desperation she writes to Angel, but, hearing nothing from him and worn out with her work on the farm and distressed by the hardships that follow her father¡¯s death, she is eventually won back to Alec. When Angel finally returns home he finds her living with Alec in lodgings in a seaside town on the south coast of England. Ashamed at having given way to Alec¡¯s persuasiveness, full of remorse for having despaired of her husband, she murders Alec with a carving knife and follows Angel. ... So it is very clear that Alec and Angel play very important roles in determining Tess¡¯s tragic fate. Therefore it is necessary for us to take a close look at these two characters and make a comparison. Then we will find out Alec is not wicked as some people imagine while Angel Clare is not as pure and lofty as a genuine angel. ... Alec Alec is born in an affluent family. It is clear that he is an unrestrained person though the book gives us very little depiction about the impact on Alec caused by his rich family. ... In Tess of the d¡¯Urbervilles, we can find plenty of plots, dialogues express Alec¡¯s feelings so explicitly that sometimes people will think that he is rude and uncivilized. ... Another example, Alec drives so fast, as is described like this¡°Down, down, they sped, the wheels humming like a top, the dog-cart rocking right and left, its axis acquiring a slightly oblique set in relation to the line of progress; the figure of the horse rising and falling in undulations before them. ... Angel Clare Angel Clare is the youngest son of his father. ... Everybody has supposed that Angel would follow their example. ... Alec --- Gentlemanlike A gentleman is regarded as a man who is responsible for everything he does. So if we use this standard to measure these two figures, we will find that Alec d¡¯Urbervilles is more like a gentleman than Angel Clare who seemingly acts much better and more graciously than Alec.