Socioeconomic Class and Worth in 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

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Thomas Hardy did not intent to create an ode for the working class, in the sense of poetry, or praise for that matter. Although Tess of the D’Urbervilles revolves around the days in the life of a working class girl, Hardy was not writing for the working class, or servants, at all, but rather for the upper class. His intent was to offer a different view of the life of a servant and propose that everyone’s life is valuable, with no regard to their socioeconomic status.

In analyzing the following text, we are witnesses to the difference in value that is placed on human beings, especially those of lower classes. Hardy emphasized this belief through many instances in the novel, but for this analysis, we will focus on the first unusual encounter with Mrs. D’Urberville. “While the old lady had been speaking Tess and the other maid, in obedience to her gestures, had placed the fowls severally in her lap, and she had felt them over from head to tail, examining their beaks, their combs, the manes of the cocks, their wings, and their claws. Her touch enabled her to recognize them in a moment, and to discover if a single feather were crippled or draggled. She handled their crops, and knew what they had eaten, and if too little or too much; her face enacting a vivid pantomime of the criticisms passing her mind,” (p. 65). In this text, Mrs. D’urberville is inspecting her fowl to ensure that they are healthy and eating well. This text is one of the many that includes a clear indication of importance, or lack thereof, of servants. Hardy utilizes the language in this text as an analogy between the difference in the close attention that Mrs. D’urberville pays to the care of her fowl and how this particular care is not extended to those who serve her. The birds are more important than the human life of a servant. This is clearly depicted as Hardy shows a scene of two servants bringing the fowl to Mrs. D’urberville, one by one. She examines their beaks, combs and manes and also checks every feather to make sure that it is not broken or pulled out. The fact that so much care and attention is placed on birds over those who serve her is a parable that Hardy utilizes to expose the manner of treatment in which lower classes are exposed to by those with a higher socioeconomic status.

Hardy represented a variety of servant roles in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Since Hardy wanted to present the challenges of the working class in the country, many of roles of servants were farm laborers that provided necessities to the city. The infrastructure is presented as an ecosystem in which every being has a value and importance in the continuation and survival of this structure.

The roles of the servants were similar in nature to Tess’s, however Tess’s role was much more prominent in nature due to the additional hardships that she endured. Tess was also one of the working class civilians that needed to work in order to make a living for herself and her family, in which she also held similar positions to other servants in the story. Tess was different in various aspects, though. Tess proved to be beneficial in many servantly roles. She had learned how to milk cows and make butter when the family previously owned cows. She also helped with haymaking and harvesting on neighboring farms, (p. 43). Her schooling and knowledge of two different languages could allow her to transition between the working and upper class. “Mrs. Durbeyfield habitually spoke the dialect: her daughter, who had passed the sixth standard in the National school* under a London-trained mistress, spoke two languages; the dialect at home, more or less; ordinary English abroad and to persons of quality,” (p. 27). Hardy displays the contrast in Tess’s dialect through various quotes which emphasize a less-educated dialect. This is represented in Tess’s mother, Joan’s, speaking. “O yes. ‘Tis thoughted that great things may come o’t,” and “Your father learnt it on his way hwome from Shaston and he has been telling me the whole pedigree of the matter,” (p. 27). Hardy utilizes the variant in language through words such as “thoughted” and “o’t,” among many others, to emphasize the importance of education and intercommunication among various classes, particularly in Hardy’s representation of Tess’s experiences.

The working class of the country was more important to the industry of the city than may have been perceived or even thought of. Hardy displayed their importance to all classes by his use of great detail in the jobs performed by the laborers, particularly when it was in regards to the Durberfield’s family. “It was eleven o’clock next morning before the family were all in bed, and two o’clock the next morning was the latest hour for starting with the beehives if they were to be delivered to the retailers in Casterbridge before the Saturday market began, the way thither lying by bad roads over a distance of between twenty and thirty miles, and the horse and wagon being of the slowest,” (p. 35). This text describes the tiresome affects in which the workers endured and the importance of their positions. Without the production of honey and milk, as detailed in her future position as a dairymaid, the city could not strive. Hardy points out that the retailers in Casterbridge needed the honey before market began on Saturday. His direct language clearly shows the necessity of the laborers and their work.

While many of the members of the lower class had no hopes in moving up in their socioeconomic status, Tess’s family had hopes of transition through the newly found knowledge of their lineage. Although the clergyman told Tess’s father that he could do nothing with this knowledge, the mother found a way to attempt to “sell” Tess off to work for the last known D’urbervilles in hopes she would marry the gentleman of the family. This further led her into a spiral of self-degradation due to the loss of her virtue, which thus led to further hardships for the family. They lost their home once her father died and Tess was forced back into the arms of the “gentleman” who stole her virtue just so that her family could have a place to live. While all of the servants had their working means of survival, Tess had the ability to marry into the upper-class. In doing so, this proved to be her ultimate demise.

In doing further research, Hardy was inspired to showcase the injustice upon the lower-class by seemingly basing the story on his own personal experiences. In his youth, he witnessed the hanging of Martha Brown who was convicted of murdering her violent husband, (Morris). He detailed the hanging in a letter to a friend and seems to have recounted it in the ending of Tess of the D’Urbervilles. While this cannot be confirmed, it is a very important part of a puzzle that can be utilized to consider the reasons of Hardy’s exposition. It can serve in analyzing the text and language in which he represented in a story for the upper-class to consider, in attempts of gaining empathy for the servants and their hardships. While his work may not be a direct dedication to the servants of the working and lower classes of the country during his time, the language in his text can be analyzed as an instrument of value to be considered by those in higher socioeconomic standing.

Works Cited

Morris, Steven. “Bones found at prison may belong to real-Life Tess of the d'Urbervilles.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 Feb. 2016, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/19/thomas-hardy-tess-of-the-durbervilles-bones-found-at-prison.

Thomas, Hardy. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Oxford University Press, 1983.