Tess of the d’Urbervilles: Part 3 – The Sepulchral Persephone

When we left off, Tess was done struggling away at the turnip patch, had shacked up with Alec Stoke-d’Urberville, Angel was, as far as we know, still in Brazil and that’s where we left it. Part 3 begins with the inevitable return of Angel Clare – now a much changed man. But lets stop and

Tess of the d’Urbervilles: Part 2 – The Wessex Artemis

CONTENT WARNING: Contains discussion on sexual violence, sexual assault, infant mortality and cruelty to animals. When we left our Tess she had returned home from the serpentine clutches of Alec ‘the twat’ Stoke-d’Urberville, basically had her rape dismissed by everybody as her own fault, had a baby, had it die, undergone a process approaching deification,

Tess of the d’Urbervilles: Part 1 – The Virgin Eve

CONTENT WARNING: Contains discussions of sexualisation of children, rape, sexual assualt and infant mortality. The first theme presented to us is one of the most important to the whole novel. A simple, humble, some could argue lazy, countryside peddler, John Durbeyfield, is lounging about minding his own when the local Parson informs him he actually

Tess of the d’Urbervilles – An Introduction

CONTENT WARNING: Contains discussions about sexual assault, rape and infant mortality. I am still finding trouble processing my thoughts on Tess, but let me begin with a brief summary of the plot of the book the full title of which was once “Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented” which…we’ll likely discuss at

The Unintentional Innuendoes of Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Before moving on to a more serious analysis of this 19th Century version of ‘I Spit on Your Grave’ except with more gratuitous suffering and less satisfaction I figured why not have some fun. For sure the book’s a serious one and requires serious thought. Whether it be directly related to the book itself within

“A Problem Shared…” The True Cost of Damage

Spoiler Alert: Contains spoilers for ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ If you haven’t read a book from 1891 by now, do you need a spoiler alert? Content Warning: There will be discussion of sexual violence, rape and possibly mental health issues and suicide. NOTE: The following is not the opinion of a qualified medical professional. If