Male Domination in Tess of the Durbervilles Essay

From the creation of the world men have always had an overpowering existence over women. God created the world in seven days, following was the creation of the first man, who God created the first woman for from one of mans ribs. Ever since, women have been dominated by men, both consciously and subconsciously. Ever since the creation of that first woman, being created from man, women have been indebted to men. In Thomas Hardys Tess of The DUrbervilles the relentless domination of men over women, knowingly and unknowingly, takes its toll on not only Tess, but others. Hardy shows us that women are under the power of men, and will never be seen as equal, thanks to Adam and Eve.

The most disturbing, and yet the most prominent example of male domination in Tess is the sexual domination that Alec exerts over Tess. Alec knows what he is doing to her too, which makes the incident so much more disturbing, he admits that he was doing it for his own pleasure. This is the sole life altering event in Tesss life, and is the result of male domination. After the rape, Tess is faced with numerous hardships and is put in the public eye to be torn apart. She is forced to live with what she had no control over. Alec had complete power in changing Tesss life, which seems so completely unfair, but that is the way God created man and woman. When Alec comes back into Tesss life, he still taunts and uses emotional domination over her to try and make her feel guilty and ridicule her about Angel, all of which eventually drive her to his murder. Why does this happen to Tess? Is it fate? The wrong man the woman, the wrong woman the man(p.73) Is it the history repeating itself? Doubtless some of Tess dUrbervilles mailed ancestors rollicking home from a fray had dealt the same measure even more ruthlessly towards peasant-girls of their time(p.73) Or is it just the mere fact that men can and feel like they are entitled to have that power over women?

Not only does Tess face male domination from Alec, but also from the love of her life Angel. Angels power isnt the same all the time, sometimes he consciously exerts it, other times he has unconscious power over Tess. Tess gives her heart and soul to Angel and he throws it all away when he finds out about the rape. Even though he at first praised Tess for being so different, she was no longer the milkmaid, but a visionary essence of womanhe called her Artemis, Demeter, and other fanciful names half teasingly(p.131), he then punished her for the exact thing that made her so unique, different, and appealing when he himself sinned in the same way. Only what he did was okay in his eyes, and what she did was unforgivable. This breaks Tesss heart, soul, and spirit, yet she manages to forgive him whole heartedly, see him purely, and take him back in the end. After all the emotional turmoil he put her through, she just blinks as if it was nothing, and lets him back into her life, not having a reason to believe in him, yet she loves without looking back. That kind of domination is so strong, it can break and break, but yet not shatter her completely, she keeps on going. Some may think that this is weak, but Tess is strong for being able to keep on loving and living with an open heart and not shutting the world out, to keep trusting without reason. Tess isnt at fault for the way the world was created, always being in submissive seat, and she does so with admiration.

In the end of the novel, Tess does the unthinkable, and unpredictable, who never in her lifehad ever intended to do wrong. Taunted relentlessly by Alec, Tess finally takes a stand and goes against the grain. Tess murdering Alec shows her raising up from the fetal position and taking a stand, for the one time in her life. Tess goes against everything that is in the unwritten rules of the world and takes a dominant position over a man, the very man that caused her so much pain. The murder ultimately leads to Angels forgiving of Tess too, ironically, and they are finally able to live happily together, for a short period of time before Tess is taken for her crime. To think that Tess would have to kill Alec for Angel to be able to get over his pride and love her back for once. Even though Tess strikes back and dominates Alec in the end, she still is empowered by Angel, and ultimately dominated by the policemen at Stonehenge. So as the end of the novel says, Justice was done.