Abstract:

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald‘s Masterpiece The Great Gatsby and Thomas Hardy’s most famous novel The Tess of the D’Urbervilles have been read in many different ways since they were published. The two protagonists, Daisy and Tess, though born in different times and different countries, are the representatives of the women of their eras. This paper, by comparing their social status in the patriarchal society, family background and their marriages, aims to dig up the similar factors leading to their tragedies. Besides the external causes, this paper also analyzes the internal reasons for their doomed fate. Different weaknesses existing in Daisy and Tess’s character and morality are undoubtedly the important elements contributing to their misfortune. The paper concludes that the external factors may lead to their tragedies, but it is the internal causes that destroy Daisy and Tess’s life.

Key words: tragedies, social status, personality, Daisy, Tess

摘要：

费兹吉拉德的著作《了不起的盖茨比》以及托马斯哈代最著名的小说《德伯家的苔丝》一经问世，就被读者从各个方面进行研读。无论是《了不起的盖茨比》中的主角黛西，还是《德伯家的苔丝》中的苔丝，她们都是各自年代女性形象的代表人物。本文通过比较她们在男权社会中的社会地位，家庭背景以及婚姻这几个方面进一步挖掘她们悲剧的相似成因。 除了外部因素，本文还分析了导致了她们悲剧命运的内因。黛西和苔丝的性格弱点以及道德观念无疑是导致她们悲剧的重要因素。论文得出总结，外因也许导致了她们的悲剧，但是内因才真正意义上摧毁了她们的一生。

关键词：悲剧, 社会地位, 性格, 黛西, 苔丝

1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction to The Great Gatsby
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896 –1940) was an American author of short stories and novels. He is regarded as one of the most important writers in 1920s, and is called the poet laureate of the Jazz Age and the spokesman of the Lost Generation.