Abstract:

Tess of the d’Urbervilles is one of the most famous works of Thomas Hardy, it best shows us the spirit of Hardy’s novels of character and environment. In this novel, the heroine, Tess, is described as a beauty with intelligence. However, the life of this pure woman is unfortunate. Tess’s life is short and miserable but her image has left a deep and unforgettable impression for people, thus becoming an immortal female image in the world literature. Tess attracts the attention from readers and literary critics since its publication in 1891. It also has been translated into several languages. Based on the achievements made by the former Hardy scholars, this thesis attempts to explore the inevitability of Tess’s tragedy from aspects of social background of Victorian Era and Hardy’s fatalism .

Keywords: Thomas Hardy; Tess of the d'Urbervilles; Victorian Era; fatalism

摘要：

《德伯家的苔丝》是哈代的巨作之一，它完美地展示了哈代小说中“性格与环境”的精神主旨。小说中的苔丝，被描写成为一个美丽与智慧并存的女主人公。然而，这个纯真女人的一生却是不幸的。苔丝的一生是短暂而痛苦的，但是她给世人留下了深刻而难忘的印象，因此也成为了世界文学史中不朽的女性形象。自1891年出版以来，苔丝就获得了读者与文学批评家的广泛关注。同时，它也被译为多种语言。基于之前哈代学者的研究成果，本文试图根据维多利亚时代的社会背景以及哈代的宿命观来探讨苔丝悲剧的无法避免性。

关键词：托马斯•哈代；《德伯家的苔丝》；维多利亚时代；宿命论

Introduction
    Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is an English novelist and poet, born in a small town in Dorset ,in Southwestern of England, and one of the great English writers of the 19th century. As the son of a building contractor, he shows a great interest in music and a devotion to literature.
    Although young hardy’s education was not very good ,he read as many books as possible at home. When he was 16, he left school and pursued a career as an architect, training as an apprentice locally. At the age of 22, he traveled to London where he worked as an architect. During his years in London, he continued his studies in his spare time.
    His first novel, Desperate Remedies was published in 1871.
    When Hardy was born, Dorset was one of the poorest countries in England. A Pair of Blue eyes and Under the Greenwood Tree meet with small success and may be considered in formative works. Far From the Madding Crowd was published in 1874, marking a turning point in his literary life. The novel was popular as well as critical acclaim, which enabled him to give up his architecture practice and concentrate solely on writing. Then Hardy wrote many novels and had greatest achievement. He published The Return of the Native, The Trumpet-Major, The Mayor of Caster bridge, The Woodlanders, Tess of D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure.