Line #7 YMMV/TessOfTheDUrbervilles


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Some scholars argue that Tess ''acquiesced'' to Alec, rather than being raped by him, in what is arguably a NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization on the part of those scholars. Note that this is not the most commonly accepted reading of the text by any means. Then there's the argument that even if Alec didn't outright use violence to force Tess to have sex with him, Alec taking a naive and frightened teenage girl off into the woods and pressuring her to have sex with him still comes off as rape. He also forces alcohol on her shortly before the incident and approaches her while she's sleeping, which casts further doubt on her ability to consent.
2	* {{Anvilicious}}:
3	** Hardy uses every single piece of symbolism he can to associate Tess with purity, and the omniscient narrator also interjects fairly frequently to reinforce the point. Justified in that it would have taken a lot to convince conservative Victorian readers that a woman who was raped was innocent, although to modern readers who (in most cases) are more likely to be sympathetic towards Tess anyway it can feel like overkill.
4	** Everything connected to religion in the novel is Hardy railing against religious dogmatism.
5	** Rape is not the victim's fault and they shouldn't be blamed for it. This was considered pretty revolutionary at the time the novel was written, so it's understandable why Hardy felt the need to be far from subtle about this matter.
6	* DracoInLeatherPants: Alec in the 2008 BBC version. He's way more sympathetic than in the book or the other films, complete with a clear FreudianExcuse (and lacking a creepy moustache, too). Hans Matheson's sexy portrayal doesn't help either.
7	* HilariousInHindsight: In the 2008 BBC version, Alec and Angel are both [[Literature/LesMiserables Marius Pontmercy.]] Hans Matheson had already played the role in ''Film/LesMiserables1998'', while Creator/EddieRedmayne went on to play the role in ''Film/LesMiserables2012.''
8	* JerkassWoobie:
9	** Angel, he suffers a severe fever in Brazil and comes to realize he was wrong for how he treated Tess and that he still loves her. He seeks her out to make amends, only to find out he's too late. He and Tess only get to spend a brief amount of time as a happy couple before [[spoiler:she's executed]].
10	** The Alec of the 2008 version seems to have shades of this, since he appears to have a cold relationship with his mother.
11	* {{Narm}}:
12	** Modern readers often find the DeusAngstMachina plotline just a little bit too much to handle seriously.
13	** When Angel breaks up with Tess his family are puzzled and constantly wonder why he would break up with a chaste country maiden, mentioning her supposedly virginity multiple times for no particular reason except for ObliviousGuiltSlinging.
14	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: It becomes pretty clear that Tess is hopeless early on. Hence some readers stop caring early on.
15	%%* ValuesDissonance: Even if the work is FairForItsDay, it sticks in the teeth of many readers.
16	* ValuesResonance: Although attitudes on virginity have relaxed in the modern day, the premise of the novel is still fairly relevant as victims of rape are still sometimes persecuted due to UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming and SlutShaming.
17	* TheWoobie: Tess. To list, she's 1) raped, 2) gets rejected by her husband because he thinks of her as being DefiledForever (nevermind that he's had one consensual sexual partner and wasn't a virgin anymore), 3), to survive, she's her rapist's mistress, and 4), she snaps, murders her rapist and is executed for it, knowing her husband doesn't believe she'll go to Heaven. You can't help but to feel sorry for her after all that.

Context YMMV / TessOfTheDUrbervilles