The following are the opening lines from a novel, Tess of the D’Urbervlles, written by Thomas Hardy (1840 —1928). Write an analytic essay on it in about 250 words.
On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor. The pair of legs that carried him were rickety, and there was a bias in his gait which inclined him somewhat to the left of a straight line. He occasionally gave a smart nod, as if in confirmation of some opinion, though he was not thinking of anything in particular. An empty egg-basket was slung upon his arm, the nap of his hat was ruffled, a patch being quite worn away at its brim where his thumb came in taking it off. Presently He was met by an elderly parson astride on a gray mare, who, as he rode, hummed a wandering tune. “Good night tee,” said the man with the basket.
“Good night, Sir John,” said the parson.
The pedestrian, after another pace or two, halted, and turned round.
“Now, sir, begging your pardon; we met last market-day on this road about this time, and I said ‘Good-night ’ , and you made reply ‘Good night, Sir John’, as now”
“I did,” said the parson.
“And once before that…near a month ago.”
“I may have.”
“Then what might your meaning be in calling me ‘Sir John’ these different times, when I be plain Jack Durbeyfield, the haggler?”
(1) It is the opening scene of the first chapter. A middle-aged peddler named John Durbeyfield encounters an old parson who addressed him sir and told him a meaningless fact that he might share the same noble roots with the D’Urbevilles far back in history. Although there is a good deal of humor in this opening chapter the action taken by the Parson, ironically the Church’s representative, precipitates the tragedy. The first paragraph sets the place and time of history, and, as so often in a Hardy novel, we are introduced to someone travelling along a road, a symbol of man as a wayfarer, of life as a journey. The theme of heredity is introduced and Jack Durbyfield’s casual, tipsy attitude to life tells us something about his character. The Durbeyfield family were introduced on the day in which the legend of their distant, defunct, yet still marvelous aristocratic heritage is revealed. When told of this legacy, Mr. Durbeyfield feels immediately liberated from his poverty and low social stature, even though his situation does not change. Mr. Durbeyfield has already become enraptured in a dream that takes him from rags to riches.
(2) The following introduction of Tess at the May Day dance, started when all the young women dress in white, carry white willow branches and white flowers, and dance with each other. These women seem to enjoy the custom, perhaps because it allows them the chance to play a symbolic function beyond their insignificant social roles. Most of women, like Tess, are anxious to be chosen when men joined the dance, and somewhat jealous when they are not chosen. Acceptance from a handsome man from a higher social class would mean a lot to them. Like Mr. Durbeyfield, these young women yearn to escape poverty and the low social stature that their rural setting allots to them.