Daphne du Mauriers Jamaica Inn and Thomas Hardys Tess of the dUrbervilles Essay Example For Students

Daphne du Mauriers Jamaica Inn and Thomas Hardys Tess of the dUrbervilles Essay Tess of the DUrbervilles, written by Thomas Hardy was first published in December 1891, with the full title of Tess of the DUrbervilles, A Pure Woman faithfully presented. The novel was set in the Victorian age in Dorset, a bleak country of sandy heaths and chalk downs in the Southwest of England. Hardy gave the countryside in the novel a fictional name of Wessex and altered the names of the main places, to give them fictional names. However, Hardys novel drew negative reactions from a number of early critics at the time and the first two firms that Hardy submitted the novel to rejected it due to the subject matter being too explicit, offensive and conflicting with Victorian morality. Daphne Du Maurier wrote Jamaica Inn in October 1935. The novel was set and based upon an actual temperance house on the twenty-mile road between Bodmin and Launceston, on the coast of Cornwall, that existed during the time Daphne du Maurier wrote the novel. Although the existing place-names figure in the novel, Daphne had written it as if it had been set before 1815. Both authors are English and their novels are both set in England. The theme of tragedy plays a major role in both texts so my essay will be based on the comparison of how tragedy is portrayed in both texts. Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989), an English novelist, biographer and playwright, published romantic suspense novels, such as Jamaica Inn. Du Maurier, born in London, came from an artistic family. Her uncle, a magazine editor, published one of her stories when she was a teenager and found her a literary agent, which was her first step to becoming a novelist. In 1935, when Daphne du Maurier wrote the novel Jamaica Inn the First World War had been over for a while and the Second World War had not taken place yet. Meanwhile the nation rejoiced for George Vs silver jubilee. However, at this time Hitler marched into Rhineland in direct contravention of the Versailles settlement, which made the public angry with him and they feared what else he could rebel against. This was a distressing event because it created fear in the public that because Hitler was rebelling against the settlement he might start another war. Du Maurier may have had angry feelings towards the tragedies of the First World War and the tragedy of Hitler rebelling and consequently used a lot of tragedy in her novel Jamaica Inn. Using tragedy in her novel was a way of expressing the tragic events occurring in the world at the time (mentioned earlier). Thomas Hardy, an English poet and novelist, was born on the Egdon Heath, in Dorset. He wrote is first novel in 1867 The poor man and the lady, which was rejected by many publishers. Despite this, his career as a writer grew over a span of fifty years. Thomas Hardy wrote Tess of the dUrbervilles in 1891, during the period known as the Liberal Age, in the Victorian times. At this time Britain had retreated from the Empire and unemployment was very common. At this time profits fell greatly, especially in agriculture. (This was before the First World War, which took place in 1914) This was a difficult time, where jobs were rare and profits minimal, making it a period of tragedy. This tragedy would have badly affected Hardy financially, as well as the rejection towards his novels, from other publishers, which was a personal tragedy for Hardy. Therefore these tragic events could have been reflected in his novel Tess of the dUrbervilles, which could be why it is a novel filled with great tragedies, which worsen as the novel progresses. As Jamaica Inn progresses there is one main character that causes tragedy in the novel that affects the main character, Mary. The main character who causes tragedy throughout the majority of the novel is Marys Uncle, Joss. He makes Marys stay with him unpleasant due to his violence and cruel habits. He describes how he has killed men with my own hands and having beaten them with rocks and stones. These true stories, which she witnesses, deeply affect Mary to an extent where she feels deadly sick until she sees screaming, frightened faces in her dreams. The word deadly tells us Mary is traumatised by these stories so she feels violently ill, as though the stories have killed her innocence and she feels empathy for the people, as if she is dying with them. I think this word is used to show her negative feelings towards Josss actions and how she could never agree with what hes done. The author describes the faces in her dreams to be screaming and frightened. Anne Finch's Opposition to The Rape of the Lock The Restoration Period 1660-1700 EssayThis is a bad omen because it means that a death will occur and Tesss friend commits suicide that night. A bad omen on Tesss wedding day seems bitterly ironic as Tesss marriage to Angel has been demolished on her wedding night when she reveals the truths of her past. It is almost as if this omen curses their marriage together. Another symbol of tragedy was the sound of a carriage and horses that Tess hears in her head after her husband, Angel leaves her. This coach is said to be non-existent and only heard by dUrberville blood; it is also considered to be of ill-omen and connected with murder. This symbol of tragedy is the final curse on Tesss marriage with Angel, which proved the omen to be correct, as two tragic deaths follow. There are several symbols of tragedy in this novel which cause Tesss life to take a horrible turn and as a result deeply affect her emotionally, whereas in Jamaica Inn there are very few. Additionally the symbols of tragedy used in Tess of the dUrbervilles affects Tess directly whereas the symbols of tragedy in Jamaica Inn affect the other characters in the novel. The structure of Jamaica Inn is different to that of Tess of the DUrbervilles. Jamaica Inn is written in third person narration, where the story is written to follow Marys, the main characters, perspective on the story. I think this is done so that the story is not given away too early in the story so the reader is in suspense wondering what tragedies will follow, what mysterious trade Joss does and who is behind it. This is done by not narrating what happens to other characters so as to make the reader discover what happens by following the clues Mary finds or that the characters reveal to her. Tess of the DUrbervilles, on the other hand has a set narrator, written in third person narration to show the other characters points of view in the story. The narrator also comments on the situation and how it has affected Tess so as to point out which decisions caused more tragedy. For example, when Tess loses her courage to speak to the Vicar the narrator calls it the greatest misfortune of her life. I think the narrator is used in this way to help shape the readers ideas of who is really the evil character, causing the greatest tragedies, and point out which moments develop the tragedies in Tesss life. After analysing the ways both novels portray tragedy I can say that they do so in slightly different ways. Although both novels contain characters which create tragedy throughout the book, Hardys, Tess of the dUrbervilles has far more. Whereas Jamaica Inn has one main character that creates tragedy (Joss), in Tess of the dUrbervilles nearly all of the characters contribute to creating tragedy. It is because of this that Hardy describes a variety of tragedies that take place whereas du Maurier has only a few different tragic events. Furthermore the tragedies in both novels are different in the sense that du Maurier portrays the tragedy to be a general image for the novel, which happens to different characters, whereas Hardy portrays the tragedies to mainly follow the main character, Tess. Additionally, both novels use symbols of tragedy, however, Hardy uses a lot more of them. There are several symbols of tragedy throughout the novel, much more than mentioned previously. The large amount of symbolic omens (for tragedy) that Hardy used can be related to the tragic events to explain why they take place. However, so much tragedy and symbols representing it make the novel quite unrealistic because it is quite difficult to believe that so much tragedy can follow one person. As du Maurier included fewer tragic events and symbols in the novel it is much more realistic that Hardys novel. Finally, the narration du Maurier used in Jamaica Inn does not emphasise the tragedy or even portray any, as it is Marys perspective on the situation. Hardy, on the other hand used a set third person narration that comments on the tragedies and discusses which events caused more tragedy and how this is done. I thought this was very effective because the narrator appeared to have an opinion on the situation, which enables the reader to see the different points of view about the tragic events that occur during the novel. The immense amount of tragedy in Tess of the dUrbervilles, compared to Jamaica Inn, makes the novel more unpredictable and compelling to read. This is why I think that Hardys, Tess of the dUrbervilles portrays a lot more tragedy and far better than du Maurier does in Jamaica Inn.