Summaries of 1 book by Thomas Hardy, available in English. Read AI-generated key ideas and takeaways, or generate your own.
1 Summary“A strong woman who recklessly throws away her strength, she is worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away.”Narrator's reflection on Tess's situation after her confession to Angel.
“The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not among things done, but among things willed.”Narrator's commentary on Angel's judgment of Tess.
“I have been thinking of you—and what you have been to me—and what I have been to you. I have been thinking that I have been a poor man's wife, and I have been thinking that I have been a rich man's mistress. I have been thinking that I have been a good woman, and I have been thinking that I have been a bad woman.”Tess's speech to Angel near the end, reflecting on her life.
“Justice was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Aeschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess.”Final lines of the novel, after Tess's execution.
“The two men were silent, for the woman was dead.”Closing words of the novel, referring to Tess's execution and the watching Angel and Liza-Lu.