Hardy’s novel tells the story of how John and Joan Durbeyfield became convinced that they are descended from the ancient family of d’Ubervilles. They encourage their daughter Tess to cement a connection with the Stoke-d’Uberville family of local gentry (who it turns out are themselves not entitled to the illustrious name) and she is raped by their son, the unprincipled Alec. It is a connection that returns to haunt her after she has married the pure parson’s son Angel Clare. Tess first appeared in a serialized—and bowdlerized—form in The Graphic in 1891. A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented , as Hardy subtitled the work, represented a direct challenge to conventional notions of sexuality and femininity—and, though conventions have radically changed in the past century, the character of Tess has remained a challenging one. In her introduction Maier argues that we should not see Tess merely as a passive victim; she suggests that a combination of sexual vigour and moral rigour makes Tess not just one of the greatest but also one of the strongest women in the canon of English literature. This edition also includes contemproary reviews; the ’bowdlerized’ as well as the author’s original versions of passages censored by the early years of the novel’s life; excerpts from Hardy’s autobiography; and a wealth of other documents that shed light on the context from which this text emerged -- highlighting in particular gender-related issues that lie at the heart of the text.
