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TIMELESS CLASSICS – TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES


“How could I be expected to know? I was a child when I left this house…why didn’t you tell me there was danger in men-folk? Why didn’t you warn me?”


Hardy’s novel depicts the passionate and morally driven protagonist, Tess Durbeyfield, in a guilt-ridden quest to save her family from ruin after she accidentally kills the family horse, subsequently destroying her family’s sole business of trading.


Thomas Hardy, born into the rural regions of southwest England, beautifully portrays this rustic and pastoral countryside in many of his novels and poetry. There is certainly something appealing in his descriptions here of the horse-drawn carts ambling through meadows and dusty farmlands, rather than the bustling, dirt-ridden streets of a 19th century Dickensian London. Despite the seemingly idyllic and romantic setting, true to Hardy’s pessimistic style, the story is a web-spun tale of pitiless double standards, insufferable heartache and ongoing deceit.


After learning that the Durbeyfield family may be direct descendants of the ancient and noble


family the d’Urbervilles, Tess is reluctantly persuaded to visit the great mansion in order to assume their deserved fortune. Initially, the novel held the subtitle A Pure Woman, and throughout the book Hardy describes Tess as a vision of beauty, innocence and true moral candour. On her first meeting with Alec d’Urberville, the dishonourable and manipulative son of the d’Urberville ancestry, his sinister implications become perfectly clear. Although Tess initially rejects his advances and strives to remain


both pure and dignified, his baleful charm and deceitful allure ultimately seduce her.


Following the novel’s release in 1891, many critics believed that Hardy both condones and ignores the immoral actions of Tess that follow her cruel violation. Hardy’s sympathy for his poor rural-class protagonist, who he clearly portrays as a victim of a society built upon corrupt rigidity, helped to spark its controversial review.


Yet, despite her woeful situation, Tess holds no want of self-pity or sympathy, only disgrace upon herself and her actions. In a vain attempt to rebuild her life, Tess begins work as a dairymaid


at Talbothay’s and, against herself, falls in love with the angelic Angel Clare. Their love, although consuming and passionate, becomes an arduous struggle that not only has to battle with Tess’s shameful past but the foreboding presence of Alec d’Urberville too. Will her dark and violating past be a force too strong that ultimately seals her fate – or will true love persevere?


It is Hardy’s effortless style of writing that is so captivating and memorable, and his attention to detail and description enthrals the reader into the lives of his fated characters. As a reader, it is mere impossible not to feel a sympathy and sadness for Tess Durbeyfield; a frustration, perhaps, that she ultimately becomes a degraded representation of Original Sin in her too little too late violating discovery “that the serpent hisses where the sweet birds sing”. Yet, despite her antagonizing endurance of dishonour and heartache, there remains an inevitable admiration for her continued courage and simple acceptance till the very end.


The BBC’s adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, remains true to the storyline and is available now to watch on DVD.


THE EAST ANGLIAN BOOK AWARDS, WELL VERSED AND COMPETITIONS GALORE – ALL IN A DAYS WORK AT WRITERS’ CENTRE NORWICH


If you enjoyed last month’s overview of the region’s literature development agency – Writers’ Centre Norwich – then you are in for a treat. This month we draw back the curtains for an in-depth look at some of the projects and events that the centre has been involved in, from the recent East


WCN has already kicked off the scheme with a launch in the technology-rich environment of The Future Zone at City Academy Norwich. It begins a jam-packed programme of activity that will see WCN develop the skills of poets and teachers using poetry performance and poetry on the page in educational settings, making the most of new technologies to increase interaction and understanding. Most importantly, WCN wants to help young people grasp what poetry is and can be, enabling them to enjoy writing and performing in a creative way. If you’re interested in following the progress of the scheme then pop along to www.wellversedpoetry. co.uk for up-to-date blog posts.


Anglian Book Awards to a new pilot entitled Well Versed, a scheme that will develop new ways of teaching poetry and performance in schools.


Do you remember your own poetry education? If so, then you are one of the lucky ones. Evidence has shown that teachers lack the support and confidence to teach the subject in exciting and engaging ways. Enter Writer’s Centre Norwich, who will be helping to transform the way poetry is taught in Norfolk schools by involving poets in the professional development of teachers and helping poets learn more about the classroom by taking advice from teachers.


30 Fine City Magazine 2010


Poetry was also a feature of the third annual East Anglian Book Awards last month. The prize celebrates great new literature with a Norfolk, Suffolk or Fenland theme, and it’s safe to say that the East region continues to inspire. WCN takes pride in sponsoring the awards and takes further pride when it sees success from writers they regularly work with: Mick Jackson was the overall winner of the awards with his novel The Widow’s Tale and was also involved in their three month long community reading


programme, Summer Reads. Further success saw Caroline Gilfillan win the poetry section with Yes and John Osborne taking the Biography & Memoir prize with The Newsagent’s Window. Both were participants in WCN’s talent development competition, Escalator Literature.


Do you know any poets working towards their first collection? The 2010/11 prize is now open to all in England, offering a year’s worth of poetry development. Visit www.writerscentrenorwich. org.uk for more information.


This is just a taster of Writers’ Centre Norwich’s activities.


With a bid for Norwich to become England’s first UNESCO City of Literature, and already the UK’s first City of Refuge, it’s certainly an organisation this fine city can be proud of.


Keep in touch with what’s going on at Writers’ Centre Norwich by signing up for e-news on www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk.


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