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Tess of the D’Urbervilles Throughout the novel, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Hardy focuses on the life of Tess Durbeyfield. Starting out as a young, innocent girl, Tess matures throughout the book to become a powerful woman who was capable of thinking fo ....

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.... of her physically and mentally. By giving Tess’s father a horse, Alec was able to exert mental control over Tess in such a way that Tess was obliged to obey. Yet, Tess was able to overcome her affair with Alec because she possessed a keen sense of justice and morality. She realized that she had sinned, but also came to the conclusion that she should not be punished eternally for one mistake. This realization also reflects upon Tess’s maturation mentally. Moreover, because her affair with Alec also resulted in a child, she was forced to mature much more quickly than she would have liked. Tess also had the habit of blaming herself fo ....