摘 要：《德伯家的苔丝》是英国著名的批判现实主义小说家托马斯.哈代的代表作。为了生动的表现主人公苔丝的性格和悲剧命运，哈代在描写环境时刻意使用了具有象征意义的环境描写，使自然环境的变化与主人公的命运紧密地交织在一起，并通过对环境的描述寓示苔丝的命运。本文以象征主义手法为基础，对《德伯家的苔丝》中的自然环境描写的象征意象，如白花、颜色、光线、小鸟和地点转移等进行了详细的分析研究，探讨其对于揭示苔丝多舛命运的作用和意义,希望为读者了解这部小说增添一个新的视角。

关键词：《德伯家的苔丝》；环境描写；象征意义

Abstract：Tess of the d’Urbervilles was a masterpiece of Thomas Hardy who was a famous British novelist of critical realism. In order to vividly describe the character and tragic fate of Tess, Hardy deliberately used the symbolic description to describe the environment, which combined the changes of the natural environment with the Tess’ fate closely and implied the fate of Tess through the environmental description. Based on the symbolism, the author studies and analyzes in detail the symbolic images in the description of the natural environment in the Tess of the d’Urbervilles, such as white flowers, colors, birds, lights and transference of places and so on, and discusses their function and significance in revealing the unfortunate fate of Tess. The author hopes to give a new perspective for the readers to understand this novel.

Key words: Tess of the d’Urbervilles; environmental description; symbolic significance

Contents

摘 要 i

Abstract ii

I. Introduction 1

II. Symbol and Symbolism 2

III. The Symbolic Significance of Natural Images in Tess of the d'Urbervilles 5

3.1 The Symbolic Significance of Colors 5

3.2 The Symbolic Significance of the Natural Objects 8

IV. The Symbolic Significance of the Space in Tess of the d'Urbervilles 11

4.1 Marlott — Tess’ Hometown 11

4.2 Trantridege — A Place Where Tess’ Tragic Life Began 11

4.3 The Great Dairies Valley — A New Beginning for Tess 12

4.4 Flintcomb — A Place Without Hope 13

4.5 Stonehenge — A Place Where Tess’ Life Journey Ended 14

V. Conclusion 15

Bibliography 16

Acknowledgements 17

On the Symbolic Significance of the Environmental Description in Tess of the d’Urbervilles

I. Introduction

   Thomas Hardy was a British poet, novelist who was born in Dorset, a place in southwest of the UK where the natural environment was the main background on Hardy’s works. He was a writer across two centuries. In the early and mid period of his creation, his productions were mainly on novels. He inherited and carried forward the traditional literature of the Victorian era. In his old age, he opened up the twentieth century’s British literature with his excellent poetry.

Hardy began to write novels in the mid 19th century, the mid Victorian period (1830-1901). At that time, novels became a kind of fashion and entered the family of ordinary citizens through newspaper serial. Hardy’s most successful novel is the series of “character and environment” and Tess of the d’Urbervilles is one of them. Hardy’s novels were full of strong pessimism. He believed that the tragedy of Tess is arranged by the will of God, no matter how people try to escape and rebel, they could not escape the domination of God. He put the workers and farmers’ tragedy to the arrangement of destiny, which weakened the social significance in his novels. The arrangement of the plot also reflects the view of fatalism, which results in the tragedy of the heroine. Due to his nostalgia of the rural society, he often described ancient customs and rural scenery in detail in his novels.  

Tess of the d’Urbervilles tells the story of the heroine Tess who was born in a poor family and her parents were hawkers. Her parents wanted her to find a job through the rich relative, as a result she was seduced by a young man called Alec. Later she fell in love with the pastor's son Angel and they were engaged. In the wedding night, she confessed to her husband Angle about her previous misfortune, but could not be forgiven by him. Then the couple separated and Angel went to Brazil. A few years later, Tess met with Alec who pestered her again. She had to live with the man she hated because of family distress. At that time, Angel soon came back from abroad, expressed his remorse for his indifference in the past to his wife. In this case, Tess felt the pain that Alec would let her lose Angle again so she killed Alec with anger. At last she was arrested and hanged. Tess of the d’Urbervilles is the masterpiece of Hardy and it is also one of the most tragic novels in the history of British literature.