Tess of the d’Urbervilles · Chapter
LIII explained
Angel Clare returns to his parents' home at Emminster Vicarage, physically weakened from his travels.
What happens
Angel Clare returns to his parents' home at Emminster Vicarage, physically weakened from his travels. He reads Tess's angry letter accusing him of injustice and learns from his mother that she has not been sending money. He resolves to find Tess, despite her mother's evasive reply about her whereabouts.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
Angel's delayed return and Tess's bitter letter highlight the fracture in their marriage, exploring themes of forgiveness, pride, and the consequences of judgment.
Suffering and Resilience
Angel's physical and emotional deterioration, Tess's desperate pleas, and the family's strained communications underscore the suffering endured by both characters.
Religion and Hypocrisy
The Clares' Christian concern for Tess's sin contrasts with their earlier indifference to her poverty and simplicity, revealing selective moral compassion.
Characters to notice
- Angel Clare
Returns home emaciated and ill, reads Tess's reproachful letter, and decides to seek her out despite her mother's vague response.
- Tess Durbeyfield
Her angry letter to Angel is quoted, accusing him of monstrous treatment and declaring she cannot forgive him.
- Joan Durbeyfield
Sends a brief, evasive reply to Angel's inquiry, stating Tess is away and not revealing her address.
- Old Mr. Clare
Waits anxiously with his wife for Angel's arrival, later learns the real reason for the separation.
- Mrs. Clare
Greets Angel with relief but is shocked by his appearance; dismisses Tess as a 'child of the soil' but later shows sympathy due to Tess's sin.
- Marian
Co-authors a letter with Izz Huett warning Angel to look to his wife.
- Izz Huett
Co-authors a letter with Marian urging Angel to care for Tess.
Key passages
“O why have you treated me so monstrously, Angel! I do not deserve it. I have thought it all over carefully, and I can never, never forgive you!”
Tess writes to Angel accusing him of cruel and unjust treatment, declaring she will never forgive him.
This letter marks a turning point in Tess's feelings, from longing to anger, due to Angel's prolonged absence.
“Child of the soil! Well, we all are children of the soil. I wish she were so in the sense you mean; but let me now explain to you what I have never explained before, that her father is a descendant in the male line of one of the oldest Norman houses”
Angel corrects his mother's dismissive view of Tess, revealing her noble ancestry through the Durbeyfield line.
Angel defends Tess's background, linking her to the ancient Norman lineage, which complicates his mother's class-based judgment.
“I would be content, ay, glad, to live with you as your servant, if I may not as your wife; so that I could only be near you, and get glimpses of you, and think of you as mine.”
Tess expresses her willingness to be Angel's servant just to be near him, if he will not accept her as his wife.
This plea from Tess's earlier letter shows her desperation and devotion, contrasting with her later angry tone.
