XIX explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Social Class and Inequality

  Tess hesitates to reveal her d'Urberville ancestry after learning Clare despises old families, highlighting the complex role of lineage in social standing.

• Nature vs. Society

  The garden scene contrasts natural beauty and sensory experience with Tess's inner turmoil and societal fears, as she is drawn to Clare's music amidst the weeds and pollen.

• Suffering and Resilience

  Tess's past suffering has deepened her perception, allowing her to articulate the 'ache of modernism' and connect with Clare on a profound level.

Characters to notice

• Tess Durbeyfield

  Contemplates revealing her noble ancestry to Angel, then decides against it after hearing Clare's views. Discovers Clare's considerateness in arranging the cows. Drawn to his harp-playing, she shares her existential fears with him.

• Angel Clare

  Secretly arranges the cows for Tess's convenience. Plays a plaintive melody on the harp in the garden, and engages Tess in a deep conversation about life and fear.

• Dairyman Crick

  Explains to Tess that Clare scorns old families, using Retty Priddle as an example. Maintains the rule of rotating cows among milkers.

• Retty Priddle

  Mentioned by Dairyman Crick as a descendant of the Paridelles, an old family scorned by Clare.

Key passages

• “Barren attribute as it was, disastrous as its discovery had been in many ways to her, perhaps Mr. Clare, as a gentleman and a student of history, would respect her sufficiently to forget her childish conduct with the lords and ladies if he knew that those Purbeck-marble and alabaster people in Kingsbere Church really represented her own lineal forefathers; that she was no spurious d'Urberville, compounded of money and ambition like those at Trantridge, but true d'Urberville to the bone.”

  Tess thinks that despite the trouble her ancestry has caused, Angel might respect her more if he knew she was a genuine d'Urberville, not a fake like the Stoke-d'Urbervilles.

  Tess's internal debate about revealing her lineage to gain Angel's approval.

• “The insight afforded into Clare's character suggested to her that it was largely owing to her supposed untraditional newness that she had won interest in his eyes.”

  Tess realizes that Angel is attracted to her because he thinks she is modern and unburdened by old family ties.

  Tess understands that her perceived newness is what draws Angel to her.

• “She undulated upon the thin notes of the secondhand harp, and their harmonies passed like breezes through her, bringing tears into her eyes. The floating pollen seemed to be his notes made visible, and the dampness of the garden the weeping of the garden's sensibility.”

  Tess is deeply moved by Angel's harp music, feeling the notes as physical sensations that blend with the natural world around her.

  The synesthetic description of Tess's emotional response to Angel's music.