# XLII explained — Tess of the d’Urbervilles

> Chapter companion for Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

## What happens

Tess, now traveling alone and in disguise, makes her way to Flintcomb-Ash to find work. She disfigures her appearance to avoid male attention, reflecting on her sorrow and her enduring love for Angel. She reunites with Marian, who helps her secure a job at a desolate farm, and Tess resolves to live humbly and keep her marriage a secret.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Resilience

Tess endures physical hardship, self-imposed ugliness, and emotional isolation, yet continues forward with fortitude, reflecting on the relativity of sorrows.

### Love and Marriage

Tess's unwavering love for Angel persists despite his abandonment; she hides her married status and sacrifices her appearance out of loyalty to him.

### Social Class and Inequality

Tess, a gentleman's wife by marriage, is forced to return to the lowest form of field labor, highlighting the precariousness of her social position and the gap between her past and present.

## Character check-ins

### Tess Durbeyfield

Tess travels to Flintcomb-Ash, disfigures her face to avoid admiration, and takes up rough field work, hiding her identity as Mrs. Angel Clare.

### Marian

Marian is working at Flintcomb-Ash, now shabbier and given to drink, but she warmly greets Tess and helps her get hired at the farm.

### Angel Clare

Angel is absent, having gone abroad; Tess's thoughts and actions are dominated by her love for him and her grief over their separation.

## Key lines

> What a mommet of a maid!

What a grotesque-looking girl!

_A passerby mocks Tess's deliberately disfigured appearance, causing her to weep in self-pity._

> The wall seemed to be the only friend she had.

The warm wall of the cottage felt like her sole companion in her loneliness.

_Tess finds comfort in the warmth of a cottage wall as she arrives at Flintcomb-Ash, emphasizing her isolation._

> I don’t wish to bring his name down to the dirt.

I do not want to dishonor his name by associating it with this lowly work.

_Tess asks Marian to keep her marriage to Angel a secret to protect his reputation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tess_of_the_d_urbervilles_se/chapters/xlii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tess_of_the_d_urbervilles_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tess_of_the_d_urbervilles_se/chapters