Tess of the d’Urbervilles · Chapter
XLV explained
Tess encounters Alec d'Urberville, now a converted Methodist preacher, on her way home from Emminster.
What happens
Tess encounters Alec d'Urberville, now a converted Methodist preacher, on her way home from Emminster. His sudden appearance and religious fervor unsettle her, intensifying her despair over her past. She later meets Izz Huett, who is involved with a new suitor, Amby Seedling.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Hypocrisy
Alec's dramatic conversion to Methodism is portrayed with irony, as Tess questions the sincerity of his transformation and the contrast between his past actions and present piety.
The Past and Ancestry
Tess feels the 'implacable past' still engirdles her, and the encounter with Alec reinforces that her past cannot be escaped.
Suffering and Resilience
Tess endures the emotional shock of meeting Alec again and continues her journey, though her despair deepens.
Characters to notice
- Tess Durbeyfield
Tess is returning from Emminster and encounters Alec, now a preacher. She feels a profound sense of despair and the weight of her past.
- Alec d'Urberville
Alec has undergone a religious conversion and appears as a Methodist preacher. He follows Tess to express his desire to save her soul.
- Izz Huett
Izz is seen with her new lover, Amby Seedling, and speaks with Tess about her own romantic situation.
Key passages
“The former curves of sensuousness were now modulated to lines of devotional passion. The lip-shapes that had meant seductiveness were now made to express supplication; the glow on the cheek that yesterday could be translated as riotousness was evangelized today into the splendour of pious rhetoric; animalism had become fanaticism; Paganism, Paulinism;”
Alec's once sensual features now appear devout and religious, his former lustfulness transformed into fervent piety.
This describes Alec's physical transformation after his conversion, highlighting the irony of his new religious persona.
“That hunger for affection too long withheld was for the time displaced by an almost physical sense of an implacable past which still engirdled her. It intensified her consciousness of error to a practical despair; the break of continuity between her earlier and present existence, which she had hoped for, had not, after all, taken place.”
Tess's longing for love is overwhelmed by the oppressive feeling that her past mistakes still surround her, and she realizes she cannot escape her history.
This captures Tess's despair as she confronts the inescapability of her past, especially after seeing Alec.