Tess of the d’Urbervilles · Chapter
XLVII explained
Tess works at Flintcomb-Ash farm during the threshing of the last wheat-rick.
What happens
Tess works at Flintcomb-Ash farm during the threshing of the last wheat-rick. Alec d'Urberville reappears, having abandoned his preaching, and confronts Tess on the rick. He claims she has caused him to lose his faith and attempts to reassert his power over her. Tess strikes him with a glove, drawing blood, but Alec remains determined to possess her again. The chapter ends with Tess resuming her work in a daze.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Resilience
Tess endures the grueling threshing work and Alec's relentless pursuit, striking him in defiance but remaining trapped in her circumstances.
Religion and Hypocrisy
Alec abandons his evangelical preaching, admitting his faith was shallow and that Tess's beauty caused his relapse, highlighting the hypocrisy of his religious fervor.
Fate and Inevitability
Tess feels doomed by her past with Alec, stating 'Once victim, always victim—that’s the law!' as Alec reasserts his control over her.
Characters to notice
- Tess Durbeyfield
Working on the threshing machine at Flintcomb-Ash; confronts Alec d'Urberville and strikes him with a glove after he reappears and pressures her.
- Alec d'Urberville
Reappears at the farm, having abandoned his evangelical preaching; confronts Tess on the rick, claims she caused his loss of faith, and asserts his intention to master her again.
- Izz Huett
Works alongside Tess at the threshing, handing sheaves to Tess on the platform.
- Farmer Groby
Insists the women start early to finish threshing by day's end; places Tess on the machine platform.
- Marian
Among the women workers at the threshing; descends from the rick to eat under the straw-stack.
Key passages
“Once victim, always victim—that’s the law!”
Tess declares that she is permanently trapped in her role as a victim, as if it were an unchangeable rule.
Tess expresses her sense of fatalism and powerlessness after Alec's return.
“I was your master once! I will be your master again. If you are any man’s wife you are mine!”
Alec asserts his past dominance over Tess and vows to reclaim her, claiming she belongs to him regardless of marriage.
Alec's threatening declaration underscores his predatory persistence and sense of ownership.