Tess of the d’Urbervilles · Chapter
Chapter XV explained
Tess Durbeyfield, now burdened by her past experiences, remains at her father's house through the winter, reflecting on the dates of her undoing, her baby's birth and death, and her own mortality.
What happens
Tess Durbeyfield, now burdened by her past experiences, remains at her father's house through the winter, reflecting on the dates of her undoing, her baby's birth and death, and her own mortality. She resolves to escape the memories of her past and seeks a new beginning. In early May, she receives a letter offering her a position as a milkmaid at Talbothays Dairy, far to the south. Determined to leave behind her d'Urberville associations, she decides to become simply the dairymaid Tess, though she is drawn to the proximity of her ancestral lands.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Resilience
Tess's experience has been incapacitating, yet she feels the pulse of hopeful life still warm within her and seeks a new beginning, demonstrating resilience despite her suffering.
The Past and Ancestry
Tess resolves to have no more d'Urberville air-castles, yet she is drawn to the proximity of her forefathers' country and the family vaults, showing the pull of ancestry.
Fate and Inevitability
Tess reflects on the unknown date of her own death and the irony of her situation, feeling that her fate is sealed by past events.
Characters to notice
- Tess Durbeyfield
Tess reflects on her past experiences, her baby's death, and her own mortality. She resolves to escape her past and accepts a position at Talbothays Dairy, determined to be simply a dairymaid.
- Joan Durbeyfield
Tess's mother, who knows Tess's feelings about the d'Urberville ancestry and never alludes to it, though she is Blakemore to the bone.
- Alec d'Urberville
Referenced in Tess's reflections on the disastrous night at Trantridge and the finery he gave her, which she put by with contempt.
Key passages
“By experience, says Roger Ascham, we find out a short way by a long wandering.”
Roger Ascham observed that experience teaches us a shortcut only after a long and winding journey.
The epigraph sets the tone for Tess's realization that her painful experiences have taught her lessons too late to be of use.
“Almost at a leap Tess thus changed from simple girl to complex woman.”
Tess transformed almost overnight from a naive girl into a mature, complicated woman.
Highlights Tess's rapid maturation due to her traumatic experiences.
“Was once lost always lost really true of chastity? she would ask herself.”
Tess questioned whether the loss of chastity was truly irreversible.
Reflects Tess's internal struggle with Victorian double standards regarding female purity.
“She would be the dairymaid Tess, and nothing more.”
Tess resolved to be known simply as the dairymaid Tess, without any connection to her noble ancestry.
Shows Tess's determination to shed her past and start anew.