# XXXII explained — Tess of the d’Urbervilles

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

## What happens

Tess and Angel Clare agree to marry, with Tess setting the date despite her lingering fears and a sense of fatalism. Angel's practical reasons for hastening the wedding are intertwined with his idealistic love, while Tess struggles with the weight of her past and the fear of being unwanted. The chapter explores their deepening relationship against the backdrop of the changing seasons and dairy work.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Marriage

The chapter centers on Tess and Angel's decision to marry, exploring the tension between romantic idealism and practical necessity, as well as Tess's fear that her past may taint their union.

### Fate and Inevitability

Tess's fatalistic acceptance of her circumstances and her passive drift toward marriage reflect the theme of fate, as she feels carried along by forces beyond her control.

### Female Purity and Double Standards

Tess's anxiety about her past and the memory of her mother's ballad about a robe betraying a wife who 'had once done amiss' underscore the double standards of female purity in Victorian society.

## Character check-ins

### Tess Durbeyfield

Agrees to marry Angel, though she harbors fears about her past and the future. She writes to her mother for advice but receives no reply, and is moved by Angel's thoughtful gifts of clothing.

### Angel Clare

Presses Tess to set a wedding date, citing practical reasons and his desire to protect her. He loves her ideally and fancifully, and his recklessness is tied to his family's prejudices.

### Dairyman Crick

Expresses concern about losing Tess as a worker, though he had previously considered dismissing her. He is told of the engagement in confidence.

### Mrs. Crick

Congratulates Tess on the engagement and claims she always sensed Tess was destined for someone superior.

### Joan Durbeyfield

Tess writes to her for advice about the marriage, but Joan does not reply.

## Key lines

> Thus at last it was arranged between them, during that dark walk home, amid the myriads of liquid voices on the right and left.

During their walk home in the dark, surrounded by the sounds of water, Tess and Angel finally set their wedding date.

_This marks the formal agreement to marry, a key moment in their relationship._

> Suppose this robe should betray her by changing colour, as her robe had betrayed Queen Guinevere.

Tess worries that the new dress Angel gave her might somehow reveal her past, like the legendary robe that exposed Queen Guinevere's infidelity.

_This reflects Tess's deep-seated fear of her past being discovered and judged._

> I don't think you ought to have felt glad, Angel. Because 'tis always mournful not to be wanted, even if at the same time 'tis convenient.

Tess tells Angel that being unwanted is always sad, even if it is convenient, responding to his relief that the dairy's need for her is ending.

_This highlights Tess's sensitivity to rejection and her emotional vulnerability._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tess_of_the_d_urbervilles_se/chapters/xxxii
- 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