Tweetspeak Poetry

  • Home
  • FREE prompts
  • National Poetry Month
  • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • Books, Etc.
  • Patron Love

Perspective: A Tale As Old As Time—’Tess of the D’urbervilles’

By Megan Willome 2 Comments

cattle in green field

Tales As Old As Time—Tess of the D’urbervilles

Tess of the D’urbervilles in Texas? Yes.

My local school district, like many around the country, is embroiled in a battle over books. Lists are circulating with titles to be removed from libraries. Many of these books tell the truth about hard topics. At a book festival event, a man came up to our table and asked if we’d like him to read what he called the “pornographic” parts of a YA book on the list. Since I’d already read many of the books and knew the context behind the content, I declined.

He was right that the books contain some difficult scenes. It’s a difficult world.

“Did you say the stars were worlds, Tess?”
“Yes.”
“All like ours?”
“I don’t know; but I think so. […]”
“Which do we live on—a splendid one or a blighted one?”
“A blighted one.”

–Tess of the D’Urbervilles, chapter 4

I first read Tess of the D’Urbervilles in a high school AP English class. I remember being worried about the scene in which she became, as Hardy deems it, “Maiden No More,” but it was not in any way pornographic—I flat out missed it, and fumbled back, rereading the paragraph until I understood Hardy’s prose. The fallout was harder than the moment. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up Karen Swallow Prior’s new edition of Tess, with a Guide to Reading & Reflecting. Now my copy is full of underlines and dogeared corners. I begged a friend to read it so we can discuss it in our semi-regular walking book club. She and I share a love of banned books.

Tess of the D'urbervilles cover

Prior tells us Tess ran into problems with publishers because of its scandalous sexual content. Thomas Hardy’s first version was changed to meet the standards of the day. In 1892 he finally published the edition Prior uses, the one that told the story he wanted to tell the way he wanted to tell it. As a tragedy.

In the book’s Introduction, Prior says this about the meaning of tragedy, in a literary sense:

What makes this story—or any true tragedy—so satisfying is an ingredient which Aristotle identified as at work in any well-constructed tragedy: catharsis. Aristotle’s notion of catharsis describes a purgation or cleansing of emotions experienced when a tragic plot produces a balance of competing emotions like fear (which draws us away) and pity (which draws us in), along with the balance of sin or crime with a countervailing justice.”

Tess’s story is, sadly, as contemporary as ever. It reminded me of another book on the banned list, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. But being YA, Speak ends in a hopeful place, while Tess ends without a single note from Hardy’s darkling thrush. Tess could be a crime podcast, a seven-episode deep dive (one for each Phase of the book) into Tess’s character and fate.

Prior has written about Tess before, in Booked, in a chapter titled “The Only Thing Between Me and Tragedy: Tess of the D’Urbervilles.” It’s a very personal chapter, which I reread along with Tess.

Life, like a great book, is complicated,” Prior writes in chapter 6. “People, like the best fictional characters, are complex.”

As I read Tess’s story, I realized why she makes me uncomfortable, both when I first read the book in and now—she’s not easily categorized. Tess is beautiful; Tess is good; Tess is not always truthful, even though she tries to be. She is the kind of untruthful of which I am often guilty—not from telling lies but from not speaking when I should. Like Tess, I have let silence be my tragic flaw. My regrets surround the unsaid, the undone. Untruthfulness is its own betrayal.

And yet I have seen in my own life when speaking up did not matter. Sharing truth does not necessarily pave the way for grace. If Tess had spoken sooner, parts of her story might have been different, but speaking would not have guaranteed her a happy ending in Hardy’s graceless universe. Sometimes it does feel as if we live on a blighted star. That’s why we need stories.

Early one morning, at the end of gym class, a friend and I were talking about the local book controversy. She confided that she had been sexually assaulted when she was 16. She said this with the gravity and ease of someone who has addressed her trauma. Kids need these books, we said to each other, because we just never know. For Melinda, in Speak, it happened at a party. For Tess, it was her employer. For my friend, it was at church. For me, it was a family member. The moments when we see ourselves in the pages of a story? Those starry moments are splendid.

Your Turn

1. What is a book you didn’t like when you read it in high school but have since reread?

2. Name a banned book you have appreciated.

3. Share your May pages. Sliced, started, and abandoned are all fair game.

May’s Pages

Poetry

Like, by A.E. Stallings

Picture Books and Early Readers

Sing With Me: The Story of Selena Quintanilla, by Diana López, illus. Teresa Martinez (Join us for Children’s Book Club, next Friday, June 10!)
The Staring Contest, by Nicholas Solis

Grownups

When the Trees Say Nothing, by Thomas Merton, edit. Kathleen Deignan
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, reading guide by Karen Swallow Prior
Synthesizing Gravity, by Kay Ryan (essays)
Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
Stages on the Road, by Sigrid Undset (essays)

While on the Couch

Watched the series The Hollow Crown, in which each episode is one of the Henriad, Shakespeare’s tetralogy of history plays, then listened to many podcasts about them.

Photo by mstk east, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Megan Willome.

Browse more book reviews with Perspective

rainbow crow front cover outlined
5 star

“Megan Willome has captured the essence of crow in this delightful children’s collection. Not only do the poems introduce the reader to the unusual habits and nature of this bird, but also different forms of poetry as well.”

—Michelle Ortega, poet and children’s speech pathologist

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Megan Willome
Megan Willome
Megan Willome is a writer, editor, and author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life With Poems and Rainbow Crow: poems in and out of form. Her day is incomplete without poetry, tea, and a walk in the dark.
Megan Willome
Latest posts by Megan Willome (see all)
  • Perspective: The Two, The Only: Calvin and Hobbes - December 16, 2022
  • Children’s Book Club: A Very Haunted Christmas - December 9, 2022
  • By Heart: ‘The night is darkening round me’ by Emily Brontë - December 2, 2022

Filed Under: A Story in Every Soul, Blog, Perspective

Get Every Day Poems...

About Megan Willome

Megan Willome is a writer, editor, and author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life With Poems and Rainbow Crow: poems in and out of form. Her day is incomplete without poetry, tea, and a walk in the dark.

Comments

  1. Glynn says

    June 3, 2022 at 6:24 am

    I have a twofer – a book I read in high school and appreciated only much later when I reread it and one that regularly shows up on banned book lists: “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain. Another that I didn’t care much for in high school but appreciated much later is “House of Seven Gables” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (I’ve never heard of it being banned, though).

    May reading:

    Fiction
    The Irish Inheritance by M.J. Lee
    Brisbane by Eugene Vodolazkin
    Flappers and Philosophers: Stories by F.Scott Fitzgerald
    The Shell Collector by Nancy Naigle

    Poetry
    Lilac White by Martyn Hesford
    The Poet of Ukraine: Taras Shevchenko
    The Coming-Down Time By Robert Selby
    Poetry and Mysticism by Raissa Maritain
    This Alaska by Carlie Hoffman

    Mystery
    The Two Hundred Ghost (yes, it’s singular) by Henrietta Hampton
    Death on a Summer’s Day by Benedict Brown
    Evening Stat by Sigmund Brouwer
    Knock, Knock, You’re Dead by M.C. Beaton

    Non-fiction
    Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution by Gordon Wood

    Reply
    • Megan Willome says

      June 3, 2022 at 8:20 am

      Glynn, I don’t think I would’ve been able to appreciate “Huckleberry Finn” back then either. My daughter introduced me to a movie that combines elements of both this book and “Tom Sawyer” in a contemporary setting, and they really get Huck right: “Band of Robbers.”

      I have never read “The House of Seven Gables.” I look forward to reading Prior’s edition of “The Scarlet Letter,” because that is another one I haven’t touched since high school.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cute Comic

😊

The Sadbook Collections

A stick-figure human sure to capture your heart.

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our April Menu.

Patron Love

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world poetic.

Now a Graphic Novel!

"Stunning, heartbreaking, and relevant illustrations"

Callie Feyen, teacher

read a summary of The Yellow Wallpaper

meet The Yellow Wallpaper characters

Your Comments

  • Laurie Klein on Poems to Listen By: Black Bird Soirée 04—A Plausible Story
  • Bethany on Poems to Listen By: Black Bird Soirée 04—A Plausible Story
  • L.L. Barkat on 50 States of Generosity- New Jersey
  • 50 States of Generosity- New Jersey - Tweetspeak Poetry on Poetry at Work: The Doctor—William Carlos Williams

How to Write Poetry

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Coloring Page Poem Printables!

Get all free coloring page poems now

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • A Blessing for Writers
  • • Annual Theme 2022: Perspective
  • • Annual Theme 2021: Generous
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • How to Write Form Poems-Infographics
  • • Poetry Club Tea Date
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Book Club
  • • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • 50 States Projects
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Edgar Allan Poe Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2023 Tweetspeak Poetry · FAQ, Disclosure & Privacy Policy

We serve poetry with our cookies. Because that's the way it should be.
We serve poetry with your cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you... accept the cookies with a smile.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
update cookie prefs

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT