Phase the Third: The Rally
Chapter 16
After the gloom of the last several chapters, this is a breath of fresh air, in more ways than one. Hardy employs a long series of metaphors to convey a sense of opening up, release and renewal. Tess has endured a dark period of confinement. But now she enters a new community, one that is fresh and thriving; and most significantly, it is visibly and characteristically different from that of her home village. We can almost feel the fresh air filling Tess’s lungs, see he walk tall and confident, ready to face a new chapter in her life.
Chapter 17
There seem to be a number of peculiar little mismatches in
this chapter: Dairyman Crick devotes his entire life to the production of milk
and yet it has never occurred to him to drink it! Angel Clare (note the irony
of his name!) is surely no angel, perhaps the only son who couldn't make the
grade as a parson (a higher calling than farmhand). And he's not doing well at
milking either. And yet his boss addresses him as "sir" and seems
prepared to accept his mediocre performance. Most remarkable perhaps is how
different Angel's manner is from the adventurous youth who charmed all the
girls at the dance. Now he is much too taken up wi' his own thoughts to
notice girls! This doesn't quite add up.
Unlike Angel, Tess is entirely at ease and steps right into the work. We're
told that her appearance is not really what one would call "pretty"
but the other milkmaids refer to her as pretty. She's obviously competent and
is greeted warmly by the boss, so perhaps the women's comments about Tess may
be colored by a bit of jealousy at the "new girl" getting on so well.
There might be a bit of truth in the comical banter of the milkers about the
cows holding back on the milk. Cows are very much creatures of a set routine
(and treating them to music at milking time is commonly done as part of that
routine); any change, such as the presence of a stranger could interfere with
their routine and cause them to be a bit tense.
Work songs such as the men sing here are found the world over, wherever people
get together to do repetitive manual labor (and trust me, hand milking
qualifies as such!) The lyrics to such songs are often scatological, so no
surprise theirs is about a murderous criminal. Anything to alleviate the dull routine
will do — as does the telling of humorous tall tales.
Chapter 18
In this chapter, Hardy has dipped a toe into one of the great
controversies of the late 19th century in England, a time when the
Church, which had been quite solidly evangelical in its outlook was
being challenged from several quarters by those who objected to the
Church’s insistence on a literal, even grammatically pure acceptance of
the scriptures — including, for example that the earth was eighteen
centuries old. Angel is one of those who finds himself unable to face
the prospect of being a parson and having to preach such beliefs.
Hardy
also causes Tess to reveal a side of her personality that, while
perhaps vaguely hinted at, we had not clearly seen before: she muses on
the experience of gazing into the night sky and having the sense of
being spiritually released from one’s body and finding one’s
consciousness at a great distance from one’s physical existence. In
addition to the moral complexity that we saw in her before, there seems
to be an additional depth to Tess that might turn out to be either an
asset or a liability to her, depending on how her fortunes develop.
Am I perhaps reading more into this than it merits?
Chapter 19
The verdant, overgrown garden setting that Hardy chose for this
encounter between Tess and Angel seems to have been deliberately chosen
both for its sensory appeal and in a way to counterbalance the
intellectual advantage that Angel has over Tess due to his family
background and education. Tess, the country girl, a child of nature is
in her own element here — further emphasized by her fussing with the
'lords and ladies'.
Tess has learned to be cautious before
committing herself to a particular social gambit; not trusting her
judgment, she quietly inquires about Angel's attitudes before mentioning
her connection to an 'old family'.
Chapter 20
I was struck by Hardy's elegant way of noting the passage of time by alluding (in exquisite poetic language) to the cycle of seasons in the natural world while at the same time, life at the farm proceeds with no visible change in the daily routine. He sees the people at Crick's farm as living is an economic 'sweet spot' between poverty and the stresses of the fashionable world.
Angel's dreamy, idealized perception of Tess is does not bode well for the development of a relationship; does this young man really understand how the real world works? He seems to be a fellow adrift, unsure of his place in the world, disconnected from his roots and yet an outsider in the environment where he now lives. Not a man I would favor for any daughter of mine!
Chapter 21
Crick's story about the fellow who hid in the butter churn creates a startling misalignment of moods. For those listening to the tale — and for us as well — it really is quite hilarious and we can certainly enjoy reading it. But Tess can only relate to the tragic side of the story; it plunges her into despair, as if she were experiencing her own betrayal all over again. She finds the room, the people, their laughter stifling and she retreats to the outdoors, to the natural world; but even there she cannot find peace.
And later, overhearing the other girls mooning over Mr. Clare reminds her again that she can only regard herself as 'damaged goods'. She has determined that she can never marry. We are left wondering where this will lead ....
Chapter 22
Rather than clarifying anything, this short chapter raises more questions about Tess's state of mind. She goes out of her way not only to avoid being alone near Angel but even to direct his attention away from herself onto the other girls. But how sincere is she in this? She acutely feels her loss of innocence, she must instinctively regret being disqualified from being in the running for Angel's favor even while deliberately turning away. This is far from being resolved ....
Chapter 23
I think that Hardy was having a good deal of fun with his audience in this chapter, gently sending up the girls in their predicament; and providing Angel with a gratifying opportunity to embrace each of the girls in turn, culminating in his declaration of having experienced “three Leahs to get one Rachel.”
But it ends poignantly, as Tess, regardless of having admitted, even to herself, that she is in love, insists that she can never marry.
Chapter 24
What a fantastic opening paragraph
to Chapter 24!
"the rush of juices could almost be heard below the hiss
of fertilization"
It’s easy to see why Hardy suffered condemnation by the bluestockings of his day! And he doesn’t stop there, he doubles down.
Angel gazes at Tess’s lips:
"But no — they were not perfect. And it was the touch of the imperfect upon
the would-be perfect that gave the sweetness, because it was that which gave
her the humanity."
These are lines that could only have been written by a man
who has found himself passionately in love!
Contemplating Tess’s lips “actually produced, by some mysterious physiological phenomenon, a prosaic sneeze.” Remarkably, Hardy seems to have been aware of a phenomenon that later became known as Fliess’ Syndrome, having been discussed in "Freud’s "Letters to Fliess". It is further described in the JRSM: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2625373/
