After reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, you may notice that references to pagan goddesses and ancient religions of the past are scattered throughout the whole book. These allusions range from the affectionate names by which Angel Clare refers to Tess, such as "Artemis" and "Demeter", to the climax that brings about the end of Tess's miserable life at Stonehenge. The frequency of the motif suggests that it has more meaning than meets the eye, and that paganism is not present in the novel simply as a means to advance the plot. It is very easy for the reader to spot the connection between Tess and the goddesses of antiquity. What is Hardy trying to demonstrate to the reader by associating Tess with deities of a bygone time? Ultimately, the entire novel conveys a powerful message about the identity of Tess herself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before considering the relationship between paganism and history, it is important to consider some elements of this topic. Ancient religions considered the female figure highly significant in society because it brought with it the association of fertility and prosperity. The female's ability to give birth was celebrated and regarded with respect in ancient times. There are multiple theories as to why women began to be seen from a different perspective. According to Kass, man may have become envious of woman's ability to give life while society insists that he be the one to cause death in war, and thus ended up limiting women's lifestyle to that of a housewife domesticated. Others have described the female body as a source of sin and temptation, as imperfect and therefore to be kept out of public life. During the Victorian era, when Hardy was writing, the gap between men and women was particularly wide. Women were expected to drape their entire bodies in loose dresses and skirts to distort their shape. Girls remained mostly uneducated as schooling was discouraged and they did not learn much except some basic grammar and arithmetic, sewing, cooking and other "useful" skills. Their future would be based on marrying and finding a fortune this way, while raising a family at the same time, or becoming a governess to earn your own money if you are from a middle class family. Lower-class women were less likely to move up the social ladder. Should they give in to temptation or, even worse, lose their virginity to a rapist, they will be considered fallen and failed women in the eyes of society, even though it may not be their fault. Hardy portrays his protagonist Tess as one of these women. Her best bet in life was to work in the fields or as a milker. Alec's act of violation towards Tess leads to her being shunned by everyone around her, even the man who supposedly loves her. So why is Tess compared to a goddess, when these divine entities are associated with power and respect, two things the poor girl completely lacks in the novel? The reasons for this depend on the reader's interpretations. Hardy may be trying to emphasize Tess's innocence and thus go against the conventions of his time. By establishing Tess as a goddess, he is assimilating her to spirituality and purity, thus justifying the novel's subtitle as "A Pure Woman." This must have caused a stir during the Victorian era as it degraded everything they thought was right and moral. However, Hardy was simply asserting the rights of women in society. Every time Angel Clare rejects his apology and every song he claims as Alec D'Urbervillewas never punished for his actions is a piercing cry of satire straight from the author to the heart of the reader. Alec's status as subordinate to Tess in terms of spirituality and innocence is shown through his occupation as a priest, while she maintains her prestigious place as a goddess. Angelo Chiara's coming from a highly religious family also suggests that, like Alec, he is worshiping Tess from below, unable to reach her level of goodness. This once again increases Tess's innocence despite having her virginity taken away, something condemnable in her time. The reader witnesses Tess's sacrifice in a process very similar to that of Christ. He escapes to Stonehenge, where he performs kenosis on his pure, spiritual form and allows himself to appear to his tormentors in all his humanity, just as Jesus Christ let the Jews arrest him without resistance. Such an episode is probably intended to arouse pity in the reader, who regrets that Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, is now the hunted. Thomas Hardy sacrifices Tess with the hope that her imaginary death will save the lives of many real, tormented women who suffer from actions they did not commit. The rejection of her status as a pagan goddess that derives from ancient Greece and Rome - the elite civilizations - may also be a sign of the community's abandonment of civilized behavior and a return to barbarism condemning the girl to death. It can be said that there is a kenosis on humanity, both on Tess's part and on the community's part. Since Tess is the bearer of humanity and civilization in a barbaric world, her death leads to cutting ties with civilization, involving language itself and thus ending the narrative as a whole. In a sense, the entire novel is an allegory of the life of Christ. There is the celebration of the harvest and Tess as a goddess with her child, symbolizing fertility. Her attempt to transcend by sinking from her divine status to be with a human man she loves is what kills her, just as Christ demonstrates his love for all humanity and suffers death by crucifixion. The duality of the Christian voice may also be there to serve to show others how in reality both pagans and Christians were equally dependent on a greater being for survival. Both communities thrived on peace and harmony. Yet the Christians seemed to be as bloodthirsty as the supposedly barbaric pagans as they too performed a deadly ritual by sacrificing poor Tess. Therefore, Hardy is bridging a gap between pagans and Christians, seemingly telling them that everyone is equal, despite the faith they claim to have. Thus, the book is a celebration of paganism and a longing for the past echoed through a Christian voice. One can also compare Hardy's Judas the Dark with Tess of the d'Urbervilles, in the sense that both seem to aim to imitate the classical past of virtue and dignified effort. As Jude tries to master Latin and Greek and acquire a good education, he is humiliated by society simply because of his social class. Tess herself is unable to recover from the murky waters into which she has been thrown because she does not belong to a society that appreciates women, unlike the society of the classical era. It is therefore easy to come to the conclusion that Thomas Hardy did not entirely agree with the conventions of his time and would have liked to see changes applied. Through his novels, he wanted to urge his readers to open their eyes and understand what is happening in the world around them, that it is not necessarily fair and that not everyone benefits from the social system. Tess, the pagan goddess, had to cling to the past to generate the present in the future,,