Wordsworth Classics are inexpensive editions designed to appeal to the general reader and students. We commissioned teachers and specialists to write wide ranging, jargon-free introductions and to provide notes that would assist the understanding of our readers rather than interpret the stories for them. In the same spirit, because the pleasures of reading are inseparable from the surprises, secrets and revelations that all narratives contain, we strongly advise you to enjoy this book before turning to the Introduction.

Set in Hardy's Wessex, Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a moving novel of hypocrisy and double standards. Its challenging sub-title, A Pure Woman, infuriated critics when the book was first published in 1891, and it was condemned as immoral and pessimistic.

It tells of Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, who learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urberville. In her search for respectability her fortunes fluctuate wildly, and the story assumes the proportions of a Greek tragedy. It explores Tess's relationships with two very different men, her struggles against the social mores of the rural Victorian world which she inhabits and the hypocrisy of the age.

In addressing the double standards of the time, Hardy's masterly evocation of a world which we have lost, provides one of the most compelling stories in the canon of English literature, whose appeal today defies the judgement of Hardy's contemporary critics.

PHASETHEFIRST

TheMaiden

CHAPTERSI--XI,page3

PHASETHESECOND

MaidenNoMore

CHAPTERSXII--XV,page66

PHASETHETHIRD

TheRally

CHAPTERSXVI--XXIV,page89

PHASETHEFOURTH

TheConsequence

CHAPTERSXXV--XXXIV,page134

PHASETHEFIFTH

TheWomanPays

CHAPTERSXXXV--XLIV,page199

PHASETHESIXTH

TheConvert

CHAPTERSXLV--LII,page267

PHASETHESEVENTH

Fulfilment

CHAPTERSLIII--LIX,page322

NOTESTOTHETEXT

page351