Chapter 49

Synopsis of chapter 49

Tess's letter to Angel is forwarded to him in Brazil by his father. It occasions a conversation between the parents about whether they should have sent Angel to Cambridge after all. At least then, he would not have tried to be a farmer and married a farm girl.

Meanwhile, Angel is on his way to the Brazilian coast, labouring through the jungle. The immigrants have had a disastrous time and many have died. Angel himself has been rethinking his actions, and when he tells an acquaintance about his marriage, the man plainly tells him he judged wrongly. Angel wonders, though, why Tess has not written, having forgotten he had told her not to.

Tess is expecting a response to her letter and prepares herself for Angel's return. Her sister Liza-Lu finds her with the news that their mother is very ill, perhaps dying. Tess decides to finish her contract with the farm and sets off home.

Commentary on chapter 49

The reader has already had the experience of finding one of Tess's letters not reaching Angel (Ch 33). It thus seems more than possible this one will not reach its destination, not least because it could well miss Angel as he is making his way home. In the first version of the story, Mr. Clare did not even send the letter but put it in a drawer.

The main movement of the chapter, however, is Angel's own purgatorial experiences in Brazil. These lead him to re-evaluate all his and Tess's actions. He now sees how wrong he was, but of course, it may well be too late. Hardy also brings out the cruelty of nature in his descriptions of Brazil. This reinforces his comments on the cruelty of life in general. We are more than ever aware of the pressures on Tess with the news of impending disaster for her family.

Abraham might have mourned....: The story in Genesis 22:1-14 is of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son on a mountain top. Hardy imagines Abraham's feelings. It is not clear whether the reader is meant to remember that the story turns out well.

old systems of mysticism....morality: Angel had discarded belief in the supernatural elements of Christianity but retained a traditionally narrow and legalistic set of moral views, which he now realises also needs re-evaluating.

general principles...particular instances: any moral system must balance general moral principles with particular instances where they might prove difficult or even impossible to apply. Angel's immaturity and inexperience have not taught him this up till now.

the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim....: quoting from Judges 8:1-3, where Gideon suggests that the opportunity for the tribe of Ephraim to pick over (glean) the spoils of battle would be worth more than anything they could have acquired from the original battle (the Ephraimites had not been summoned to fight and thought they had lost out by this). Hardy's knowledge of such obscure passages from the Bible suggests how well he still knew it, and is prepared to exploit it for his own purposes.

'Cupid's Gardens'.....: Hardy lists a number of popular folk songs

Time

For the significance and date of Old Lady Day, see notes in Ch 42.

Liza-Lu was the next oldest girl in Tess's family. It is nearly four years since she was mentioned, so she is presumably some sixteen or seventeen years old now.

Vocabulary

cynic: someone who believes human virtues are motivated purely by self-interest

drave: toil

leaded: coffins lined with lead

withy: woven with willow branches

Investigating chapter 49

What more does the chapter tell us about the relationship of Angel's parents with him?
In what ways does Angel go through a purgatorial experience whilst in Brazil?
- Is his suffering and re-education in any way comparable to Tess's?
- Does the reader at any time get the experience of this change being too late?
Explain 'not among things done but among things willed'.
Look at the paragraph beginning 'But the reasoning is somewhat musty....'.
- Is this Hardy's commentary or Angel's thinking?
  - Whose voice is it?
  - If it is Hardy's, what does it say about Hardy's philosophy of life?
  - What would this suggest about the outcome of the novel?
Explain the distinction Angel makes between the 'political value' and the 'imaginative value' of Tess's family line.
Hardy is fond of personifying time.
- How would you explain 'So does Time ruthlessly destroy his own romances'?
In what ways does Tess rehearsing the folk-songs evoke pathos?

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. ²He said, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. ³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷And Isaac said to his father Abraham, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. He said, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? ⁸Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went both of them together. ⁹When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. ¹²He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord will provide; as it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. ¹⁵And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, ¹⁸and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. ¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba. ²⁰Now after these things it was told to Abraham, Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. ²³(Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ²⁴Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. ²And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. ³And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. ⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. ⁵And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. ⁷And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? ⁸And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. ⁹And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. ¹⁵And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, ¹⁶And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: ¹⁷That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. ¹⁹So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. ²⁰And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; ²¹Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, ²²And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. ²³And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ²⁴And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹Then the men of Ephraim said to him, What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian? And they accused him fiercely. ²And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ³God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger against him subsided when he said this. ⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵So he said to the men of Succoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. ⁶And the officials of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army? ⁷So Gideon said, Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. ⁸And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he said to the men of Penuel, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. ¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. ¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted? ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ¹⁷And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. ¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor? They answered, As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king. ¹⁹And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you. ²⁰So he said to Jether his firstborn, Rise and kill them! But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. ²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian. ²³Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you. ²⁴And Gideon said to them, Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. ²⁹Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³²And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ³³As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. ³⁴And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ³⁵and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

¹And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. ²And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ³God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. ⁴And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. ⁵And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. ⁶And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? ⁷And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. ⁸And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. ⁹And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. ¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host; for the host was secure. ¹²And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host. ¹³And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up, ¹⁴And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men. ¹⁵And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. ¹⁷And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. ¹⁸Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. ¹⁹And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. ²⁰And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks. ²²Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. ²³And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you. ²⁴And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. ²⁷And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. ²⁸Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. ²⁹And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. ³²And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ³³And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god. ³⁴And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side: ³⁵Neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.

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