Chapter 54

Synopsis of chapter 54

Angel sets out to find Tess. He retraces her journey from Emminster to Flintcombe-Ash, only to find she has moved on. Riding on to Marlott, he finds a family in possession of the Durbeyfield cottage which has no knowledge of Tess or her family at all. He visits the field where he first saw Tess at the club-walking, and the graveyard. There he finds Jack's grave with a headstone not yet paid for. He settles the debt with the sexton.

Railway After being given a forwarding address for the Durbeyfields, some twenty miles away, Angel reaches them in the early evening. Joan at first will not tell him where Tess is, but reluctantly admits she has gone on to Sandbourne, a resort town, but she has no precise address. Angel walks to the nearest railway station and catches the last train of the day for Sandbourne.

Commentary on chapter 54

In Romances, the hero has to go in search of the heroine, who has been hidden away or abducted. In many Victorian novels' adaptation of this motif, the final section is a frantic search for a main character (as the search for Lady Dedlock at the end of Dickens' Bleak House). So here Angel goes in search of Tess.

In this phase of the novel, Hardy has switched the perspective away from Tess in a way he has not done before. Even when previous chapters have focussed on Angel, the reader has known where Tess is and what she is doing. Now she has mysteriously disappeared, and the reader knows no more than Angel, though probably has much more of an idea with whom she is.

'a tale told by an idiot': a quotation from Shakespeare's Macbeth V.v.27, spoken by Macbeth after the death of his wife. The sentence ends 'signifying nothing'.

'how are the mighty fallen': quoted from 2 Samuel 1:27, part of David's lament for King Saul and his son Jonathan.

Place

Angel's journey retraces much of the past life of Tess. Transport is by horse and carriage or by foot until the last journey, which is by rail. This symbolically projects Angel into the modern world.

Hardy is strangely reticent about the village where the Durbeyfields are staying. It is not the cottage at 'The Slopes', which Alec had promised them. As it is fifteen miles from Shaston and twenty miles from Marlott, but only three miles from a railway station on a line that gets to Sandbourne, it must be in the region of Wimbourne Minster.

Sandbourne: Bournemouth, then an up-and-coming seaside resort.

Investigating chapter 54

What does Angel learn about Tess on his journey?
- When Angel claims to Joan 'I know her better than you do', would you agree with him?
The family in the old Durbeyfield cottage 'had never known her'.
- What point is Hardy making here?
It appears the Durbeyfields never make it to Kingsbere, either dead or alive.
- Again, what point is Hardy making here?
What do we know about Tess that Angel still has not discovered by the end of the chapter?
- What clues are we given that Alec has had his way and that Angel is too late?
- Find examples of how does Hardy uses dramatic irony in the chapter.

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. ²And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. ³David said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I have escaped from the camp of Israel. ⁴And David said to him, How did it go? Tell me. And he answered, The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead. ⁵Then David said to the young man who told him, How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead? ⁶And the young man who told him said, By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, Here I am. ⁸And he said to me, Who are you? I answered him, I am an Amalekite. ⁹And he said to me, Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers. ¹⁰So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord. ¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. ¹²And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³And David said to the young man who told him, Where do you come from? And he answered, I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite. ¹⁴David said to him, How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? ¹⁵Then David called one of the young men and said, Go, execute him. And he struck him down so that he died. ¹⁶And David said to him, Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, I have killed the Lord's anointed. ¹⁷And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said: ¹⁹Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! ²⁰Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. ²¹You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. ²²From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. ²³Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. ²⁴You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. ²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places. ²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. ²⁷How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

¹Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag; ²It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance. ³And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. ⁴And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also. ⁵And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? ⁶And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. ⁷And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. ⁸And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. ⁹He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. ¹⁰So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. ¹¹Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: ¹²And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. ¹³And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. ¹⁴And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed? ¹⁵And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. ¹⁶And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed. ¹⁷And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: ¹⁸(Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.) ¹⁹The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! ²⁰Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. ²¹Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. ²²From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. ²³Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. ²⁴Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. ²⁵How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. ²⁶I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. ²⁷How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

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Tess of the d'Urbervilles Contents