Abstract

Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Jennie Gerhardt, written by Thomas Hardy and Theodore Dreiser respectively, are two novels depicting tragic stories of their female protagonists ── Tess and Jennie. Many similar causes contribute to Tess’s and Jennie’s tragedies. This thesis aims to analyze the internal and external causes leading to Tess’s and Jennie’s tragedies. The internal causes mainly include flaws of their characters and thoughts and the external causes mainly include their family backgrounds and social environments. The thesis finally reveals the social significance of their tragedies to modern women.

Key words: Tess, Jennie, tragedies, internal causes, external causes

摘要

托马斯·哈代的《德伯家的苔丝》和西奥多·德莱塞的《珍妮姑娘》分别讲述了其女主人公苔丝和珍妮的悲剧故事。而导致苔丝和珍妮悲剧的原因有很多共同之处。本论文旨在分析造成苔丝和珍妮悲剧的内在和外在原因。其中内在原因主要包括她们自身性格和思想的缺陷；外在原因主要包括家庭背景和社会环境。论文最后还揭示了她们的悲剧对现代女性的启示。

关键词：苔丝；珍妮；悲剧；内在原因；外在原因

1．Introduction
Thomas Hardy (1840 -- 1928) was a famous English novelist and poet at the turn of the 19th century. During his whole life, Hardy wrote 14 novels, 44 short stories and a large number of poems. Most of his works reflected the profound changes of politics, economy, morality and customs at the time when the bourgeoisie invaded the rural areas in England. He successfully created various female characters who lead tragic lives, which revealed the hypocrisy of ethics, laws and religions in the bourgeois society. Hardy played a great role in the history of British literature. Not only did his works succeed the great traditions of English critical realism, but also paved the way for the modern literature.
Thomas Hardy was born in Dorest, a southern county of England, which he called Wessex in his novels. His father Thomas was a stonemason and church musician. His mother Jemima was a great reader. Both of his parents attached much importance to the education of little Thomas. Thomas Hardy was deeply influenced by his parents and the environment of his hometown. Just as Tony Fincham wrote in the Thomas Hardy Society, “the personalities of his parents, the close-knit life of the small rural community, and the often harsh environment of the surrounding heath and woodland formed a deep and lasting impression on Hardy ‘the man who used to notice such things’ and became the foundation blocks of his fiction and poetry.”