Tess Of The DUrbervilles -Secularization-

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Tess of the D’Urbervilles -Secularization- In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, we can see Thomas Hardy, the protagonist’s, point of view on religion by using his characters. The story was about a working class girl who’s victimized by male seduction and becomes “fallen,” which must have made Victorian readers disconcerted. The book was first published in 1891 and this coincided with the rise of the nouveau riche, which, who were the middle class people that became richer and more powerful. They were as materialistic as those in the modern world and the spiritualistic people were gradually decreasing. Therefore, I believe that “Tess” is the process of secularization. When Tess baptizes her baby, she learns that her own ceremony is the same as that performed in church. However, on the subject of a proper Christian burial, the local vicar said, “Ah− that’s another matter.” In the true sense of charity, Tess should have been allowed to bury the baby in a proper place but instead the baby was buried in the section of the cemetery where unbaptized infants, drunks, and the damned were buried. Even though the vicar told Tess that baptizing the baby herself was just the same as being baptized at the church, it was not given a proper Christian burial. Therefore the position of the church was too harsh. However the point made by this is that to Tess thinking that it was all right to baptize the baby herself shows that religion is considered at the personal level, which is showing that the existence of God is fading. After Tess was attacked by Alec she said to her mother, “Why didn’t you tell me there was danger? Why didn’t you warn me?” From this we can see how little she was educated by her parents with regard to religion and if she had been warned by her parents, she would possibly not have become the victim. Even though her mother knew there was a chance of

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