A Pure Woman, Archetypally Presented: Towards a Jungian Criticism of Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Tess Durbeyfield is one of the most memorable characters in English literature. She is at once a working-class woman and a mythic figure. Abused by her superior and caught between classes, she represents the individual struggling for identity. Tess of the d’Urbervilles appeals universally to the nature of the woman in literature. Her status as the natural or archetypal woman is clear throughout the novel. Hardy created Tess who cannot be defined by just one categorization. Tess certainly fulfills the limited idea of the fallen woman. However, Hardy is appealing beyond this narrow view of humanity to the more ancient and lasting vision of the archetypal woman. This particular telling of a timeless, archetypal story brings to light ideas that were relevant in the ancient world, in Hardy’s era, and in contemporary literature