Synopsis of chapter 9
The morning after Tess's arrival at 'The Slopes', she is summoned to bring the hens and cockerels which she is looking after to Mrs. d'Urberville, whose pets they are. Tess is surprised to find Mrs. d'Urberville has gone blind and does not seem to think much of her son. She also clearly knows nothing of Tess's claim to kinship.
Mrs. d'Urberville also asks Tess if she can whistle. When Tess admits she can, she is told to whistle to Mrs. d'Urberville's pet bullfinches in future. Tess reluctantly has to accept help from Alec to regain her whistling skills. Over the next number of days, she loses some of her shyness of Alec without ever trusting him. He is aware of this and keeps his distance.
Commentary on chapter 9
chimney being enlarged ... ruined tower: the idea of ivy as a parasite plant perhaps symbolises the use of the cottage now. It no longer supports a real working family, but only the hobby of a wealthy woman, and has no productive use at all. However, ruined towers were a great feature of Victorian landscape painting, being seen as romantic, and thus socially acceptable.
dusty copyholders: Hardy uses the term ‘dusty' ironically to mean dead and buried. The Bible talks of 'dust to dust' (See Genesis 3:17-19), and the phrase is used in the burial service is from the well known Book of Common Prayer. Copyholders were tenants allowed to rent a cottage for as long as they lived. If the landlord was willing, the rented cottage could pass to the tenant's children. The plot of Hardy's The Woodlanders turns on this sort of lease expiring (or falling to hand) unexpectedly.
Hamburghs, Bantams....: all different breeds of poultry
Confirmation: at a confirmation, each priest presents the bishop with the candidates he has prepared for confirmation. In Anglican churches, confirmation is the ritual for church membership. Typically, the girls dress in white.
go back in their piping: the bull-finches will forget the tunes and go back to their usual bird sounds.
sitting like Im-patience on a monument: a reference to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night II.iv.113, where the actual phrase is 'like patience on a monument'. Misusing classical quotations for everyday small events is a typical device of the mock heroic, though Alec uses it more as a tease and to show off his education.
'Take, o take those lips away': another Shakespeare quotation, this time from Measure for Measure IV.i.1. It is the first line of a song about love betrayed.
For the first time, Hardy shows change in rural conditions. A cottage that had been used for generations by independent agricultural workers has now become both a hen house for a hobby and also a 'tied cottage' for Tess, i.e. it is only Tess's while she works there (see Agricultural and social conditions).
The transfer of economic power from traditional working class to newly-rich is also emphasised through Tess. However much she wants to remain independent of Alec, she is dependent on his mother for money and on him for practical help (see the sentence: 'But she was more pliable under his hand....').
Hardy puts Tess in a walled garden. Traditionally, a walled garden was a place of love-making, as in the Medieval Romance The Romance of the Rose (see Courtly love ethic, The). Alec is quite happy to continue this convention, even if the garden is now full of hens! (Compare the old orchard in Ch 19).
coping: top stones of the wall
crops: part of the oesophagus of a bird where food is stored prior to digestion
damask: a shiny reversible material, usually quite expensive, patterned and embossed
draggled: bedraggled, unkempt
purveyor: supplier of goods
undulations: up and down or wave-like movements
Investigating chapter 9
- Why does Tess have misgivings when she hears Mrs. d'Urberville is blind?
- List the different ways in which Hardy shows Tess's powerlessness?
- What adjectives would you use to describe Mrs. d'Urberville's relationship with her son?
- How would you characterise Tess and Alec's relationship?
- English Standard Version
- King James Version
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? 2And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. 4But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? 10And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. 11He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? 12The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. 14The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. 16To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. 17And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. 20The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever - 23therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament scriptures inherited from Judaism, together with the New Testament, drawn from writings produced from c.40-125CE, which describe the life of Jesus and the establishment of the Christian church.
A ceremony in which a bishop lays his hands on those who have previously been baptised and prays that God will give them power through the Holy Spirit to live as followers of Christ.
A person whose role is to carry out religious functions.
In certain Christian denominations leader of the Christian community within a geographical area.
The Anglican church is the 'Established' or state church of England, the result of a break with the Catholic church under Henry VIII and further developments in the reign of Elizabeth I.
A prescribed order of performing religious or other devotional acts.
1. Term for a worshipping community of Christians.
2. The building in which Christians traditionally meet for worship.
3. The worldwide community of Christian believers.
A parody or comic poem, that uses epic conventions to portray trivial matters instead of important ones.
Belonging to the Middle Ages.
1. A traditional genre or mode which includes fantasy writing 2. A love story. 3. A Romance language is one that is derived from Latin.