DECONSTRUCTING THE CONCEPT OF ‘PURE WOMAN’ IN THOMAS HARDY’S TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES

• Main Author: Ana Nur Ainy, 121311233011
• Format: Theses and Dissertations NonPeerReviewed
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: HQ The family. Marriage. Woman; P302-302.87 Discourse analysis
• Online Access: http://repository.unair.ac.id/59967/1/ABSTRACT.pdf; http://repository.unair.ac.id/59967/2/FULLTEXT%20FS%20BE%2006-17%20Ain%20d.pdf; http://repository.unair.ac.id/59967/; http://lib.unair.ac.id
• Institution: Universitas Airlangga

Thomas Hardy‟s Tess of the d’Urbervilles is a novel which the story takes place in the 19th century of England. The society in the novel as a reflection of Victorian society at that time holds a big contribution in shaping the issue of „pure woman‟. In that society, gender-based social norms ruled appropriate behavior. The idealized conception of womanhood is established throughout the novel performed by society, including the concept of pure woman. Using Deconstruction theory proposed by Jacques Derrida, this study sought the concept of „pure woman‟ that both has been built and deconstructed by the novel through deconstruction‟s key features; ambiguities, ambivalences and inconsistencies. The findings are found after dismantling the undecidability and instability of the text, in which the initial construction performed by society is deconstructed. The society in the text defined „pure woman‟ as a woman who has not had sexual intercourse yet until the day she married. Therefore, the main protagonist, Tess Durbeyfield is considered as a fallen woman as she cannot fulfill the said requirement. However, the text challenges this notion by reversing the hierarchy of binary opposition. Through the portrayals of Tess, the binary can be reversed. Tess is seen as a pure woman. However, the effort of deconstructing it is imperfect. There is still found ambiguities, ambivalences, and inconsistencies in the text. Therefore, the construction is neither Tess being seen as a pure woman nor a fallen woman. Doing good and bad things, as well as wrong and false acts are considered natural, as it is one of human‟s characteristics.