Compare the ways in which the writers of your two chosen texts
present how location can shape experience. You must relate your
discussion to relevant contextual factors.
The authors of "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "Mrs Dalloway" demonstrate
location to be integral to the experiences of their characters, shaping both the
events in the novels, and their identities. While Hardy presents a predominantly
rural landscape, emphasizing how Tess has been shaped by her upbringing,
Woolf explores the metropolis of London. The idea of location refers not only to
the physical positions of the characters, but also links to the memories and
social status attached to place, and the idea of subjective location. In "Mrs
Dalloway", the central location of the novel is London - which is explored by
Woolf to demonstrate the social divides within the city, and the nature of urban
life -, but the memories of characters are also used to establish other key
locations (such as Bourton). Hardy sets "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" in Wessex,
emphasizing the idea of rural community, and mapping out her social
progression in what is almost a pastoral novel. Although there are clear contrasts
between the Victorian countryside presented by Hardy, and the post-war London
in Mrs Dalloway, both authors explore the role of location within society,
community, memory, and personal significance, and demonstrate a division
between the rural and the metropolitan. Both convey both an idea of collective,
but also personal experience of location, mapping out the movements of key
characters across the settings, and showing how their identities, particularly of
Tess and Clarissa, are inextricably intertwined with their locations, both past and
present.
Both "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "Mrs Dalloway" explore the contrast between
the rural and metropolitan. "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" is set at a time of
increasing mobility and urban migration within the previously static rural
community, and "Mrs Dalloway" depicts a clear contrast between the intensity of
life in London, and Clarissa's memories of Bourton and the countryside. While
the majority of characters in "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" are farm workers, as
would have been typical in rural Victorian England, Woolf presents a range of
occupations within London - florists, MPs, teachers, and lawyers-emphasizing a
distinct contrast in opportunities. Hardy depicts clear divisions between the
countryside and cities such as London; the image of Tess and Angel loading milk
on the train to London links to the role of the narrator as a potential mediator
between rural and metropolitan life, stressing how the train is the only thing
, connecting them to the city, and therefore highlighting the contrast in lifestyle
between city and country.
Woolf similarly highlights this division in the cinematic aerial vision of London
from the plane, describing it as a "little island" surrounded by fields and "dark
brown woods". Hardy repeatedly stresses the simplicity of rural life, creating an
almost idealized and pastoral sense of calm through repeated references to and
detailed description of nature, emphasized through long complex sentences.
Woolf's focus on the dynamism of London is in direct contrast with this;
Clarissa's view of "life; London" demonstrates how her vitality is reflected in that
of the city. The use of free indirect discourse emphasizes the continuous,
dynamic nature of the city. Woolf's description of "adventurous thrushes" tapping
a snail "once, twice, thrice", when describing the countryside, highlights a clear
contrast with London, linking to Hardy's detailed depiction of nature within the
rural landscape. Hardy's interest in rural life, influenced by his village upbringing,
and the work of William Barnes on local events, and demonstrated in "The
Dorsetshire Laborer", is evidently reflected within "Tess of the D'Urbervilles";
Woolf's life in Bloomsbury and London clearly contrasts with this. Although both
explore the contrast between city and country, they approach it from completely
di erent focuses.
Hardy and Woolf explore the role of location in shaping identity, and the value it
holds in memory and personal significance. Throughout "Tess of the
D'Urbervilles", Hardy uses location to map out Tess's experiences, structuring the
novel around her progression from her hometown of Marlott, to Trantridge,
Talbothay's Dairy, and then Flintcombe-Ash farm. The continued repetition of
place names illustrates and emphasizes the setting within the novel,
demonstrating the role of Hardy as a topographer and an omniscient narrator.
Tess is immediately introduced within the context of her village; Hardy describes
how "the dialect was on her tongue", suggesting Tess's rural upbringing is an
integral part of her character which, despite e orts of the school, cannot be
removed. The entire experience of her childhood is confined to Blackmoor Vale
where "her life had unfolded" from "the wondering days of infancy". Her
perception of is, at least initially, entirely shaped by Marlott; "what lay beyond her
own judgement was dependent on the teaching of the village school". When Tess
moves to Talbothay's, Hardy comments on how "the world was drawn to a larger
pattern here", reflecting Tess's movement from her hometown and childhood to
the unknown; her perception of the world is defined and altered by her location.
