2018 Villains and antagonists in tragedies are
wickedly attractive.ʼ
2018
Villains and antagonists in tragedies are wickedly attractive.ʼ To what extent do you agree with
this view in relation to two texts you have studied? Remember to include in your answer relevant
comment on the ways the writers have shaped meanings.
[25 marks]
Alec DʼUrberville – Tess.
Angel Clare – Tess.
Capitalism (commentary on society) in Death of a Salesman.
Howard as a villain.
In Aristotleʼs Poetics, Aristotle stated that ‘the tragic hero can neither be fully good nor fully evil
instead there must be a balanced equilibrium of both within the character. It can therefore be
questioned to what extent this also applies to the tragic villains who act in binary opposition to
the tragic hero. A villain can also not be fully evil as this makes the character of symbolism in
which the villain is present to be shallow and lack depth, resulting in the audiences not
experiencing the full catharsis of the tragedy. This suggests that there must be some good
within the villains, therefore in this essay I will discuss to what extent ‘villains and antagonists in
tragedies are wickedly attractiveʼ.
In Tess of DʼUrbervilleʼs the arguably most obvious villain is Alec DʼUrberville who is presented
as an almost melodramatic pantomime moustache twirling villain typical to the 19th century
setting. However, the least funny part of Alecʼs character is his actions where viewing “Alec as a
rapist is to grossly underestimate him, he seeks to not only claim Tessʼs body but seeks to
control her soul and mind” (as the critic Keynes stated). He states to her that she will be his
“creature” and throws around rash threats stating, “you will regret that” and calling Tess a
“hussy” when she wipes away his kiss in ‘The Maidenʼ. He is attractive to Tessʼs family with
Tessʼs sister asking if he is the man “sissy will marry” and Joan DʼUrberville dressing Tess into
an idealised version of her for Alec to seduce and assault, yet this is due to their hopes that he
will elevate Tess into a higher class due to the way they view Tess as more socially mobile than
them. It is unclear whether Joan DʼUrberville had any knowledge of the extent of Alecʼs
intentions with only the subtlest hint at her knowing so with the line; “I thought if I spoke of his
fond feelings and what they may lead to, you would dislike him”. In the 19th century rich noble
men taking advantage of country girls and maids such as Tess was a common occurrence.
Through this Alec represents a societal norm which is not only revolting but unjust. His
reappearance later on in the novel as a clergyman seems shallow and his ‘backtrackingʼ on his
religious epiphany after just a new of Tessʼs words emphasises his superficial nature. He is the
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