The Comparison between the Victims of Social Injustice: Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Abstract

This study aims to illustrate the phenomena of the victims of social injustice in the Victorian era (1837-1901) as well as in most societies nowadays. Victorian era witnessed the great prosperity. Charlotte Bronte and Thomas Hardy were considered to be the natural fruitful of this era. It includes even more variety. It drives for social advancement frequently appears in literature, it may be primarily financial as in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Thomas Hardy's Tess d'Urbervilles it may also be intellectual or educationally based. Thomas Hardy used rich words and profuse, serving to parallel Tess's experience and to accentuate the correlating between characters and their suffering and settings. Hardy also wants the reader to see the relationship and the treatment between social classes particularly the upper class and the lower class (working class). Jane Eyre contains many vivid landscape description and great deal of imagery which influence and reflect Jane's emotions. The landscape reflects Jane's feeling for Mr. Rochester. The researcher described the physical appearance of Tess and her spiritual and so dose Jane. Beside that he compared Tess to Jane Eyre concerning their background, character, life, what they face from the capitalist society and their ending. Jane Eyre is written in first person and it classified romance, mystery and gothic fiction. And each society and setting has its own unique mood in strong relation to characters presented in each society and place. Both Tess and Jane suffered. Tess's suffering due to the lack of education, traditional and moral of community. Jane's suffering is from alienation and oppression of her relatives (Aunt Mrs. Reed). And both Tess and Jane are the victims of social injustice.