13906. TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES BY THOMAS HARDY. Examines the development of the character of Tess in Hardy's novel. Considers her growth from innocence to experience as a process of strengthening and maturing which is not responsible for her destruction. Tess' moral and emotional development are viewed as a quick, cruel course in life's hardships, through which Hardy makes his underlying criticism of Victorian morality and society as the real destroyers of her purity and innocence. 23 pages, 12 footnotes, 7 bibliographic sources.