Tess of the D'urbervilles- Summary of Part I

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Chapter I

The scene begins with a middle-aged peddler, named John Durbeyfield. Making his way home, the man encounters Parson Tringham, who claims to have studied history. The Parson tells Durbeyfield that he is of noble lineage, the d'Urberville family, and his family has prospered for many generations until recently. Tringham tells his him however that this heritage comes from such a long period of time ago that it is worthless. At this the seemingly drunk man sits near a road and beckons a young boy to fetch him a horse and carriage to take him home in his newly liberated state.

Chapter II

Tess, the eldest daughter of the Durbeyfield family, has accompanied the other women in the village, young and old, to celebrate May Day. All of the women are clothed in white, but not the same shade of white, as noticed by the narrator. They all hold white flowers in one hand and a white wand made from oak in the other. This celebration commemorates the coming of spring, and all the women enjoy it, as it seems, because it allows them to forget their insignificant role in society. In the middle of the procession, John Durbeyfield rides along in his carriage, making quite a spectacle. Tess is embarrassed, and three very attractive (and obviously rich) brothers walk in. Only one of them, the youngest stays to dance, while his brothers continue their journey. All the women are anxious to be picked to dance by him, for all dream of a better life as the wife of a gentleman. Tess is chosen to dance with the young man, and before they can even exchange their names, the boy runs off to catch up with his siblings.

Chapter III

Upon Tess' arrival home after the festivities, her mother, Joan confronts her with two important pieces of news. She relates that their family has been found to be of noble blood, and that John has been diagnosed with a heart condition. Tess sees the Compleat Fortune-Teller, a book full of superstitions that her mother follows for guidance. Mr. Durbeyfield is not home, but rather at Rolliver's, the local inn and drinking hole, celebrating the news of his new "wealth". Obviously, the man spends a many hours there, and it is no surprise that he has not returned home. Joan, leaving Tess to tend her 5 siblings, leaves to fetch her husband. Mrs. Durbeyfield, however enjoys sitting along with her husband because it is the only time they can spend in each other's company alone. After no one returns, Tess sends her brother Abraham to get her parents, and when he doesn't return, she goes herself.

Chapter IV

Upon arriving at the inn, young Abraham, hears his mother and father discussing their plans for Tess. They intend to send her to a rich Mrs. d'Urberville a couple of towns away so that she may be able to claim kin and reinitiate her family to its previous wealth. Tess then arrives at the alehouse, and realizes that her father will be too drunk to take his beehives to the market the following day. He says that it is not so and just needs a couple of hours of rest, but already it is 11 o'clock, and to get to the market he would need to leave at about 2. As expected, Joan wakes Tess early, telling her that her father simply cannot make the journey. The girl objects to having to go, but is convinced when her mother allows Abraham to accompany her. After setting off for the market, the siblings have an early meal in the carriage and begin to discuss their parent's plans for Tess. The conversation turns to stars, and Abraham asks his sister whether or not there are worlds like ours in those stars. She agrees, but says they must be better then theirs and the world their family lives on is the cause of financial difficulty.

Abraham falls asleep shortly after, and not having anything to tend to (Tess assumes Prince, the horse, cannot move fast enough to cause injury), follows suit. Tess dreams of a charming man of nobility, who begins to grimace and laugh at her poverty. The two suddenly wake to find that a mail cart has collided with Prince, and has fatally wounded him. The mail carrier says that the horse was driving on the wrong side of the road, and drives off promising to send help. Tess, overridden with guilt, imagines the surrounding foliage turning white and pale, just as her skin does. The mail carrier sticks to his word, and a local farmer assists the children in transporting the beehives to the market. Tess and her brother return home, and with the help of the farmer, the body of Prince is hauled to the Durbeyfield home. Mr. Durbeyfield refuses to sell the horse's carcass for meager pittance, and works in one day harder to bury Prince then he has worked all month in the field.

Chapter V

Tess, recognizing that without the horse the family will be hurled into a financial downfall, she offers to work at neighboring farms until she can replace it. Her mother, wanting her to do nothing of the sort, reveals the plan for her to travel to the wealthy Mrs. d'Urberville and claim kin. She agrees on the condition that once she returns, she will find local work. Rising early the next morning, she catches a caravan traveling from Shaston to Chaseborough. Tess realizes that rarely has she ever traveled from the Vale of Blackmoor, but she knows that area back and forth. The mountains were as familiar to her as "relatives' faces". Then, in a bought of nostalgia, Tess remembers her earlier life. She used to be popular among people her age, and had a multitude of friends. Then her mother had more children, and Tess contemplates how her mother could do that in light of how difficult it is to support them. She recognizes that her mother's demeanor is that of a child, as if her mother was really just another sibling.

She reaches the property of her would-be benefactor and comes across not an older, majestic building, but a recently built one. Tess observes that almost everything on the plot seems to be new. The narrator goes into a brief history of the Stoke-d'Urbervilles, the family