The Leitmotif of Pursuit in Hardys Tess of the dUrbervilles Essay

The Leitmotif of Pursuit in Tess of the dUrbervilles Pursuit recurs in Tess of the dUrbervilles as a strong leitmotif. Starting with their first encounter, Alec Stoke-dUrbervile lusts later on Tess with his desire for steadily increasing thereafter. He withholds the crucial information that he is not her cousin, and they in fact have no familial relationship whatsoever. season under the impression he is her cousin, Alec uses this ignorance to get closer to her. Feeding her strawberries in an obviously erotic manner mo manpowertarily appeases his lustful hunger. His longing for her never abates from while away with Tess - perhaps even the opposite might be said the more contact he has with her, the more he seems to want her. Alec, ... ...e only way to persist this vicious cycle of pursuit is death. Angels description of Tess as Demeter, the goddess of chastity, and as Artemis, goddess of the hunt, seems quite fitting for Tess. Tess Durbeyfield is, as Hardys subtitle indicate s, a pure woman and as the men in the novel demonstrate by their actions, a hunted animal. 3