"Tess of the D'Urbervilles"- hypocrisy

The Victorian Era, the time in which the novel "Tess of the D'urbervilles" was composed, was a period in which industrialisation began to shape the face of England; a time of conflicting beliefs. These paradigms are critically reflected in Hardy's work, in which he explores the elements of hypocrisy within the patriarchal society, its values and attitudes towards religion, gender roles and class structure. These patriarchal models of the Victorian era are presented by Hardy's …

…the Victorian era were subject to the wide-ranging social prejudices and paradigms. Hardy however is critical of and disagrees with the contextual notion of male dominance, and utilizes Tess' murder of Alec, a male figure, to interrupt this accepted pattern of passiveness. He expresses his own agnostic views of the Church, critiquing the rigid dogma and its degrading effects on society, and through use of particular characters judgmentally examines social classes of the Victorian era.