The role of chance in Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles"

Written as an exhortation on the sexual hypocrisy of English society in the 1800s, Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" chronicles the events that lead eventually to the death of the virginal Tess. Random chance initiates more of the conflicts in "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" than any of the more subtle and realistic happenings. Coincidence also plays a serious role in complicating the events in the plot. The resolutions in Hardy's plot more often than …

…coincidences that initiate conflicts in the plot, one may conclude that the subject of the text will deal with a large quantity of unhappy happenings. After having begun the story on a melancholy note, Hardy then goes on to complicate it with more random and awful happenings. However many times Hardy uses coincidence to initiate or complicate the plot, he always follows up the resolving it with more random chance. Shit happens; deal with it.