Tess of the d'Urbervilles: Chapter 39 Summary & Analysis

Three weeks after the wedding Angel returns home. He is a changed man, and thinks he can see life practically now, free from romantic ideals. He has been troubled in his thoughts lately, often dwelling on the fact that Tess is a d'Urberville, as if that was the cause of all the trouble. He feels he should have abandoned her when he discovered her ancestry, in accordance with his principles. Other times he feels he has been unfair to her.

In his wanderings Angel noticed a sign advertising Brazil as a place to pursue agriculture. The idea attracts him, and he imagines Tess joining him there later. He now readies to tell his parents his plan and downplay his separation from Tess.

Again Angel arrives without warning, and his mother is surprised Tess is not with him. He tells them about Brazil but they question him about Tess. They are not angry at Angel for his marriage, but wish they could have met his wife first. Angel minimizes her absence by saying he didn't want to bring Tess until she could properly impress the family, and that she will remain at her mother's while he is in Brazil.

Mrs. Clare is still disappointed and asks Angel to describe Tess. She imagines how beautiful and pure Tess must be, and how inexperienced with other men. She has finally accepted Angel's original argument that a farmer should have a farming wife.

Mr. Clare asks no questions, but he does read a verse from the Bible about the “virtuous woman” and how valuable she is to her husband. Mrs. Clare points out that the Biblical woman was also a worker, and so Angel has surely found the perfect wife. Angel gets upset and flees to his room.

Mrs. Clare asks Angel what is wrong, and quickly figures out that they have quarreled over something in Tess's past. Angel argues that she is innocent, and feels he would suffer Hell to keep telling that lie. Mrs. Clare assures him that any disagreement will be solved by Tess's purity, as that is the most important thing.

All these sentiments convince Angel that he has ruined his life with this marriage, and that he will appear as a failure to his family. He grows angry with the absent Tess for causing him such despair.

That same night Tess is thinking of how good Angel is. Neither of them perceive that the real trouble lies in Angel's faults. He is intelligent and tries to be independent, but is still actually trapped in conventionality. He cannot see that Tess is in fact the “virtuous women” his mother imagines, and that her “sin” was only circumstance, not intention. She is still just as pure as before she ever met Alec.