Tess’s Search for a Livelihood

This flow traces how Tess’s efforts to support her family carry her from Marlott into increasingly dangerous and precarious work.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Family in Need

A Family in Need Household pressures The discovery that John Durbeyfield descends from an old family briefly inflates household hopes, but it brings no land or income. When the family horse dies in a collision, Tess feels responsible for the loss and looks for a way to help. A reluctant departure Joan urges Tess to seek help from the wealthy family at The Slopes. Tess distrusts the plan and would rather find work, but accepts the journey because her family needs money and she feels she owes them a remedy.

The Trantridge Appointment

The Trantridge Appointment Work disguised as kinship Tess visits The Slopes expecting an elderly relative and instead encounters Alec d'Urberville. Mrs d'Urberville offers her a position tending poultry, without acknowledging the supposed family connection. Dependence and danger Tess accepts the job to bring wages home, but her employment places her under Alec’s influence. Her practical attempt to help her family becomes the route by which she is exposed to pressure she had not anticipated.

A Return Without Security

A Return Without Security Leaving the manor Tess leaves Trantridge and refuses Alec’s offer of further support. She returns to Marlott carrying her belongings and the consequences of what happened in The Chase. Home is not refuge Her mother reacts with disappointment that Tess did not secure a marriage, while local curiosity makes Tess retreat from public life. She is back among her family, but cannot recover the uncomplicated place she held there before leaving.

Work and Renewed Attachment

Work and Renewed Attachment A fresh start at the dairy Tess leaves Marlott for Talbothays Dairy, hoping to earn an independent living in a place without the immediate memories of her past. The new work restores routine and gives her a measure of hope. Love alters the direction At the dairy she meets Angel Clare again and gradually falls in love with him. Their attachment offers a possible future, but Tess believes her history makes marriage unfair to him and struggles between affection and disclosure.

From Separation to Capture

From Separation to Capture Work without a home After Angel leaves for Brazil, Tess refuses to live on his allowance and takes hard seasonal work. Her loyalty persists, but isolation and economic need make her vulnerable to Alec’s renewed pursuit. A brief reunion and its cost After her father’s death and the family’s eviction, Tess accepts Alec’s help. Angel returns too late to prevent the rupture; Tess kills Alec, flees with Angel, and is captured at Stonehenge before her execution.

early in the story, after the ancestry discovery

early summer, after the horse’s death

late October, several months after Tess arrives at Trantridge

two to three years after Tess’s return to Marlott

from Tess’s first winter apart from Angel to the novel’s ending