Abstract: This study aims to investigate the social reality of the 19th century in England through Tess’s tragedy. Thomas Hardy, regarded as Shakespeare of his time, showed us a tragic artistic image in his greatest novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The girl with pureness and beauty has a miserable life and at last she steps to the execution ground. The specific social reality including economic background, class structure and social ethics all together lead to Tess’s tragedy. Firstly, her impecunious economic condition and low class level bring about lots of difficulties in her life. Furthermore, the social ethics drastically destroys Tess in the end. Although Tess fights against the crucial social reality in the late 19th century, she finally cracks because of the social economy, class and moral conditions in that period. The paper concludes that the root of Tess’s tragedy is the society at that specific time.

Key words: Tess of the D’Urbervilles ; tragedy; social reality

摘要：本文旨在通过苔丝的悲剧探讨英国十九世纪的社会现实。被誉为莎士比亚的托马斯·哈代, 在他最伟大的小说《德伯家的苔丝》中给我们展示了一个悲剧性的艺术形象。美丽又纯洁的苔丝,生活却很悲惨,最后走向了刑场。特定的社会现实，包括经济背景、阶级结构和社会伦理一起导致了苔丝的悲剧。首先,她的贫穷和低下的阶级地位给她的生活带来了很多困难。此外,社会道德最后彻底摧毁了苔丝。尽管苔丝与十九世纪晚期残酷的社会现实作过斗争,但由于特定的社会经济、阶级和道德原因她最终还是失败了。本文认为苔丝悲剧的根源是那个特定时期下的社会现实。

关键词：《德伯家的苔丝》;悲剧；社会现实