1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was a famous English critical novelist in the late 19th century and a Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot. Hardy#8217;s works are representative of the naturalist movement, with several novels displaying romantic and neoclassical elements. He was much better known for his novels during the lifetime, such as Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles, which earned him a reputation as a great novelist. By the time he wrote Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles, Hardy was past fifty and had well established in his storytelling craft. Hardy was highly critical of much in Victorian society and focused more on a declining rural society. The bulk of his novels explored tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances.

Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles has been considered a major 19th century English novel and possibly Hardy#8217;s fictional masterpiece. It tells the story of poor Tess D#8217;Urbeyfield, who sought connections with so-said rich relatives - D#8217;Ubervilles and was seduced by the young master Alec. Afterwards, she fell in love with priest#8217;s son Angel and engaged with him. Tragically, Tess was deserted by Angel on the wedding day night after her confess of past experience. In the end of the story, Tess indignantly killed her lover Alec and was hanged cruelly. In 1979, the adapted film for screen for the first time directed by Roman Polanski made a hit in the visual area at that time. In the following years, Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles won a large amount of international awards, including the 53rd Oscar Academy Awards, the 38th Golden Globe Awards, the 35th British Academy Film Awards, etc. The renowned novel challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England and Hardy thought it his finest novel and Tess the most deeply felt character he had ever created.

Since the early 20th century, the influence of psychoanalytic theory in the literary world has been far more beyond than that in the psychological world. Thomas Hardy, as the pioneer of psychological novelists, was influenced by Freud#8217;s theory and vividly demonstrated the characteristics of modern psychoanalysis in his novel Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles. When it refers to psychoanalysis, one should know that it belongs to the theory of psychodynamics and was established by Austrian psychiatrist Freud in the late 19th century. It is the cornerstone of modern psychology and its influence is far from being confined to the field of clinical psychology. It has deep impacts on the entire psychological science and even the various aspects of western human sciences. As an important branch, the theory of personality structure marks the beginning of western personality psychology. Since then, personality psychology begins to flourish and there appears other complete personality structure theory. Freud#8217;s theory of personality structure has promoted the study of western personality psychology and laid the foundation for the development of human psychology research.

1.2 Need for the study

In the past, the study of Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles mostly concentrates on the causes of Tess#8217;s tragic fate, which put more emphasis on the social background, family background, female status and personal characteristics. However, there are few articles analyzing Tess#8217;s life from the perspective of psychologies, let alone one of its branches-triple structures of personality. If any, these articles cover only a small part of it and research it in a broad sense way. Thus, this thesis will take the advantage to study a famous work-Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles with the theory of triple structure of personality in a comprehensive and deep going way. Taking Tess#8217;s three conscious level - id, ego, superego as a starting point, the thesis will analyze a series of her behaviors caused by personality defects, and the reader will deeply understand the relationship between her psychologies and fate. By doing this, a useful reference will be provided for modern women#8217;s love and marriage.

1.3 Layout of the thesis