Tess of the D'Urbervilles tonight. Excited??

[wintera]

Really looking forward to this new bbc adaptation. The reviews I've seen up to now have been very complimentary. Cast also looks good.

[Pan]

rape/seduction - Irecall Hardy referring to the possibility of previous generations of wenches being "dealt with" in the same manner as Alec did with Tess. And the trees were being called almost as witnesses to a dramatic scene. Tends toward rape than seduction, me thinks. ( also through bleary 29 year memory....)

[OrmIrian]

I don't think Angel is a wimp at all. He is confused by his strong moral sense and non-comformist upbringing. And too young to be able to use either sensibly. I think he does Tess much more damage than Alex, but that is only because she loves him as she never did Alex.

"he thought the BBC would have filmed it as a full on rape scene because its getting into a really dodgy area if they show her enjoying it." That's interesting isn't it? Hardy, a Victorian was quite able to accept that a young woman could have a moral lapse and enjoy sex, the 21st Century BBC can't.

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

There's a discussion of the rape/seduction question in 'Is Heathcliff a murderer? Puzzles in nineteenth century fiction' by John Sutherland - here.
Sutherland comes down on the seduction side, I think.

I always found Angel much more annoying than Alec because he seemed to be in love with the idea of a pure woman rather than Tess as an actual person.

I wonder if the nineteenth century would have been more critical of a seducer than we would, and hence there'd be less of a chasm in their eyes between seduction and rape.