THS Annual Study Day 2021 - Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Saturday 23rd October 2021

United Church, Dorchester, Dorset

2021 will mark the 130th anniversary of the publication of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, arguably the most widely loved of Hardy's novels, containing one of the most memorable heroines in all of English literature. While contemporary society was scandalized by the concept of a fallen woman being championed as pure, the novel was scathing in its exposure of hypocritical nineteenth-century sexual and social mores. Subjects depicted that remain in continual debate to the present day are the question of rape/seduction, who is the true villain of the story – Alec or Angel? was Tess justified in murdering Alec? and was it right that Tess received the death penalty for her crime? This is a story that has transcended time and place, still resonating with audiences around the globe.

Welcome and Introduction

Keynote Lecture: Professor Roger Ebbatson (University of Lancaster): 'The d'Urberville Portraits: Faciality and Identity'

Michael Langridge 'The Second Mrs Clare'

Plenary: Dr Oindrila Ghosh (Diamond Harbour Women's University): 'Hardy's Tess: Adaptations, Cultural Transpositions and Engendering Notions of Alternative Modernity'

Plenary: Dr Tony Fincham (Thomas Hardy Society Vice-President): 'Tess's Tracks: The Perambulations of a Pure Woman'

'Retelling Tess' – Devised and Performed by Tim Laycock (Director of The New Hardy Players)

Panel A

Yurie Watanabe (University of Durham): 'Sympathy and Plurality of Purity in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Natasha Anderson (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz): 'Sensory Sympathy: Shared Experiences of Embodiment in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Céleste Callen (University of Edinburgh): 'The Experience of Marginality and Rejection in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Plenary: Rt Rev Richard Franklin (Honorary Curator: Thomas Hardy Collection at the Dorset Museum): 'Evangelicalism in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Panel B

Helen Ingham (University of Birmingham): 'Soundscapes in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Emily Vause (University of Edingburgh): 'The Dissolution of the Human/Natural Divide in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Carolina Elices (Independent Researcher): 'Sites of Ruin in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Peter Villiers (Independent Researcher): 'Religious Hypocrisy in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Close and Thanks

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Society calendar

Upcoming events

Tess, a feminist vision of Thomas Hardy's classic novel

From 31/01/2024 until 24/06/2024
All day event

Book Launch | Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses by Paula Byrne

On 09/05/2024
Starts 18:30 until 20:30

In the Footsteps of Thomas Hardy

On 12/05/2024
Starts 14:00 until 16:00

Thomas Hardy Society Birthday Weekend

From 01/06/2024 until 02/06/2024
Starts 11:00 until 20:00

THS Annual Study Day 2021 - Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Saturday 23rd October 2021

United Church, Dorchester, Dorset

Welcome and Introduction

Keynote Lecture: Professor Roger Ebbatson (University of Lancaster): 'The d'Urberville Portraits: Faciality and Identity'

Michael Langridge 'The Second Mrs Clare'

Plenary: Dr Oindrila Ghosh (Diamond Harbour Women's University): 'Hardy's Tess: Adaptations, Cultural Transpositions and Engendering Notions of Alternative Modernity'

Plenary: Dr Tony Fincham (Thomas Hardy Society Vice-President): 'Tess's Tracks: The Perambulations of a Pure Woman'

'Retelling Tess' – Devised and Performed by Tim Laycock (Director of The New Hardy Players)

Panel A

Yurie Watanabe (University of Durham): 'Sympathy and Plurality of Purity in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Natasha Anderson (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz): 'Sensory Sympathy: Shared Experiences of Embodiment in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Céleste Callen (University of Edinburgh): 'The Experience of Marginality and Rejection in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Plenary: Rt Rev Richard Franklin (Honorary Curator: Thomas Hardy Collection at the Dorset Museum): 'Evangelicalism in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Panel B

Helen Ingham (University of Birmingham): 'Soundscapes in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Emily Vause (University of Edingburgh): 'The Dissolution of the Human/Natural Divide in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Carolina Elices (Independent Researcher): 'Sites of Ruin in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Peter Villiers (Independent Researcher): 'Religious Hypocrisy in Tess of the d'Urbervilles'

Close and Thanks

Event location map