Existence and Essence of Cosmic Absurdity in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented

Abstract

Thomas Hardy, a world-famous English novelist, is not only known as the ‘Saint of Max Gate’ but also a ‘Proto-Existentialist’ in the domain of English literature. Both his life and his works are in the grip of Existentialism. As his novels, especially tragic ones, are, either directly or indirectly, affected by the themes, thoughts, and concepts of Existentialism, his sensitively hectic life is also, either directly or indirectly, influenced by the existential thinkers and writers like Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Sartre, Nietzsche, and Camus, etc. As his thoughts existing in his works prove, his novels reflect the predicament of human existence, which is concerned with the experiences of individuals’ life. The Absurdity of the cosmos and human life, angst, authenticity, dread, despair, existential crises, preceding existence over essence, facticity, and the Other and the Look, are such existential concepts as are brimming in his novels. The concept of ‘Cosmic Absurdity,’ which is related to the concept of the ‘Absurd,’ that is the crux of ‘Absurdism,’ is an axis around which revolves around his most tragic novels. This article explores the existence and essence of ‘Cosmic Absurdity’ in Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles. In addition, it discusses its tools and how more or less, they affect the plot, characters, and theme of the mentioned novel.