After reading "The Convergence of the Twain" by Hardy (http://www.melodylane.net/ianwhitcomb/twainpoem.html) what connections can you make with Tess of the d'Urbervilles? How does Hardy converge this themes in both prose and poetry?
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In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Tess is the ship and Alec is the iceberg. Unknowingly, yet valiantly, Tess is thrust into the "sea," or rather, Alec's seduction, and thus her life is corrupted entirely. She lives the remainder of her life in a very low place, just as the Titanic dwells at the bottom of the ocean.
In The Convergence of the Twain you can see the same kind of themes and word choice that Hardy uses in his book Tess of the d'Urbervilles. "Such as deep from human vanity" Alec family buying the name d'Urberville so that they could be of higher class or look better uppon. Also because of the word choice "to ravish the sensuous mind" can be connected to Tess being raped. (Ravish meaning:seize and carry off by force, and sensuous meaning:attractive or gratifying physically, especially sexually.) But if you just look at the word sensuous you could just connect it to Tess beauty (Physical) and how most guys were attracted to her because of it.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles connects with "The Convergence of the Twain" ...both pieces by Hardy. They both have a great deal to do with Fate, and how it guides or affects each character. We see Fate in Tess with the love triangle and Victorian values. Tess's fourtune by victorian values was to be with Alec, but she guided her fate in the other direction by taking a stand and changing its path by being with Angel. However, we see fate once more when we read "The Convergence of the Twain." It was the ship's fate to crash into iceburg and ruin mankind's brillant work of art. Ironic?
I have to agree with Jess 100%, i could not have have put it any better than she put it in her own comment. I like how she relates Tess living her life in a very low place to the Titanic dwelling at the bottom of the ocean.
"The Congergence of the Twain" and Tess of the d"urbervilles are both related through fate and victorian ideals. In the poem Hardy expresses Vicotrian ideals through the ship and the passengers on it. He shows the fancy jewels of the passengers and the steel chambers on the ship. Fate is also shown in the poem with words like The Immanent in stanza VI and Spinner of the Years in stanza XI. Hardy believes that the ship was destined to crash and sink and that nature rules all.
In Tess of the d'urbervilles victorian ideals are expressed throughout the story when Tess was rejected by Angel and society for the rape and having a child. Fate is also expressed through Tess's death and her destiny to be raped, kill, love, and die.
In "the Convergence of the Twain", Hardy speaks of fate. As Jessica said, Tess is the ship, fated for the iceberg (Alec). They were "bent" to reach each other. Tess went along in life, waiting for things to happen. In the beginning of the Convergence, Hardy writes of the problems that occur along the way. In Tess, she is fated to make mistakes. She falls and relies on men to pick her back up. Ironically it is the men that push her back down. In the Convergence, the ship is sunken by the iceberg. In Tess she is broken by the men in her life (i.e. Alec).
In Tess of the d'Ubervilles, Tess is the ship, beautiful and strong with her life ahead of her (the maiden voyage if you will). Unbeknownst to her, she would happen upon a catalyst in her life that would end up being the death of her. Just as the Titanic could not avoid the iceberg, Tess could not avoid Alec. Initially there were valiant efforts to save the ship, just as Tess tried to salvage her life, but as time wore on, it was quite evident that there was no saving it. I think Tess realized this, and therefore made the decision to end Alec's life, which was the match that had lit the fuse to the barrel of gasoline which alec has metaphorically set up for her.
In Hardy's poem, there is a comparison between Tess and the titanic. In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, her experience with Alec is what pretty much ends her marraige with Angel. Like the when the titanic hits the iceberg. Yet both the titanic and Tess's hearts are somewhat broken, there is still hope for Tess like there is still hope in searching for the ruins of the titanic.
There is also a connection between Tess being alienated and the titanic being the biggest and most beautiful ship ever made. Tess is made to be this beautiful girl that stands out in a crowd as is the titanic.
I like how Tess is refered to as the Titanic and how Alec is refered to as the iceberg that the Titanic could not avoid and sank it. But it seems that Angel also had a fair part in this story...anyone care to give their opinion on what Angel could possibly be in the story of the Titanic and the iceberg???
In response to sick puppies comment.... Angel could be the uninformed diver who has no idea what had happened to the titanic but wants to explore its ruins. Angels doesn't know that Tess is ruined goods until he discovers the large hole in the bow of the ship. The truth then comes spilling through the hole and then Angel feels betrayed that maybe he wasn't the first to discover the truth and that maybe the trick was on him.
Thank you for your opinion on that carly. Anyone else??
I don't think Angel was just an innocent bystander. Great analogy on him being a diver, but to take it a step further, it's also as if he took a precious treasure from the titanic, aka Tess's heart. So he's no better than Alec if you actually think about it.
True, very true. But who was the worst between the two....Alec or Angel?
Dylan this is a place for discussion not for questions. I think Getty is the one asking the questions, no?
Well Getty hasn't posted on this blog yet sooo it looks like i am the one who is posting the questions Gerald.
In the peom titanic hardy mentions tow diffrent things going against each other one good and one bad. The iceburg being the bad as in Alec of tess. By the ship being smart and beautiful being Angel of tess. Tess is just a passenger onthe titanic when they hit the iceburg dragging them down but in the end the passenger and the ship remain at the bottom of the sea togther. So when angle falls in love with tess everything is going right the ship is sailing out on a wonderous beautiful sea but then when alec comes back inbto the picture the ship hits the iceburg and all goes wrong. Tess kills alec and when the police come to kill her is when the ship sinks sending the passenger to the bottom of the ocean the ship not following closley after. By angel being with liza lu at the end mad ehim stay with tess through that connection so either way they were still togther.
Thanks for sticking up for me JY but SickPuppy can ask questions. I like that Carly and you two had a bit of a convo here. It's nice to see. Next week I am giving Contributor privledges to those who want to post questions.
Genni, I don't think that Tess was dragged to the bottom of the sea by Alec. In both the poem Convergence of the Twain and in the book Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the idea of fate is expressed. Was it truly Alec that "dragged" Tess to the bottom of the sea (caused the death of Tess) or was it that Tess was doomed to be hung from the beginning because fate or the nature of the universe was against her?
i think the most obvious conection between "the convergance of the twain" and Tess is the idea that fate controlls all that we do and everything is predetermined. in the poem Hardy gives time humanish qualities to make fate seem like it can conciously control things like Tess and the titanic. so basically i want to agree with hannah that it was fate that led the titanic to the iceburg and it was fate that led tess to alec
Well Getty's favorite student i understand that hardy uses fate to explain things that is his style of writting. So i agree with your point on some levels and not on others. You see my point is the love trinagle effect tess is sitting and watching her options looking out to sea on her beautiful ship. The iceburg hits in the form of angel leaving and alec returning. Lets not forget that in the story Alec tricks Tess into marrying him. She is dragged down especially when angel comes home, she kills alec ending her own life. She has fallen off the ship and landed in a very cold unforgiving sea. By the ship her symbol of love and beauty follows closely after to spend the rest of eternity on the bottom of the sea togther. Catch my drift?
Also getty's favorite student refer back to original post to get the full effect!
But if Tess was doomed to fall into this trap then it doesn't matter what she would have done because had her in a self-destructive love triangle. So fate has to account for Tess's death according to Hardy not Angel or Alec or the guy that put the rope around her neck (the last part is strictly sarcastic, not a literal arguement).
Yes getty's favortie student i understand that i already stated that i agreed that fate is a factor reread what i jsut said and then get back to me!
Fate is not a factor in Hardy. It is the cause of everything Genni.
soooo...I feel like there is a big lack in speaking out the religion piece. It seems (to me anyway) that hardy was completely shaped by reading the work of Charles Darwin, and thus he was stripped of his faith. This had a profound effect on him and religion has been a reoccurring idea in his novels and poetry. What if we think of the titanic at the bottom of the ocean as his dead faith and the iceberg as reality (as seen by Hardy)? His faith was created and molded to withstand anything, to be beautiful, to be strong, yet it failed. Now at the bottom of the ocean it is deserted and has turned ugly. Even the sea worms crawl on it showing how worthless it is. Hardy uses the theme of fate throughout the poem and the diction he uses almost seems bitter. The ironic thing is that even though he denounces god, the poem seems like he is blaming god for the tragedy. In "Hap" we also see the repetition of fate and religion. Although in hap he isn’t directly criticizing god, he is criticizing the “messengers of god" or the preachers. Can anyone connect the convergence of the twain with the purblind Doomsters in Hap??
what i meant to say in the first sentence was "speaking ABOUT" not out. JEEEZZE. minus 10 for spelling. haha
In Tess of the D'Ubervilles Tess and Alec are fated for each other, relating to the "convergence of the Twain" as Tess is the Titanic and Alec is the iceburg. and I completely agree with Jess.
In Tess of the d'Urbervilles as well as in "The Convergence of the Twain," there's a common idea that fate controls all. It's argued in Tess that you're born in the place in society which you were meant to be, clearly seen as you can't move up in society, you're stuck. Which leads to the idea that everything that happened to Tess was meant to be as she was born in that spot in society, for some purpose. In "The Convergence of the Twain" it is implied that the iceberg and The Titanic were fated to meet, to crash. Stanza seven states "Prepared a sinister mate.." The sinister mate is referring to the iceberg that is bound to hit the ship.
In response to Dylan's question on who is the worser person; Alec or Angel, I think Alec is worse because it was Alec that ruined Tess. Then, it was the bad news that split up Tess and Angel. Angel didn't really know what to do with himself after she told him that so he left. Yes, taking a part of her with him but it was pretty much Alec's fault in the first place. If Alec didn't rape Tess, then her and Angel would have been happily married but Hardy wrote the book this way to cause conflict and emphasize Victorian values. Tess was no longer pure so Angel wanted nothing to do with her.
The "Convergence of the Twain" basically outlines the story of Tess. The "sea worm crawls, grotesque" refers to Alec and the horrible thing he did. "Jewels in joy designed" refers to Tess's impressions of Angel and how perfect he was. "What does this valoriousness down here?" refers to Angel's harsh reaction to Tess's tale of what happened with Alec. "The imminant will that stirs and urges everything" refers to Alec and how he follows Tess urging her to marry him and be with him. "Prepared for a sinister mate" refers to the preparation to be with Alec. "And the smart ship grew" refers to the relationship between Tess and Alec and "In the shadowy silent diatance grew the iceberg too" refers to the bad thing to come when Angel comes back and Tess kills Alec. The Iceberg represents her end.
Hardy converges the themes through the story of the titanic and tells of good times and bad and the eventual iceberg ending.
The "Convergence of the Twain" is interesting to read after completeing the novel Tess of the d'Urbavilles. Just because of the fact that in Tess I thought that Hardy fully believes in Fait and that everyone has the next day planed out for then. The example is that that I was sapose to do this so that I can do that. Tess was ment to marry angle when society said to marry alec. just like the titanic was ment to hit the iceburg and me to be sitting in front of this computer typing up this blog it is all fait!
From this poem I got that Tess was the ship and Alec was the iceberg. When the titanic hit/met the iceberg it doomed every passenger on the ship. When Tess was hit (raped) by Alec her life or her future life with Angel was/would be doomed.
In Convergence of the Twain, Hardy shows that this beautiful strong symbol of the modern world and a simple, beautiful part of nature, are fated with each other, thus they are together in the ocean.
In Tess, Alec and Tess are fated to be together, while Tess is the beautiful symbol of all that is natural and innocent. In the end, Tess and Alex are together in the "afterlife", most likely Hell, Alec being there for raping Tess, Tess being there for killing Alec.
I believe that Tess represents "the Pride of Life" in "Tess" that the Titanic is in "The Convergence of the Twain." Tess represents beauty and virginity. "the Immanent Will" is her being raped by Alec who represents the iceberg who brings her down.
Hardy connects his poem to Tess because of the underlineing theme of an ill fate. Tess, just as Titanic, was sent out all alone with great hopes and excpectations. But, things go wrong the more nature is avoided and trying to make a comeback at industrial Victorian society. The Titanic sinking on its maiden voyage is just like Tess being raped the first time she must be on her own, stuck with Alec. In each case it is nature which wins out, Alec being the iceberg. It is nature which defeats teh Titanic and the manpower it represents, and it is the natural nature of lust which causes Tess to be raped, conquering the Victorian Christian and social ideals. Neither the Titanic nor Tess were meant to be succesful, only examples of what can happen when society and man become to confident and reject the rellavance of nature.
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