Close piece of analysis between Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and Captain Corelli by Louis De Bernieres.

Close piece of analysis between Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and Captain Corelli by Louis De Bernieres.

De Bernieres presents Corelli thoughts so that the reader has insight into how Corelli feels about Pelagia. When Corelli wakes up he is admiring Pelegia he is transfixed and almost mesmerized by her. The omniscient narrator describes that he was ‘captivated’ by the ‘appealing’,’ tranquility’ of Pelegia sleeping. While she is asleep she is vulnerable and at peace. She and is therefore unable to resist Corelli’s charm. Conversely, Angel is drawn to Tess he is compelled and intrigued by her.  Hardy employs the symbolic use of music so when Angel plays the harp this creates the opportunity for Tess and Angel to be drawn to on another. In addition the music enables Angel to see past the fact that Tess is merely a milk maid. Instead he admires her for her ‘rarity’ which he considers to be ‘impressive’ and ‘interesting’. However, Corelli ‘s attraction to Pelagia could be considered to be more earnest than Angel’s .Corelli  is attracted to Pelagia in a realistic sense when she is sleeping she is natural; she is exposed to him in a more vulnerable sense; he can accept her for who she is. Whereas  before Angel even speaks  to Tess  he notices her ’white summer gown’ ,this signifies purity ,innocence and  virtue; all the qualities that would identify Tess as a honest ,chaste and spiritually clean woman. This is ironic because according to Tess ‘society she is unclean and immoral because of her past encounter with Alec. You could argue that it is from this moment that Angel begins idealize Tess because he is a deeply spiritual and religious character.

Furthermore, Corelli has the ‘urge’ to crawl in beside Pelagia this adverb powerfully shows the reader that he is attracted to Pelagia. He has a strong desire to be beside her he is drawn to her and nothing seems more ‘natural’ .De Bernieres wants the reader to believe that even though Corelli is ‘technically the enemy’ that these two characters on opposing sides should be together. The structure of the passage then shifts from Corelli’s thoughts to Pelagia’s subconscious while she is dreaming in her sleep. . Her dream reveals to the reader what she truly feels because in her dream she has limited control over her thoughts so the reader then gets access to her innermost thoughts and desires. De Berniere uses music symbolically as a means to   join Pelagia and Corelli together this is ironic because in times of war people are often torn apart.

While Corelli’s is playing his mandolin his music influences Pelegia’s dream as she begins to take on the ‘distant rhythm of the piece’. Corelli plays at a low volume so that he does not awake Pelegia   but his music atomically begins to make an impression on her thoughts as it resonates in her mind. It is almost as If Pelagia is reciprocating to the admiration that Corelli showed her before he began to play the mandolin. While she is dreaming she feels a ‘dart of pleasure’, she is instantly moved by his music this is an undeniable response. De Bernieres exposes  Pelegia in  her dream like state and reveals that she is  no longer in love with Mandras because she makes a mental effort to deliberately replace Mandras’ ‘unsatisfactory’ image  into a ‘single one’ Corelli. Subconsciously she is aware of who she wants while she is focusing on Corelli’s image  she starts ‘smiling’ this is a spontaneous reaction that physically  demonstrates that she is experiencing happiness and pleasure. Similarly, Tess automatically starts to smile when she is hears Angel’s music .However, she attempts to counteract it, the ‘symptoms of a smile lifted her upper lip but her lower lip remained severely still’ this shows that Tess is forcing herself to suppress her feelings. The word symptom implies that Tess feels that the happiness that Angel brings her is instead a curse that she has been afflicted with she believes that she is not entitled to experience romantic pleasure because of her past. Thomas Hardy uses nature as a metaphor in order to portray how Tess’ past has had a severe impact on her life, ’snow white on apple tree trunks made blood stains on her skin’. This depicts that she has been tainted by her past she is considered by her society to be no longer pure .Her skin is stained this indicates that she can never erase her past even amongst the open spaces of nature she can never had the opportunity to openly express her feelings. On the other hand, Pelagia’s inner turmoil is overridden by the music that Corelli plays; his music in a sense is like a soothing lullaby that puts her mind at rest.

When Corelli becomes more absorbed in the music his tremolo speeds up and Pelagia responds to the music once again since she awakes ’wondering if she is still asleep’. There is significance in the fact that Corelli’s music wakes her he sets her free his music eliminates all the doubt in her mind for the duration it was playing. Music  is a recreation or common interest  that people enjoy that joins them together .This is similar to when Corelli releases Pelagia from the thorns this metaphor showed that Pelegia’s  inner turmoil  was suffering and   agonizingly  painful  Corelli is her saviour he releases her  and in a sense gives her permission  to express her love for him freely. When Pelagia wakes up she acknowledges that Corelli’s music was ‘a most beautiful noise’ and this music perhaps validates the decision she made in her dream. Pathetic fallacy is employed by De Berniere after Pelegia hears Corelli’s music  a ‘shaft of sunlight break through the window’  happiness breaks through the barrier of prejudice after Pelagia realises she has over slept this reflects that she is joyful  happy and content. Hardy similarly uses pathetic fallacy, just before Tess hears Angel play the harp the setting is a ‘typical summer evening’ this sets a happy positive tone.

 Angel’s   harp playing ‘breaks’ the ‘soundlessness’; that empty feeling Tess experiences   when she ‘represses’ her feelings for Angel. Among the silence Tess can clearly hear the music so she appreciates it.  When she originally heard Angel play his harp she heard t in an attic and the notes were ‘dim’, ’flattened’ and ‘constrained.’ Hardy here personifies the notes and this is reflective of Tess’ situation. Before Tess had ‘indoor fears’ she was unable to express her feeling because she was restricted. Among the open nature the music is able to break down some of the repression she feels and enables her to express her natural honest feelings. Hardy further uses personification when he describes that Angel’s harp playing has a ‘stark quality’ like ‘nudity’. This shows that Angel bears his soul and is honest through his music he is able to develop and engage some connection with Tess through it. Despite this Tess honorably attempts to hide her presence behind a hedge this physically depicts that she is still aware that she cannot let her barrier down and easy accept her feelings for Angel.

Tess’ in a dream like state similar to Pelagia when she hears the music she is put into a trance, ‘she was unable to move from the spot’. The music has a tight hold on her this is representative of the fact that she can never really discard the feelings she has for Angel; ‘she was conscious of neither time nor space’ .Pelagia describes that the music was more than a ‘sweet sound but an emotional and intellectual odyssey’. In Pelagia’s dream she attempts to journey with Corelli when she dream fondly of him. Tess too attempts to share Angel’s journey the symbolic use   music creates intrigue Tess is able lose her senses and can feel the music she can just listen peacefully rather than have to over think and dwell on her relationship with Angel.; this foreshadow that she eventually gives into her feelings and allows her relationship with Angel to progress. Moreover, Hardy   then describes Tess to be like a ‘fascinated bird.’ Birds are innocent creatures that are impressionable and are easily mislead.  Likewise when the music plays Tess is unable to think clearly she becomes fascinated with Angel. She even deems him rather like an ‘intelligence than a man’ she is unable to see danger she cannot   take flight. Hardy is perhaps foreshadowing that her relationship with Angel will never truly set her free or releases her from the heavy burden of her past.