Thomas Hardy\u27s Tess of the D \u27Urbervilles has multiple competing claims which are difficult to reconcile within the schools ofhist0l1cal, feminist, or classical criticism. A better way to approach the novel is to look at Tess as a pawn within Hardy\u27s own struggle with God. Hardy constructs God as the author of the multiple systems which lead to Tess\u27 final doom: a flawed genetic line, a flawed sexual double standard, and a flawed system of justice. Tess, in Hardy\u27s mind, becomes the victim of a God who is akin to the deity of Greek playwright Aeschylus\u27 Prometheus Bound, rather than the merciful and loving Christian God. This victimization justifies Hardy\u27s assertion that Tess is a pure woman even though society holds her responsible for multiple sins
