Explore how Hardy presents Alec D'Urberville

In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Alec is perceived to be the villain as he is the catalyst for the destruction of Tess's life after he rapes her. Even though certain acts convey Alec as a villainous character, others suggest Alec is not wholly evil in the novel.

The first presentation of Alec the reader receives is when Tess travels to Trantridge to claim kin after the death of the family horse, Prince. The description of Alec's appearance upon his first arrival in the novel is rather appealing to the reader, but before any description of his appearance, the reader is given an automatic feeling of threat by this character as he firstly appears from the darkness of an outdoor tent “A figure came forth from the dark triangular door of the tent, it was that of a young man smoking”. Appearing from the dark makes him look mysterious and the act of smoking is seen as a devilish activity, suggesting that Alec is devil like. Alec is further described as a dark character through the dark imagery of his features such as “swarthy complexion” which in the context of the novel, was also considered to be a feature of a lustful and sexual nature. Hardy also describes Alec as having a “well groomed moustache” which is Hardy perception of the typical stereotypical villain and being “well groomed” also suggests to the reader that Alec wealthy which possibly suggests that he is controlling over those lesser to himself. Arguably the most effective piece of description Hardy uses to describe Alec is “touches of barbarism is his contours” (barbarism meaning extreme cruelty or brutality). Using such a powerful and effective word such as “barbarism” suggests a strong force of danger in Alec.

Hardy then conveys Alec as a flirt; his first line in the novel being “what can I do for you my beauty?” this flirtatious quote mirrors Alec's sexual description as Hardy tries to build his character on lust and sexual desire towards women. Throughout the novel, Alec is very well spoken which also suggest that he is well educated “Very kind of your mother, I’m sure. And I for one don’t regret her step”. His dialogue and sentence length is also lengthy and being presented as well educated means the reader interprets Alec as a figure of superiority, as being educated well in the Victorian era often meant that one was of high social class and was deemed superior to those who lacked education.
Alec's forceful nature becomes apparent in the scene where Alec insists on feeding strawberries to Tess by hand in the garden, but Tess would rather feed them to herself. Alec's forceful nature is now emphasised: “Nonsense! He insisted; and in a slight distress she parted her lips and took it in”, feeding her by hand even though she made it clear she was against the idea. Strawberries symbolise religious connotations as Alec is perceived to be the serpent from The Garden of Eden and them being red suggests he is dangerous.
Suspicions about Alec's character really arise when Tess has received a letter stating that she has been given a job to work for Mrs D'Urberville on her little fowl-farm. Hardy adds that “Mrs D'Urberville's handwriting seemed rather masculine” suggesting that the letter was actually written by Alec, which it was. This gives out the impression that Alec is sneaky and devious.

The real villain in Alec is really brought to the attention of the reader when Hardy mirrors him as the serpent who seduced Eve in The Garden of Eden, as he similarly seduces Tess in The Chase (natural setting is similar to The Garden of Eden) which takes away her purity (sex before marriage in the Victorian era was considered to be an act of impurity). This is the catalyst for downfall of events in Tess’s life in the novel which leads the reader to detest Alec. There is also evidence to support that Alec is shameless “I was born bad, and I have lived bad, and I shall die bad, in all probability”. This quote makes the reader feel that Alec is too evil and wicked beyond belief.

It could be argued that Alec is not all bad. Certain events in the novel show Alec in a good light. For example, when Car Darch wants to fight Tess, Alec appears to save her. Initially, it feels to the reader that Alec is trying to do good by saving Tess, “Having heard their voices while yet some way off he had ridden creepingly forward, and learnt enough to satisfy himself”. On the other hand, this could be interpreted as Alec trying to take a chance to look like a hero or be Tess's saviour; “creepingly” suggests an act of deviousness which shifts the reader’s impression of Alec.
Alec's attitudes change in 'The Convert' “D'Urberville was not the first wicked man who had turned away from his wickedness to save his soul alive”. It is clear that he is capable of changing his sinful ways by turning to Christianity and becoming a preacher. This shows Alec in a lighter portrayal as he is willing to change to become a better person. But questions arise whether or not he has been converted after meeting Tess again. Alec proposes and states that he wants to make “an honest woman” out of her to make amends after he seduced her in The Chase. Tess declines him, and 'The Convert' is no more. This decline leads Alec to give up preaching and return back to his sinful ways; the same devious seducer he was at Trantridge. The effect of events in the 'The Convert' are very effective. The fact that Alec is easily persuaded away from his conversion on the sight of Tess the reader detest him further because it becomes clear that his change, was not sincere. Hardy's intent in 'The Convert' is to give the reader a more apparent depth of his villain. Also, the fact that Phase The Sixth, 'The Convert', is one of the shortest phases suggests that is does not take much for Alec's conversion to fall through which renders his so called 'conversion' insincere.

The fact that the novel is set into seven phases also helps to portray Alec. Hardy introduces Alec in the second phase after the reader has been given a full and quant description of Wessex in Phase the first, The Maiden, Alec’s interventions in the novel does not mirror this peaceful description. This shows that Alec is a controversial character as he somewhat taints the setting.s

It’s clear to see that Alec has the characteristics of the typical dominant Victorian male. His behaviour around Tess emphasises the superiority men had over women in Victorian times, “she obeyed like one in a dream”; reinforcing the power Alec has over Tess. Alec's marriage proposal to Tess would also be considered rather shocking at the time. The proposal coming after Alec knows Tess is already married to Angel, plus Alec was then, a supposed man of Christianity. This conveys Alec as sinful and against religion as it would have been a very controversial proposal for people of 1891 to understand.