Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented

Tess deystvitel'no proiskhodit iz drevnego roda d'Erbervilley, no na ee dolyu ne prikhoditsya velichie i slava mogushchestvennykh predkov, lish' bremya ikh proklyatiya. U nee net ni bogatstva, ni zemel', ni dazhe titula - velichie roda ugaslo v nezapamyatnye vremena, no po-prezhnemu zhivy prizraki, naselyayushchie strashnye legendy, i bolee chem zhivy chudovishcha, naselyayushchie podsoznanie geroev romana. Esli sud'ba umnitsy i krasavitsy Tess - nakazanie za smertnye grekhi ee predkov, to net nikogo besserdechnee sud'by - Ananke, ved' kto, kak ne Tess trudilsya s samogo yunogo vozrasta, kto vyrastil i vospital oravu bratishek i sestrenok? I vse zhe ne tol'ko sud'boy predopredeleny stradaniya geroini: istinnye prichiny ee tragedii kroyutsya v predrassudkakh i zhestokosti viktorianskogo obshchestva, gotovogo rastoptat' cheloveka za edinstvennuyu oshibku; sposobnogo opravdat' muzhchinu, no ne opravdyvayushchego zhenshchinu. A znachit, somnitel'ny detali, kotorye tak nastoychivo podcherkivaet Khardi, vselyaya v chitatelya suevernyy uzhas, - nichego by ne izmenilos', ne bud' predki Tess stol' mogushchestvenny i porochny. Sud obshchestva poroy byvaet strashnee proklyatiya. Lyubovnyy treugol'nik polozhen v osnovu romana, no nastoyashchey lyubvi v nem net. Ee zamenyayut naivnoe lyubopytstvo, neumerennaya strast' i bessmyslennoe preklonenie; chuvstva geroev chrezmerny i temny, v nikh net ni grana gotovnosti prinyat' i prostit', svoystvennykh istinnoy lyubvi. S torzhestvennym otchayaniem prinosya nenuzhnye zhertvy, personazhi romana ne razryvayut, a lish' suzhayut krug bezyskhodnosti. Oni molchat, prinimaya kazhushcheesya im spravedlivym, togda, kogda nuzhnye slova smogli by vse izmenit'; oni sklonyayutsya pered obstoyatel'stvami, kogda nuzhno deystvovat', deystvuya zhe, lish' prichinyayut bol' sebe i drugim. Navernoe, vo vse vremena vstrechayutsya lyudi, pokhozhie na glavnuyu geroinyu. Slishkom naivnye, slishkom chistye, ne umeyushchie pritvoryat'sya. Oni slishkom blagorodny dlya sushchestvovaniya, opredelyaemogo zakonami evolyutsii, i tem samym gubyat sebya sami. Mir, narisovannyy Tomasom Khardi, strashen, i ocharovatel'nye peyzazhi angliyskoy provintsii, opisannye tak talantlivo, ne delayut ego privlekatel'nee. Zdes' lyudi - lish' poteryavshiesya deti, a abstraktnye printsipy, ustoyavshiesya normy povedeniya vazhnee chelovecheskikh dush. Zdes' vlyublennye skryvayutsya ot lyudey, skitayutsya po lesam, chtoby naslazhdat'sya svoim korotkim schast'yem i ne dumat' o budushchem, o neizbezhnoy rasplate... Tyazhelaya zhizn', rabota bez kontsa i kraya, nesbytochnaya mechta o blagopoluchii i zhizni v mire, lyubvi i soglasii. Zatem, kak eto obychno byvaet, rok v vide vezdesushchey politsii nastigaet devushku... Kak eto strashno - i kak pokhozhe na deystvitel'nost'!