Analysis of Folk Beliefs and Customs in Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Abstract

As a typical countryside novel, Tess of the d’Urbervilles has a multitude of folklore elements that are intertwined in many plots and play an important role in shaping the characters, developing the storyline, rendering the country color, and setting the tragic atmosphere. Moreover, folklore culture originates from English real country life, and exploring folklore elements embodied in Tess of the d’Urbervilles is also a textual reconstruction of contemporary folklore culture. On this basis, this paper will explore and analyze the folk beliefs and customs which is regarded as the most significant components of folklore culture in Tess of the d'Urbervilles.