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This special position of women is confirmed by Elizabeth Ermath, who states that "The condition of

women in the nineteenth century is a litmus test of the idea that society is a self-sustaining and

inclusive entity, and consequently their condition rivets public attention." In the critique of Victorian

culture that Tess represent, the concept of virginity as an essential quality of the Pure Woman is

examined and discarded. The 'loss' of a maid's virginity implies carelessness, and in both novels, this

carelessness is demonstrably that of society, and the maid's parents. Ideally, parents provide a

protective environment for their children, teaching them the skills they need to survive. Individually,however, they are shown to chase political or economic gain at the cost of their child's happiness.

Tess, the Ruined Maid, shows the impact of such forces on the individual Pure Woman. A Pure Women

does not 'lose' her virginity. It is taken from her when the social structures designed to protect her

prove inadequate. For England to survive, Englishmen must stop misappropriating their national

treasures.

The primary threat to a Pure Woman, denied her parents' protection, are manipulative males, whom I

call 'usurpers'. Commonly connected to 'rightful inheritance' plots, usurpers "create a desire for the

restoration of the legitimate heirs, for reattaching title and name to the proper signifieds."(7) Usurpers

present a physical and emotional threat to a Pure Woman. Alternately persuasive and violent, they

must possess her to satisfy their own desires. Although they recognise the Pure Woman as an

individual, this only makes her more of a challenge, not a fellow human being deserving of respect. In

contrast, the Pure Woman never loses sight of the usurper's humanity, repulsing his advances with

firm modesty, and appealing (uselessly) to his better nature.

The Pure Woman's parents leave her outside the familiar structure of the family home due to socio-

political necessities. She finds herself in a place dominated by masculine powers, where she behaves

modestly, intelligently and articulately, acknowledging her personal responsibility in the situation, and

finally, naming a masculine partner (young Victoria chooses God) who will guide and support her. The

Pure Woman must, therefore, exercise discriminating wisdom in her choice of a husband, choosing a

man who, despite human imperfections is also striving to be pure, and whom she believes loves and

respects her as an individual. She fights her own romantic feelings, until she feels sure of the man's

true qualities, and commitment. Then she enthrones him as rightful king of her heart. Our heroines

are pure, but, importantly, they are not perfect. If they were perfect they would no longer be human.

Angel Clare is a 'rightful king' who proves unequal to the trust his Pure Woman places in him. Angel's

tragedy is that he cannot look beyond his appreciation of Tess's ideal purity, as a "fresh and virginal

daughter of Nature"(Tess p.158), to see her as she really is. Tess is extremely disturbed when Angel

reifies her, insisting absolutely on her own identity. It was then, as has been said, that she impressed

him most deeply. She was no longer the milkmaid, but a visionary essence of woman - a whole sex

condensed into one typical form. He called her Artemis, Demeter, and other fanciful names half

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teasingly, which she did not like because she did not understand them.

'Call me Tess,' she would say askance; and he did.' (Tess p.170)

Tess appreciates Angel's self restraint, and his refusal to take advantage of the other milkmaids'

romantic innocence. He displays a respect for their humanity which distinguishes him from the other

men of her limited acquaintance.

Tess was woman enough to realise from their avowals to herself that Angel Clare had the honour of all

the dairymaids in his keeping, and her perception of his care to avoid compromising the happiness of

either in the least degree bred a tender respect in Tess for what she deemed, rightly or wrongly, the

self-controlling sense of duty shown by him, a quality which she had never expected to find in one of

the opposite sex, and in the absence of which more than one of the simple hearts who were his

housemates might have gone weeping on her pilgrimage. (Tess p.180-181)

Tess appreciates Angel's active intellect, and the new thoughts he introduces to her. Tess is intelligent

and imaginative, but since leaving school she has had little opportunity to expand her mind. She

enjoys Angel's lessons, "and being, though untrained, instinctively refined, her nature cried for his

tutelary guidance".(Tess p.222) Tess's willingness to learn is one of her Pure Woman qualities, as it is

the Pure Women who will pass knowledge on to the next generation.

The specific words of Tess's final acceptance of Angel demonstrate her honesty, her love for him, and

her doubts about the future : "it is only your wanting me very much, and being hardly able to keep

alive without me, whatever my offences, that would make me feel I ought to say I will."(Tess p.231)

Her individual value as a Pure Woman is again confirmed by the narrator on Tess and Angel's wedding

day.

Victorian societal ideologies push our heroine to strive for perfection, to become the Pure Ideal. The

novels suggest, however, that this ideal is unnatural. Focussing on the perfect purity of the ideal

blinds one to the particular purity of the individual. Human nature is imperfect, and will always seem

inferior and unsatisfactory in comparison with the ideal. The individual Pure Woman, like Tess earns

her title by remaining true to her self, cherishing her own humanity and the humanity of others. She is

dutiful and loving to her parents, but she also acknowledges their faults, and holds herself largely

responsible for the family's well-being. She believes in her right to control her own body, and resists

the usurpation of this right to the best of her ability. Finally, she attempts to choose her husband

wisely, in the hope that a freely given, mutual exchange of love will enhance the purity of both the

wedded-lovers and their society. The 'Pure Woman' novels' message is that Victorian society must

learn to reverse its value judgements.