Tess of the D'Urbervilles

John Durbeyfield, a ‘haggler’ and a drunk, is weaving his way one afternoon towards the pub when he meets the village priest, Parson Tringham. The priest informs him that his family have distinguished ancestry. They are descended from the d’Urbervilles, a wealthy, though now extinct, clan.

The baby is mortally ill. Because Tess’s father refuses to let him be baptised in a church, she is forced to perform the ceremony herself, calling him ‘Sorrow’. The baby dies. Tess pleads with Parson Tringham to allow the baby to be buried in the churchyard, but the parson says he cannot permit this, so Tess digs a small grave for Sorrow in a field next to the church, on unconsecrated ground.

A heartbroken Retty does not attend the wedding. As a small but joyful ceremony takes place, she tries to drown herself. Tess and Angel leave for their honeymoon, to be spent at an old mansion once owned by the ancient d’Urberville family.

Through a cruelly bitter winter, Tess continues to work on the farm. Alec, who seems to have replaced any religious fervour he once had with a passion for Tess alone, continues to plague her with his relentless attention.