the daughter of Nature What a fresh daughter of Nature that milkmaid is Angel thinks that Tess is pure and beautiful like nature Hardy makes us feel that Tess belongs more to the natural world than to the human world Nature as a Friend in Her Happy Days When Tess goes to Talbothays Dairy she feels happy and hopeful again The place is full of life The fresh air the green fields and the flowing river make Tess feel peaceful Hardy writes The new air was clear The river itself which nourished the grass and cows This place brings love into Tess s life She meets Angel Clare here The beauty of nature matches Tess s happiness and hope The green world and the singing birds show that Tess is blooming again like a flower Nature here acts like her friend Nature Shows Her Suffering Later when Tess is heartbroken and poor she works at Flintcomb-Ash There the land is dry and rough There is no greenery no beauty Hardy describes Here the landscape was whitey-brown This shows the hard and colorless life Tess now has She works in snow cold wind and frozen ground Nature here becomes harsh and cruel It reflects Tess s mental and physical pain Nature as a Warning of Fate Sometimes Hardy uses nature to give a warning about Tess s fate Before something bad happens the weather changes For example when Tess decides to visit Angel s family it rains heavily The cold and wet weather tells us that things will not go well Another strong moment is when Tess and Angel stop at Stonehenge Tess sleeps on a large stone that looks like an altar She asks Angel Did they sacrifice to God here This moment shows that Tess s death is very near Hardy uses this natural setting to show that Tess s story is coming to a tragic end Nature vs Machines Hardy also uses nature to show the battle between old rural life and new modern life Tess belongs to the old natural world She is peaceful and close to the earth But modern machines like the steam-thresher at Flintcomb-Ash bring a kind of destruction The threshing machine is loud and soulless Hardy describes it as a monster that needs to be fed all the time The machine shows how the modern world is killing the natural world In contrast Talbothays Dairy is a place where people use hand tools and animal power Tess is much happier there Through this Hardy shows his love for old rural life In fine nature is not silent in Hardy s Tess of the d Urbervilles It speaks it feels and it even decides Nature gives Tess happiness but also shows her tragedy It is like a mirror to her life From the fresh beauty of Talbothays to the cruel fields of Flintcomb-Ash nature walks with Tess every step