In Wuthering Heights and Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy and Emily Bronte present women’s attempt to find happiness as overarchingly futile when faced with the imposed lack of mobility and agency constructed by the patriarchal order of the Victorian era. In such an order, men’s attempt at happiness and power overrides the attempt of the women, characterised notably in the characters of Alec and Heathcliff.
Hardy and Bronte demonstrate the futility of the women’s search for happiness by contrasting the search against that of the male characters. Alec’s lustful desire for Tess, epitomised in the rape scene, irrevocably changes Tess’ chance at happiness through social acceptance, with her being considered a ‘fallen woman’ by society – her baby, the physical manifestation of Tess’ pain, ‘Sorrow’, is not even allowed to be buried in the church, demonstrating that Alec’s own desires ‘outweigh’ those of Tess, and Sorrow. Furthermore, the lack of agency that Tess exhibits in the key turning-points of the novel, those that pave the way for Tess’ growing unhappiness, such as the death of Prince or the rape scene where she is ‘dreaming’ show that Tess is seemingly moved by a force of predetermination: ‘Justice’. As such, Tess’ search for happiness is hopefully futile, as women are presented as simply the stepping stones for men to achieve happiness, and/or power – a Victorian social system, embodied in the recent Housing Acts of the time, that Hardy seems to critique through the omniscient narrator’s ardent sympathy with Tess.
This brutal manipulation of women, and women’s happiness, is also seen in the character of Heathcliff, whose desire for revenge against Hindley, and against Catherine’s own ‘betrayal of [her] heart’ leads him to brutally control the lives and happiness of Isabella Linton and Catherine Jr. (until she is absolved of his power after Heathcliff’s death). Similarly, Nelly and Cathy Sr. are also manipulated by Heathcliff’s own attempt at happiness through revenge, the former being forced to carry Heathcliff’s letter to Catherine, and Catherine stating that ‘You have killed me!’ to Heathcliff, perhaps a misguided notion, considering her attempts to starve herself, but also demonstrating Heathcliff’s role in her fall, through his departure and his sudden return, and fighting with Edgar.
The view that women are ‘stepping stones’ for patriarchal power, and men’s happiness, is also evident in the actions of Angel, who abandons Tess after she tells him of her past relationship with Alec, and Sorrow – Angel has figured that he can no longer find his happiness in Tess, and so brutally abandons her. A similar dismissal can be seen in Retty’s drive to suicide, after Angel has spurred her affections, and in Angel’s courting of Liza-Lu, walking ‘hand-in-hand’, as if she is the replacement figure for Tess. Angel’s discarding of the women in his life shows his inherent belief that his own search for happiness is elevated above theirs, and women’s happiness, if achieved at all, is irrelevant to patriarchal society, where women are seen as tools used to orchestrate men’s happiness.
Moreover, women’s attempt at happiness is not only seem to be overwhelmed by men’s attempts, but also intrinsically tied to it, due to the ideals of patriarchal teachings. Brontë conveys the burden of expectation placed upon Cathy as the barrier between her and solace. Heathcliff, largely, is depicted as being her link to her childhood and the Romantic ideology she once upheld; he is metaphorically described as ‘the eternal rocks beneath’, signifying his ever-present force. Thus, Cathy is unable to move on from Heathcliff, and the aforementioned Romanticism associated with him, which is presented by Brontë as furthermore being an intrinsic part of Cathy – she insists that Heathcliff is ‘more myself than I’ and pleads to Nelly that ‘I am Heathcliff’. Brontë places clear focus on Cathy’s identity with the use of anaphora of the first-person personal pronoun ‘I’, signifying that Cathy is perhaps dependent on the men around her to express her identity. This contrasts immensely to the acknowledgement that ‘it would degrade [Cathy] to marry Heathcliff’, an expression which highlights the distinctions of Victorian social class which divide Cathy and Heathcliff, and arguably prevent them achieving happiness together due to the social stigma that surrounds their union. As such, it is the patriarchal ideology that dictates Cathy, as a woman of the gentry, marry to further advance her social status which encourages her to marry Edgar, and integrate into so-called ‘civilised’ society which is so at odds with her initial portrayal as an archetypal ‘Romantic child’. However, Brontë foreshadows the failure of Cathy’s intentions to advance both her own and Heathcliff’s social status, as the ‘eternal rocks’ are unable to be moved. Therefore, her search for happiness is presented as a doomed effort due to social restrictions placed upon her as an upper-class woman.
Furthermore, the enforcement of Victorian morals upon Tess plays a major role in Hardy’s tragedy, as characterised by the exploration of the consequences of social rebellion. Tess acknowledges ‘this happiness could not have lasted. It was too much’ prior to her arrest – ‘this happiness’ equating to her freedom as she rests upon Stonehenge, a pagan structure. Hardy has perhaps used Stonehenge as the setting for Tess’ final moment of peace as a symbol of his, and subsequently Tess’, rejection of orthodox Victorian social expectations, such as male dominance, and the social order of the Church. Consequently, Stonehenge as a symbol of unorthodox religion foreshadows, arguably the ultimate tragical event in the novel, Tess’ execution. Hardy presents Tess’ execution as a part of her fate; it is arguably vital to the fulfilment of the novel as a tragedy, as for Tess to live would be contrary to the rigid patriarchal order of Victorian society, which demands women be powerless. Thus, Tess’ being physically entrapped in the ‘tower’ not only highlights her powerlessness as a woman in this society, but also reflects the social entrapment that prevented her obtaining happiness throughout her life – both are a result of Victorian morality and a patriarchal social order.
Overall, women’s attempts at happiness are overwhelmed by the attempts of men searching for their own happiness, or power, due to the system of patriarchal control, which rests on the foundation of the elevated man at the expense of women. To go further, women’s own attempts at happiness in the two novels seem to sometimes ‘overlap’ with men’s attempts at happiness, perhaps due to Victorian teachings to women, and the view that women can only be happy when they accept the rigid social order of the time.