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| “ | Remember, my lady, I was your master once! I will be your master again. If you are any man's wife, you are mine! | „ |
| ~ Alec Stoke-d'Urberville threatening Tess d'Urberville. |
| “ | I feel indignant with you for talking to me like this, when you know—when you know what harm you've done me! You and those like you take your fill of pleasure on earth by making the life of such as me bitter and black with sorrow; and then it is a fine thing, when you have had enough of that, to think of securing your pleasure in Heaven by becoming converted! | „ |
| ~ Tess calling Alec out for his crimes and pointing out his hypocrisy. |
Alexander Stoke-d'Urberville, also known as Alec Stoke-d'Urberville, or simply Alec Stoke and Alec d'Urberville, is the main antagonist of Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
He is the wealthy, false cousing of the titular Tess Durbeyfield/d'Urberville. After she started working for him and rejected him, he raped her, starting the novel's plot. He is entirely responsible for ruining Tess' life and her eventual death.
Biography[]
Alec Stoke-d'Urberville was a despicable, vile, spiteful, ruthless, sly, cunning,
sadistic, malevolent, wicked, evil, and vindictive pedophilic rapist and an arrogant and spoilt wealthy 24 year old man and a false aristocrat, as his parents have taken the once noble name d'Urberville for themselves. He was known for seducing young, attractive women (and probably also raping them) and living a hedonistic lifestyle, becoming infamous in Trantridge and falling out with his mother.
Alec meets Tess Durbeyfield when she arrives at his house, searching for her "cousin" to get some money for her family. Alec immediately starts lusting for Tess and offers her job at his mansion, trying to seduce her at the same time. After Tess rejects him, he drunks her and rapes her in a forest, leaving her pregnant. Tess then leaves his mansion and cuts herself off from him. Unfortunately, because of the rape her life is ruined.
After meeting pastor Clare, Alec seemingly starts to feel remorse because of his rape and tries to become a better person. However, when he meets Tess again 4 years later, he immediately tries to get her back, even threatening her and claiming that she belongs to him. Tess eventually cuts herself off from him again and Alec abandons his holy lifestyle, going back to hedonism.
After Tess' father, John Durbeyfield dies, Alec meets with her again, trying to convince her to get back to him; in return, he would support her family. Tess declines, but Alec convinces her that her husband, Angel Clare, will never return to her because of the rape. Tess, not wanting to be a burden to her family, leaves them and reluctantly becomes Alec's lover.
Then, Angel returns from Brazil and finds Tess. After she bitterly tells him to leave her, she has a fight with Alec, accusing him of lying to her. When he mocks her about that, she takes the knife and stabs him to death in rage, finally freeing herself from her opressor and rapist.
Trivia[]
- Alec is the most hated and the evilest character in the book, as he not only rapes Tess, but also shows no remorse for doing that. Additionaly, his whole holy lifestyle was fake, as he abandons him the moment Tess rejects him again.