Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Perhaps Tomas Hardy's best piece of literature and tragedy of Victorian works. Tess of the D'Ubervilles tells the story of an impoverished woman that is rejected on her wedding night by her husband because of her previous miscarriage. Exploiting his daughter's beauty for social advancement this work touches on class, religion, gender and sexuality. Highly controversial in 1891 when the novel was released it focused on the rural lower class.