A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree "Licence en Langue et Littérature Anglaises"

Résumé,

This work examines how biology and culture victimises women in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. This work is built on the hypothesis that Hardy, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles presents women as victims of both biology and culture. In view of this, the present work examines 19th century England that witnessed a powerful patriarchal force over women.

There was an unfair treatment of women in the society. The present work is found on the New historicism approach which relates a work to its time of production. In this regard, this theory emphasizes emphasizeq that a work of literture is related to the ideological currents of the period it is written in. thus Tess of the d'Urbervilles is closely related to its cultural background and presents some of that time. After a close examination, we found that biology is one of the factors that victimise women. Also culture is another factor, which combines many variables that oppress women in one way or in another. Coming to the conclusion that biology and culture are the determining factors in women's oppression, the work recommends a change of gender and sex roles in order to do away with sexism.