The contrast between Flintcomb-Ash and Talbothays is clear. Flintcomb-Ash is described as “sublime in its dreariness.” Conversely, Talbothays is portrayed as ideal and beautiful, “the verdant plain so well watered by the river Var or Froom.” Flintcomb has Farmer Groby, a mean-spirited man who demands that his workers work even harder. Mr. Crick gets results from his workers with humor and aplomb, even regaling them with his humorous tales, as evidenced by the William Dewy tale from Chapter 17 and the Jack Dollop tales from Chapters 21 and 29.
The indifference that Angel’s brothers show towards Tess is not altogether surprising based on what we already know of them. However, it is Tess’ first encounter with her brothers-in-law, and she hears for herself their contempt for her marriage to Angel and for Angel himself—“His ill-considered marriage seems to have completed that estrangement from me which was begun by his extraordinary opinions.” The brothers, both ministers themselves, have little regard for those in desperate situations, reserving their charity to those they deem worthy to receive it. Mercy Chant, whose name implies sympathy and kindness, adds her own insensitive opinion when Tess’ boots are discovered in some bushes, viewing them as belonging to “[s]ome impostor who wished to come into town barefoot, perhaps, and so excite our sympathies.” Thus, all three—Mercy, Cuthbert, and Felix — display a lack of compassion that Tess could use at that moment. Hardy further emphasizes the uncharitable nature of these three in his descriptions: Hardy describes the brothers as “starched and ironed”; he describes Mercy as “a trifle guindée and prudish.” The word guindée in French means “stiff” or “formal.”
This episode recalls earlier episodes in which action or inaction rest on a single turn of fate. By encountering her brothers-in-law first, Tess is exposed to unkind and uncharitable notions about herself and her marriage to Angel. Hardy says “it was somewhat unfortunate that she had encountered the sons and not the father, who, despite his narrowness, was far less starched and ironed than they, and had to the full the gift of charity.” If Tess had met her father and mother-in-law first, the outcome might have been different.
In these chapters, Tess also is reunited with Alec d’Urberville, who is in the guise of a street corner minister. Alec claims to have repented of his former sins, recanting his past excesses, taking up the teachings of Reverend Clare and the lessons of St. Paul. Nevertheless, as is made clear in the following chapters, Alec is a hollow cleric. Even though he himself condemns the faithless in his sermons, he will leave his ministry to pursue Tess.
