Here, Hardy offers the reader hints of what is in store for the characters through the use of symbols and unique situations to allude to future events. An example of this is when Tess kills the dying birds shot by the hunting party. In this instance, Tess demonstrates her compassion and sympathy with the afflicted by sparing the animals pain. Similarly, this event introduces the idea of death as a compassionate end to suffering and foreshadows the inevitable demise of Tess Durbyfield. .
Despite his success with irony and foreshadowing, Hardy's style is mostly identified by his use of intricate detail. Throughout Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Hardy's description of landscapes, individuals, and situations not only makes the work tangible, but allows the reader to actually experience the story through sensual detail. One example of Hardy's many descriptions is when he discusses the portraits of the D'Urberville women which loom over Tess and Angel's wedding night. Here Hardy writes, "He looked up, and perceived two life-size portraits on panels built into the masonry. As all visitors to the mansion are aware, these paintings represent women of middle age, of a date some two hundred years ago, whose lineaments once seen can never be forgotten. The long pointed features, narrow eye, and smirk of the one, so suggestive of merciless treachery; the bill-hook nose, large teeth, and bold eye of the other, suggesting arrogance to the point of ferocity, haunt the beholder afterwards in his dreams."" It is descriptions such as these that bring every aspect of Tess of the D'Urbervilles to life and define the literary style which helped to make the work so successful. .
The final aspect of Hardy's style is his unique tone, which he uses to convey his feelings on the subjects discussed in the novel. In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, every event and character is colored in the reader's imagination by the pessimistic tone of the work.