Tess of the d"Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, has many significant chapters that relate to Tess's downfall. However, the most important of these is chapter four in Phase the First of the novel. This chapter is very significant because it is where Tess's family horse, Prince, dies. The effects of the horse's death cause many tragic events to occur throughout Tess's life. Prince's death in chapter four initiates Tess's guilty feelings, forces her to live with Alec, end eventually causes Angel to be unable to forgive her. .
Tess feels guilty for causing the death of Prince. She rides in the wagon behind Prince to take her father's produce to the market. Her father had been hung over from the night before and he could no longer take the produce himself. Because of her father's actions, Tess has to take Prince, whom she is not used, to the market. She is very sleepy, and as she dozes off, a mail wagon runs into Prince and kills him. Tess feels extremely guilty for this, as if she had murdered the horse. She now feels solely responsible for the economic welfare of her family, and this leads her to decide that she must find a way to provide for them. Tess's guilt never leaves her throughout the novel, and it leads her to make other decisions that cause her downfall.
Because of Prince's death and the following guilt, Tess leaves to find work at the d"Urberville farm where she meets Alec. Alec is Tess's supposed cousin, and she thinks he truly wants to help her. However, Alec ends up ruining Tess's life. She begins to distance herself from him when he constantly showers her with affection. Alec is relentless and consequently, he rapes her one night in the woods. Tess leaves the farm and later has a child that would soon die. Because of this incident, she feels that she has lost all of her innocence and purity. The effects of Tess's rape never leave her throughout the novel, and Alec himself directly begins to cause Tess's downfall.
