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"There is something more to be said in fiction than has been said about the shaded side of a well-known catastrophe." - T. Hardy In "Tess of the d´Urbervilles," which now in its second century of existence still attracts a wide audience, author Thomas Hardy took a common Victorian moral issue of ruined innocence and displayed it in a light that caused some controversy at the time. This analytical study of his classic novel takes a pagan perspective, highlighting its similarity to ancient Greek and Celtic mythology, looking closer at the religious criticism and the relationship between the story´s heroine, Tess, and the tenderly portrayed natural world so full of potence and symbolism.

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I wrote the essay when I took a three year course of English at the University of Gothenburg, with the aim of completing a master degree. I interrupted my studies to focus on other projects, and am now working on a couple of novels. I currently reside in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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