Tess's Roommates

It was refreshing to get some comic relief in Phase the Third, which I found in the lovestruck milkmaids Marian, Izz, and Retty. The way Hardy described the three of them at the window sighing over Angel made the whole scene very easy to imagine. Even the way he differentiates them physically brings the stylized characters of a Disney cartoon to mind: "All were watching somebody in the garden with deep interest, their three faces close together: a jovial and round one, a pale one with dark hair, and a fair one whose tresses were auburn." One plump, one tall, one small. The mention of Izz kissing Angel's shadow also served to get in a few much-appreciated laughs.

This trio also made the scene at the puddle a memorable one. I could just imagine each of them inwardly swooning as they were carried across, and Hardy's summation of the experience was especially enjoyable: "Marian had been like a sack of meal, a dead weight of plumpness under which he had literally staggered. Izz had ridden sensibly and calmly. Retty was a bunch of hysterics." I was glad that no jealousy existed between them when they acknowledged Angel's preference for Tess, as this preserved the three's status as comical characters.