Novels often reflect the historical and cultural context of a particular era. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy is set in the 19th century and highlights the problems facing Britain at that time. Throughout his novel, Hardy reflects on his world and the aspects that were important to him during his life. Hardy uses themes such as religion, treatment of women, social class, and feelings of love and marriage that were present in Hardy. Hardy created each of his three main characters, Tess Durbeyfield, Angel Clare and Alec d'Urberville, so that each had their own story to tell. Each of its characters faces challenges and events that not only embody the major themes of the novel, but also reflect the historical and cultural context of its world. In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, insight into Hardy's views on religion is given as he uses his characters to make observations that would have baffled his Victorian readers. He chooses to represent the negative aspects of the Christian Church. Many times throughout his life, Hardy felt like an outcast in his society because his religious beliefs did not match those of the Church, much like Angel's. (Mays, C., 2012) Angel Clare is a religious young man who questions his beliefs and the values ​​of the Christian Church. In chapter 18, Angel has ordered a philosophy book that upsets his father, causing him to question the morals of his son's faith. Angel says, "I love the Church as one loves a parent...but I honestly cannot be ordained its minister...while it refuses to free its spirit from untenable redemptive theolatry." » (Hardy, 1891, p. 115) Here, Angel not only told his father that he did not wish to follow in his father's footsteps...... middle of paper ...... yes, the world was based on religious values ​​and beliefs, but the way Hardy presented his novel incorporating his own ideas about the Christian Church was such that many thought his novel was immoral. The negative aspects of the Church that Hardy presented through Tess, the questioning of the faith, although Angel and the evil acts of the "born again Christians" that he embodies through Alec are all glimpses of the Hardy's own beliefs and experiences with the Church. Some of Hardy's life experiences were touched upon in each of the characters' stories, for example, Hardy's failed marriage and Tess and Angel's strained marital relationship. Tess of the d'Urbervilles incorporates many themes that existed in the 19th century and Thomas Hardy used his characters and the events of the novel to comment on his own world..