Evolutionary Mating Strategies in the Novels of Thomas Hardy

1. Evolutionary Mating Strategies in the Novels of Thomas Hardy By: Kattie Basnett

2. Thomas Hardy • Hardy was born in 1840 and died in 1937 of cancer (Kramer). • Born into “rural poverty,” a large portion of his extended family was composed of illiterate laborers and servants (Kramer 5). • Hardy’s working class parents helped him aspire to the middle-class by removing him from the Dorset village school to a superior one where he learnt mathematics and Latin (5). • At age 16, Hardy’s parents purchased an architectural apprenticeship for him, and at 21 he moved to London to be an assistant architect. It was during his time in London that Hardy turned to the writing of poetry (Kramer 6). • Hardy continued working as an architectural assistant until 1872, when he took up writing full-time (Kramer 7). While Hardy wrote poetry originally, he eventually adopted novel-writing for financial reasons (Kramer 8). • Hardy continued writing novels until 1896, the year he published Jude the Obscure. Jude, along with various of Hardy’s other novels including Tess of the D’Urbervilles were met with great hostility from critics and readers (Sasaki). In fact, Hardy’s last novel, Jude, was burnt by what Hardy depreciatively termed “a conflagratory bishop” due to its bold, unabashed, and socially divergent representation of sexual relations between the novel’s two unmarried primary characters. • “…all Hardy novels deal with his central preoccupation…[with] sexual love...” Hardy “depicted the pain and joy of the relationship between the sexes with deeper penetration than any other novelist of his day” (Sasaki xxv). • Living in the Victorian era, a period when ideas of Darwinian Evolution were widely discussed, his novels represent evolutionary ideas about sexual selection, resulting in stories of “sexual pursuit” which largely adhere to even more modern conceptions of evolutionary mating strategies (Sasaki xxvii).

3. Victorian Scientific Thought • In 1859, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published (Altick 13), upsetting widely held views on religion and science. • In the face of empirical evidence collected through the scientific method, Darwin’s evolutionary theory not only shed doubt on concepts of creationism (with further support added by archaeological findings), but also on the viability of current scientific methodologies which relied heavily on deductive processes (Altick 259). • While Darwin was not the first individual to suggest that animals changed over time, his reason for this changeability was novel— “the idea of natural selection” suggested “an eternal struggle for existence—the strong and the weak of a species pitted against the environment…” Those who failed to adapt would die and those who adapted “would live to transmit their…traits to a new generation” (Altick 226). • While in Origins, Darwin refrained from applying his theory to mankind, he rightly surmised that Victorians would be wise enough to “extrapolate from Galapagos reptiles to man,” something which Darwin would do upon publication of The Descent of Man in 1871, 12 years after Origins (Altick 226-7). • What was so upsetting about Darwinian Evolutionary theory was that it deemphasized the superior traits of man, such as intelligence and reason, proving them to be merely “refinements of traits already present in the lower animals” (Altick 228). • Furthermore, Evolutionary theory said that we were driven to act not by exalted supposedly human qualities such as intelligence and reason, but that we were “governed…by… drives…shared with all other living things” one of these drives being sex (Altick 228-9).

4. Sexual Selection • Today, Darwinian ideas about the sexual evolution of man have lead evolutionary psychologists to identify universal human mating strategies and characteristics looked for in ideal mates. • At the core of these new discoveries is what Darwin termed sexual selection. • “The evolution of characteristics because of their reproductive benefits” (Buss 2-3). • Darwin conceptualized sexual selection as embodying two processes: Intra-sex competition for sexual access Development of “mate…preferences” which help individuals identify reproductively successful mates (Buss 3). • Desirable mates are those who evolved characteristics conducive to successful mate procurement and reproduction. Characteristics such as fidelity, resourcefulness, commitment, and health, help to insure the survival of both partners and the vehicle for passing on their genes--children (Buss 7).

5. How Did Sexual Characteristics Evolve? • In the words of Dr. David Buss, we all “descended from a long and unbroken line of ancestors who competed successfully for desirable mates, attracted mates who were reproductively valuable [and] retained mates long enough to reproduce…[Therefore,] we carry in us the sexual legacy of those success stories” (5-6). • In other words, just as we have inherited the physical characteristics that allowed our well adapted ancestors to survive and thrive, we have also inherited the adaptive sexual characteristics and strategies which guaranteed our ancestors the opportunity to mate. • Example

6. Short Term vs. Long Term Mating Strategies • Males favor short term sexual encounters—one night stands or flings—requiring no long term commitment. These increase his chances of passing genes on to the next generation without much inconvenience (i.e. High reward, low risk). • A woman considered desirable would have the ability to be “selective” (Buss 20) when choosing mates, she would be more likely to choose a committed mate who would provide “far more resources [for herself and her children]…than…several temporary sex partners” (23).

7. What Women Want • PICTURE YOUR IDEAL PARTNER, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE REALISTICALLY OBTAINABLE. Measure how well Evolutionary Psy. accounts for your choice! • Resources (money, skills, goods) or the potential to get them. In our past, the ability to get food or provide shelter, meant the difference between death or survival. • Social status in our hunter-gatherer times was indicative of the ownership of valuable resources, therefore women prefer men of higher social status (Buss 25). • Women also value education in a mate because education is, according to Buss, “strongly linked with social status” (26). • Because both status and wealth “accumulate with increasing age” women prefer men who are older than them. In a study of 37 cultures, women preferred a man who was an average of 3 ½ years older (Buss 28). • While they prefer older men, women prefer men showing “considerable promise” rather than substantially older men who have already reached the peak of their productivity (Buss 29). • Men willing tocommit. A woman seeks out men willing to commit and marry because this means that his resources will be hers exclusively, and will remain with her and her offspring and not be diverted to another woman. • Men who are physically strong enough or imposing enough (tall) to offer protection from sexual aggressors, this may have been particularly relevant in our past. Probably why you don’t see many women dating substantially shorter men.

8. What Men Want • Youth. According to Buss, “Youth is a critical cue, since women’s reproductive value declines steadily with increasing age after twenty. By the age of forty, a woman’s reproductive capacity is low, and by fifty it is close to zero.” Averaged across 37 cultures, men prefer women “approximately 2.5years younger” (51). • Features of physical appearance, such as full lips, clear skin, smooth skin, clear eyes, and lustrous hair” were observable cues of a woman’s youth. These characteristics essentially reflect ideas of feminine beauty, and are, according to the biologists Clelland Ford and Frank Beach, “universal” (Buss 53). • Men don’t have a woman’s assurance that a child is their own. Consequently, they face the “adaptive problem” of guaranteeing paternity. As a way of guaranteeing paternity, men seek out women who have demonstrated “premarital chastity” or sexual inexperience (Buss 67). • Madonna-Whore complex: Whore- sexually experienced or promiscuous before marriage = sexually promiscuous when married and uncertain paternity = means they’re only good for the short-term, not commitment. Madonna- chaste or very inexperienced before marriage = sexually loyal during marriage and greater certainty of paternity = suitable for long-term commitment

9. What We all Want • A healthy partner. “The biologists Clelland Ford and Frank Beach found that signs of ill health, such as open sores, lesions, and unusual pallor, are universally regarded as unattractive” (Buss 41). • The illness of an unhealthy mate could be passed on genetically or if physically communicable, infect a mate and offspring. Even if illness did not transmit to others, it had the potential to impair the infected individual’s ability to reproduce, obtain resources, or care for offspring (Buss 41).

10. Application of Evol. Mating Strategy Theory to Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles • The heroine of Hardy’s novel is Tess Durbeyfield, a young, beautiful woman. • In the course of the novel, Tess meets two men who are possible suitors. Hardy characterizes Alec as an unsuitable mate while Angel is representative of the ideal. • Show clips of movie and talk about how each character lives up to or fails to live up to standards of an ideal mate.

11. What Makes Alec a Bad Mate? • Chapter 4 horse scene & whistling scene • Alec is sexually aggressive. He pressures Tess to kiss him, threatening her when she refuses, and kisses her randomly and unexpectedly so that she can’t defend herself. According to evolutionary psychology, women do not respond favorably to sexual aggression because sexual coercion reduces their ability to be selective in making mate choices. • Alec’s sexual aggression goes so far that he actually rapes Tess. An act which, based on self-report data, roughly 25-35% of men would do when guaranteed the same amount of impunity a wealthy man in the Victorian period would have. A woman would be particularly disinclined to favor a man thought capable of rape due to the fact it removes the ability to select a good mate, damages reproductive value if a child is born (women can only have so many children, men don’t want to take care of other men’s children), and impairs a woman’s ability to live up to men's desire for chastity or sexual inexperience. • Alec is described as physically unattractive with a “swarthy complexion,” “full lips, badly moulded” with “touches of barbarism in his contours” (Hardy 50). His unattractiveness hints that he may not be a healthy man, and therefore may not produce healthy offspring in addition to signaling a de-evolved state. While Darwin never theorized that race, as indicated by Alec’s “swarthy complexion,” played a role in making an individual an ideal partner or not, there emerged in the wake of Darwinian evolution, a concept called Social Darwinism which misappropriated evolutionary knowledge to promote the idea that white Europeans were more evolutionarily advanced than persons of other cultures and races. • Alec is also not open to commitment. Tess realizes this and muses, “He marry her! On matrimony he had never once said a word” (102). Without a willingness to commit to her, Alec is not a suitable mate because he can withdraw his resources at any time, possibly when she is older and less reproductively valuable and therefore would be unable to attract another mate to take his place. • Alec also, while of a higher social class than Tess, does not show any desire or capability of seeking out resources on his own account. While Tess would value the resources that Alec already possesses, she would also look for cues that would indicate that if these resources were lost, he’d have the ability to seek out new ones.

12. What Makes Angel a Good Mate? • Chapter 8, milkmaids • Angel is of a higher class than Tess, being the son of a gentleman. Social status, according to evolutionary psychology research, was linked strongly to amount of resources. • Hardy describes Angel as having the capacity to “do anything he tried” indicating that he is capable of obtaining resources on his own. Angel signals his resourcefulness by touring local farms to “acquire…practical skill in the various processes of farming”, including dairy farming (Hardy 142). • Angel is highly intelligent, with Tess “regard[ing] Angel…as an intelligence rather than as a man” (Hardy 155). Intelligence is a quality which was thought to be indicative of higher social status, and the greater ability to obtain resources. • Hardy also creates Angel’s character so that he shows a definite desire to commit to Tess, as he repeatedly asks her to marry him. This signals to Tess that, unlike Alec who seems to want short-term and noncommittal pleasure out of her, Angel wishes a long-term relationship and is willing to commit his resources to her. • Angel, unlike Alec, is good looking, therefore hinting that there are not the same concerns about ill-health or unsuitability. • Angel is also older than Tess, though not substantially so. This indicates that Tess, as predicted by Evolutionary theory, finds a slightly older and very promising man the ideal.

13. What Makes Tess a Desirable Woman? • Tess is described by Hardy as “a visionary essence of woman—a whole sex condensed into one typical form” (160). Therefore, Tess seems to epitomize feminine beauty, meaning she possess the cues to health and youth which signal to men her reproductive value. • Clare explains to Tess why she is the only woman he loves, “Distinction…consist[s] in…being numbered among those who are true, and honest, and just, and pure, (Read chaste and not likely to cuckold me) and lovely (Read healthy and young enough to reproduce)” (Hardy 235).

14. Questions?