Original artwork, not a still
Tess of the d'Urbervilles • 1891
Lord love ‘ee, neither court-paying, nor preaching, nor the seven thunders themselves, can wean a woman when ‘twould be better for her that she should be weaned.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker says that neither courting, preaching nor even the seven thunders can make a woman give up an attachment, even when giving it up would serve her better. Affection, on this view, follows its own stubborn course and resists both persuasion and warnings.
Context reviewed
