Original artwork, not a still
Tess of the d'Urbervilles • 1891
Once victim, always victim-that’s the law!
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker states a bleak rule: once someone has been made a victim, that role stays with them permanently. Calling it 'the law' presents this as an unbreakable fact rather than an opinion, giving the line a fatalistic, grimly resigned ring, as if escape were never possible.
Context reviewed
