3. What is ironic about the subtitle of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbevilles which describes the female protagonist as a „pure woman“?

Answer 1

Because Tess is raped, her purity is taken from her, hence the irony of the title. One could argue that she retains her purity because she does not willingly have sex, an opinion that did not exist during the time the novel was written.