Plot Synopsis

Based on the 1891 novel by Thomas Hardy. Tess, a poor English peasant girl is sent by her father to take a service job with a wealthy family. The son of the household forces himself upon her. Pregnant, she returns home, only to have the baby die. She leaves to work on a dairy farm, where she falls in love with a young man. They marry, but when he learns of her past he leaves her. She takes up with the man who raped her but murderers him when her husband returns and professes his love. She is caught and eventually executed.