Tess of the D’Urbervilles

1. Meliorism may be defined as the view that the world is capable of becoming increasingly better through human action, thus improving the human condition. In theology, it is the view that God wanted the world to be as good as possible for humanity, a view that may contradict the free will defense, which holds that an evil world may provide the best test for salvation. However Hardy’s interpretation of meliorism involves the compromise between optimis...