After an accident, Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of impoverished peasants, decides to call on the aristocratic d'Urbervilles, as she believes she is also descended from their ancient Norman lineage and that they can rescue her family from indigence.

Unfortunately she is taken under the wing of the immoral libertine scion Alec d'Urbervile, who first seduces and then scorns her.

While she attempts to rebuild her life, she falls in love with the virtuous farmer Angel Clare and must find a way to defeat the demons of her past.