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es! In fact, Shiniang is not poor. Instead, she is rich because she collects many treasures secretly. However, her treasures can’t change her social status at all. After all, she is a prostitute who is trodden upon at will. Upper society has zero tolerance for such a woman.
Tess is not “highly renowned and prosperous”, too. Like Du Shiniang, she also lives at the bottom of society. Tess was born in a poor country family. To help her parents keep living, she has to work in the family of Alec D’Urbervilles. Unfortunately, she is seduced by Alec and suffers people’s discrimination. After she is abandoned by Angel Clare, Tess falls into a poor condition again. She has no choice but to become Alec’s mistress, and suffers disgrace again. In a word, money is very important in capitalist society. “No money, no status.” Tess is poor, and she can’t enter upper society.
To sum up, Du Shiniang and Tess suffer lots of disgrace and humiliation. Both of them belong to the oppressed class.
3. Plots
3.1 Aristotle’s Tragic Theory on Plots
According to Aristotle, every tragedy has six parts, namely, plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, song.(张中载, 2002:40) Among these six elements, the plot is the most important, because the plot is the imitation of the action and is the arrangement of the incidents. Plots are the blood and flesh of a work. Only if the work arranges plots well, it can achieve good effects. Plots are either simple or complex. “A complex action is one in which the change is accompanied by such reversal, or by recognition, or by both．．． Reversal of the situation is a change by which the action veers round to its opposite, subject always to our rule of probability or necessity．．．Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune.”(张中载, 2002:46) Aristotle points out that excellent tragic plots must go through reversal and recognition, and finally comes to the result of suffering. “The scene of suffering is a destructive or painful action, such as death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, and the like.”(张中载, 2002:47) In simple words, the “reversal” of the plots is the reversal of tragic characters’ fate, turning from good luck to bad luck. The tragic characters know nothing about such reversal. With the development of the plots, the hero or heroine of the tragedy gradually “recognizes” his or her unfavorable situation and the disastrous results produced by his mistakes and ignorance. At last, the hero or heroine of the tragedy may “suffer” great pains, even death. In the process “reversal—recognition—suffering”, the plots of tragedies develop step by step.
3.2 Similar Sufferings Shared by Du Shiniang and Tess
Through Aristotle’s theory on plots to compare Du Shiniang and Tess, their similar sufferings can be found without difficulty.

3.2.1 Experience of Being Abandoned
After Li Jia and Du Shiniang leave the brothel, Shiniang treats Li Jia as her husband whole-heartedly, but in the deep mind of Li Jia, Shiniang is still a prostitute. Between Shiniang and his family interest, Li Jia finally chooses the latter. To Shiniang’s surprise, the man whom she wants to depend on changes his mind and betrayed her. It is no doubt that this gives a fatal blow to Shiniang. Thus, “reversal” comes near to her, and then her fate changes. Original happiness disappears. Great anger and pain well up in her