In what ways and to what ends does Thomas Hardy present the idea of fate in Tess of the d'Urbervilles?

In Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy asks the reader to question whether or not Tess has any control over what happens in her life. At the beginning of the novel, Tess is punished for the death of Prince, the d'Urbervilles' family horse, despite the fact that the accident is ultimately the result of her father's drunken and irresponsible character. Similarly, moments before Tess is raped by Alec d'Urberville, the narrator describes the novel's heroine as being 'carried along upon the wings of the hour, without the sense of a will'. This quotation implies that Tess has no autonomy over the course of her life. Instead, her fate has been sealed and thus she must endure the terrible sequence of hardships which plague her existence, culminating eventually in her death at the end of the novel. When Tess meets Alec for the second time, when she is now a starved and struggling woman, she remarks 'I couldn't help your seeing me again', suggesting that their paths were destined to cross once more. Despite demonstrating a sturdy sense of what is right and wrong, as well as an admirable duty to her family throughout the novel, Tess' good will and kind nature are not enough to overturn her doomed fate.