The moral commentary running through the novel insists that Tess is not at fault in imposing mythological, biblical and folk imagery over a story of a young girl seduced and abandoned to create a "challenging contemporaneity". It was controversial and polarizing, setting these elements within a context of 19th-century English society, including disputes within the Church, the National School movement, and the overall class structure of English society and changing circumstances of rural labour. During the era of first-wave feminism, civil divorce was introduced and campaigns were waged against child prostitution, moving gender and sexuality issues to the forefront of public discussion. Hardy's work was criticized as vulgar, though by the late 19th century other experimental fiction works were released such as Florence Dixie's depiction of feminist utopia, "The Story of an African Farm" by Olive Schreiner, and Sarah Grand's work "The Heavenly Twins", raising awareness about syphilis and advocating sensitivity rather than condemnation for young women infected with the disease.