Well, this is probably one of the most depressing novels ever written. I think it could have easily been called Les Misérables but that title was already taken! This is the story of Jude Fawley, a young orphan, who wants to be a university scholar. He spends his spare time studying Latin, Greek, and the classics, and believes that he can aspire to a college education even though he has a lack of money and family history. He is tricked into marrying a local girl, Arabella who claims that she is pregnant by him. Arabella is vain, and mocks Jude for his studies; Jude in turn scorns Arabella for her trickery, and after two years, she leaves him. Jude then sets out to follow his university dreams in nearby Christminster (fictional Oxford), but is disheartened to learn that his passion for learning is not enough to see him admitted into the university. He is poor, and of the wrong class of society, and no amount of knowledge is going to change this. He tries to make a living as a stonemason and then meets and falls in love with his cousin, Sue Bridehead. But Sue is engaged to an older school teacher who she decides to marry without love. Eventually both Jude and Sue divorce and live together where they have two children out of wedlock. In the mean time, Arabella declares that she has a son by Jude who agrees to take care of the child. This eventually leads to the real tragic event of the story which ends up driving Sue and Jude apart.
This was a really depressing tale but it was compelling which made me read till the bitter end. This was the last novel written by Hardy who spent the remainder of his life writing poetry. Hardy made his feelings about aspects of Victorian society well-known through his writing. This is certainly evident in the themes running through Jude the Obscure; he is rather blatant in his commentaries of class boundaries, religion and the institution of marriage. Another key theme of the novel was the idea of overpopulation and the competition for resources as put forth by Thomas Malthus in 1798. At the time of publication of Jude (1895), the novel was heavily criticized and even publicly burned by one English bishop. I have read one other Hardy novel, Tess of the D'Urbervilles which I also found depressing so not sure when I tackle another of his works.
This was a really depressing tale but it was compelling which made me read till the bitter end. This was the last novel written by Hardy who spent the remainder of his life writing poetry. Hardy made his feelings about aspects of Victorian society well-known through his writing. This is certainly evident in the themes running through Jude the Obscure; he is rather blatant in his commentaries of class boundaries, religion and the institution of marriage. Another key theme of the novel was the idea of overpopulation and the competition for resources as put forth by Thomas Malthus in 1798. At the time of publication of Jude (1895), the novel was heavily criticized and even publicly burned by one English bishop. I have read one other Hardy novel, Tess of the D'Urbervilles which I also found depressing so not sure when I tackle another of his works.
