Jude the Obscure: Implications of Tragedy and Unfulfilled Desire

JUDE THE OBSCURE:

IMPLICATIONS OF TRAGEDY AND UNFULFILLED DESIRE

WRITTEN BY JACK FISHER

Sue (Kate Winslet) and Jude (Christopher Eccleston) in the 1996 film adaptation

Contextual Information

Being published in 1895, Jude the Obscure was set in traditionalist Britain (evidently reflecting the British ideologies of that time period) and was widely regarded as a book that outraged the majority of conventional piety’s, deeming it as blasphemous and immoral; as though the novel had disgraced the sanctity of religious Britain. Bishops were burning their copies and certain libraries withdrew the novel – it almost seemed a slanderous act against Hardy to rid of the (now proclaimed) classic. As time progressed and society as a whole became more accepting and less based upon the societal values of religion, the once-as-seen “preposterous” nature of the novel was rendered redundant and people began to appreciate the novel despite it being considered unconventional. 

Hardy wrote in the preface that the events within the novel were based around personal experiences, and Hardy trying to make sense of them; the marriage laws too were meant to be a centre-focus for a lot of events (obviously in reference to Married Women's Property Act 1882) within the play. In a postscript, hardy mentions that ‘marriage should be dissolvable as soon as it becomes a cruelty so either of the parties – being then essentially and morally no marriage’, yet the fundamentalists of religious Britain had still deemed him a malefactor in the face of literature. This is particularly seen in the novel when Jude and Sue are almost ostracised from society as it scowled upon their marriage, leading the family into poverty and tragedy. Due to the national denunciation of the novel, Hardy later claimed that he served no further purpose or interest in Novel-writing. Jude the Obscure, due to its harsh criticisms, lead the novel to be Hardy’s last since 1895, all towards his death in 1928.

Hardy's Aim (In my Opinion)

One could argue that Hardy’s aim for this novel was to display the prejudices faced by the working class, in contrast to those who lie higher within the elitist society which was 19th Century Britain. It could also be argued that Hardy himself intended to challenge the typical conventions of society bringing up consistent ideas and themes which challenge religion, society, equality and conformism. This, in the sense that the paupers never truly progress during this industrial age and the rich and powerful remain educated and in control; I see this almost like an institutionalised hierarchy – hence why Jude’s characters’ interest in education and learning is frowned upon. The novel voices the frustration that the contemporary lower class-academics would’ve felt within the dismissive 19th Century society. The use of realism within the novel is almost representative of real-life (apart from the Little Father Time situation), to the extent that Hardy is able permeate his ideas of society throughout the novel with real-life situations that would represent the mishap of British pauperism.

Plot Summary

‘Hardy’s last novel is the story of a young working man destroyed by the partial fulfilment of his dreams. Torn between his desires for the life of the body and the life of the mind, as represented by two women – the vulgar and lustrous Arabella and the refined but frigid Sue – Jude longs above all for the spiritual wholeness represented by the university town of Christminster which rejects him.’

(See: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1857151151/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=everslibr-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1857151151 for the book that I have.)

The story follows the tragic life of scholarly boy, Jude – a lowly orphaned boy living in the rural district of Marygreen, near Christminster. Jude, whom pertains the futile desire to become a student at University is shortly crushed of his dreams due to the prejudicial nature of society and the status quo of the lower-classes. As mentioned before, Jude is torn between his academics and his lust; all of which embodied by two different women. These two characters seem to be the prominent reason leading to Jude’s eventual demise of character. Being falsely married to his cousin Arabella, Jude’s studies are halted; once the marriage fails, Jude decides to work his trade as a Stonemason in Christminster in some imaginary hope that his aspirations will be met through his residence within the city. However, he only gets so close as to repairing and maintaining the stonework of college buildings, quite harsh come to think of it. After gradually becoming accustomed, and acceptant of his lowly social position, Jude descends into alcoholism for some period of time. After meeting his cousin, Sue, the educated, well-composed, early feminist character, he tries not to fall in love with her after discovering that she is engaged to his former teacher, Phillotson until she can no longer tolerate him , henceforth she leaves her husband to live with Jude.

Following the divorce Jude and Sue, Sue does not want to remarry, leaving the highly frowned upon idea of ‘open love’ shown here. Arabella later reveals that her and Jude in fact have a son, Little Father Time. His name being representative of his age, in contrast to his spirituality; he is only young, yet has the depressed mindset of an ageless man which withholds him from being the child that he physically is. Jude and Sue obviously take care of the boy whilst taking care of their other two children. After falling ill and once recovering, Jude returns to his family in Christminster and continually sees his devotion toward Sue compromised by her orthodox moralities.

The major climax for me within the story appeared quite late, shortly after the introduction of Little Father Time. As Sue and Jude do not live in the same lodgings, or at least struggle for payments,  Sue takes LFT out to look for another lodging, but has little hope. It’s almost as though LFT foreshadows the grim, forthcoming events when the character says “If we children were gone there’d be no trouble at all”. Then the worst of it happens within the next few pages from that quote – Jude hears a shriek from Sue after standing over the kettle, seemingly she has fainted at the sight of the three hanged children… I did not (I don’t think anybody did for that matter) expect LFT to meet such a tragic demise; in all honesty it was a rather depressing scene to read, especially seeing that Little Father Time misspelled ‘many’ in his pitiful suicide note which read: “Done because we are too menny” this truly exemplifying the characters age and psychological anguish.

Shortly after this event, Sue leaves Jude exclaiming that she will never see him again, believing that she has been punished by God for her relationship with Jude – thus the death of her children (from the character’s perspective) is justified. With his hopes and aspirations thwarted by the cruel life within 19th century Wessex, Jude falls into a rapid decline, resulting in his abrupt death during the ceremony which signified the end of the school term; all relating back to Jude's elitist experience with Christminster University.

My Opinion

I absolutely loved reading this book despite the tragic nature of it; the story was perfectly crafted in correspondence to the contemporary society and the climax left me heart wrenched. It is, admittedly, a sad novel to read despite its length but it is definitely worth it – each section was enticing and told the story of Jude’s thwarted plans for education in contrast to his desire of love throughout the characters life. As the reader becomes gradually aware of Jude’s eventual demise, we begin to empathise, looking back and remembering the aspirations which he once had, crushed by the elitist society of the 1800’s. I especially enjoyed the historical nature of the book too, as I find historically based books much more enthralling than generic fiction. Although the language may be hard to understand for those who do not like late-modern English, it’s definitely worth a read and I’d definitely put it at the top of my list.